Problem with peaches

[orezok]

I have 2 peach trees that have produced abundant and very tasty peaches. This year, while the trees are very healthy and were loaded with blossoms few were pollinated. This I believed was caused by a total lack of bees. The drought has seemed to kill them all off. Rainfall since Jan 1 has been .06”.

Now this is the desert, but we still get 4 to 5” of precipitation by this time. The trees are irrigated so no precipitation is not a factor.

The bottom line is that 25 to 30% of the peaches have this crack extending through 1/2 of the fruit. I have never seen this before. Because of the drought, I increase the irrigation and I am wondering if that is the cause.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[seville009]

From a Google search

What causes split pits in peaches? - Dmcoffee.blog

Peach split pit is caused by cultural practices that promote rapid growth such as excessive thinning or irregular watering during the pit hardening stage.

dmcoffee.blog

 

[Diggin It]

Sell 'em as Plumber's Peaches.

 

[newbury]

I thought if you had no bees you'd have no pollination and NO fruit.

 

[orezok]

I thought if you had no bees you'd have no pollination and NO fruit.

Perhaps “No” was not a good term. In years past during flowering the trees were swarming with bees. This year I only see an occasional bee.

Also this year I only got 6 cherries off my 2 trees.

 

[Doughknob]

I have always heard that too much water does that. But that was 2nd hand information. So seeing what seville009 posted, it seems to make sense that my info was partially correct in that it is too much water at the wrong time.

 

[jaxs]

Perhaps “No” was not a good term. In years past during flowering the trees were swarming with bees. This year I only see an occasional bee.

Also this year I only got 6 cherries off my 2 trees.

Wasps,flys and other insects pollinate,just not enough of them to pollinate all blossoms. Sustainable pollinators is fertile ground for research by ag majors. I had hoped there might be a silver lining in Killer Bees that could be bred into our failing honey bee population. I hand pollinate squash if i don't see insects on the blossoms.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Wasps,flys and other insects pollinate,just not enough of them to pollinate all blossoms. Sustainable pollinators is fertile ground for research by ag majors. I had hoped there might be a silver lining in Killer Bees that could be bred into our failing honey bee population. I hand pollinate squash if i don't see insects on the blossoms.

No, no, no.... you keep those killer bees down there!

 

[jaxs]

No, no, no.... you keep those killer bees down there!

Ok, might you be interested in a nest of Imported Fire Ants instead? Oh what the heck,you can't make an informed decision without a little experience so next time I go to Santa Fe,instaed of turning at Clines Corner I'll run down and drop off a batch.

 

[ponytug]

You might want to look into mason or leaf cutter bees for the future.

The split fruit looks like a watering mismatch. My pomegranate is very sensitive to over/under watering and the fruit splits wide open if it gets too much at any one time.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

Years ago I had peach and apricot trees. Two of each. Everything went well until the fruit was close to being picked. Then the yellowjackets attacked the fruit. Every piece of fruit had one or more holes eaten right into it. And it became a nightmare trying to pick the fruit. Even the raccoons had problems with all the 'jackets.

I've heard that overwatering - at the wrong time - will cause the fruit to split.

 

[Jstpssng]

Overwatering will cause a lot of things to split; tomatoes, potatoes, and apparently peaches. I believe that it's also related to watering after the plants being dry, then getting an abundance of water.

 

[orezok]

Thanks everyone for your input. With a little research I think I have the answer. Normally I have “X” amount of peaches on the tree. This year I only have 20% of that amount. I kept the watering schedule the same but now each peach has 5 times the water available. The excess water caused the pit to swell.

You live you learn.

 

[bigtiller]

Yep I agree, inconsistent watering. It splits tomatoes, and I suspect it will do it to almost any fruit. I never grew a peach but I think it is a high probability.

 

[Paddy]

What type of peach tree? Some peaches are prone to pit split. I have not noticed any issues with over watering during pit hardening, during that time the fruit does not get bigger.

Lack of fruit is more likely caused by a heavy set last year. The tree works so hard to make all that fruit, it neglects good flower buds production. Last year, I had 500 peaches from each of our 3 Red Havens. I pushed the limits but most were very perfect fruit. This year, just as many flowers, but 1/2 the fruit set. Frost was not as issue. many flowers just dried up. To much water is an issue two weeks before harvest, split fruits or flavorless.

Pollination is rarely an issue with peaches. Why?, peaches are self-fertile. Meaning they have boy and girl parts in the same flower. It is nearly impossible for the pollen not to jump the 1/4 inch separation. wind, rain will do the job. Normally I have to thin 10 small fruits for every peach I keep.

Peach trees need to be driven to be very vigorous. This means fertilizing with high nitrogen, I just use 12-12-12. Twice a year is recommended, early spring and early summer. This years vigorous new shoots are next years fruit wood. Be sure to remove this years fruiting wood next spring. Think of it as "farming new fruit wood"

 

[orezok]

What type of peach tree? Some peaches are prone to pit split. I have not noticed any issues with over watering during pit hardening, during that time the fruit does not get bigger.

Lack of fruit is more likely caused by a heavy set last year. The tree works so hard to make all that fruit, it neglects good flower buds production. Last year, I had 500 peaches from each of our 3 Red Havens. I pushed the limits but most were very perfect fruit. This year, just as many flowers, but 1/2 the fruit set. Frost was not as issue. many flowers just dried up. To much water is an issue two weeks before harvest, split fruits or flavorless.

Pollination is rarely an issue with peaches. Why?, peaches are self-fertile. Meaning they have boy and girl parts in the same flower. It is nearly impossible for the pollen not to jump the 1/4 inch separation. wind, rain will do the job. Normally I have to thin 10 small fruits for every peach I keep.

Peach trees need to be driven to be very vigorous. This means fertilizing with high nitrogen, I just use 12-12-12. Twice a year is recommended, early spring and early summer. This years vigorous new shoots are next years fruit wood. Be sure to remove this years fruiting wood next spring. Think of it as "farming new fruit wood"

Sorry, it I don’t remember which variety of peach. The trees are about 10 years old and have always had abundant output. In years past I would thin 2 5 gallon buckets of 1” fruit to prevent overproduction. This year less than 1/3 bucket.

With only 6 hundredth of an inch of rain so far this year, soil moisture is zero. In addition to that, for a period of time my irrigation clock malfunctioned and did no watering. It was probably at a critical time and to compensate I did a significant increase in water to get the soil moisture back up. That’s highly likely the problem.

 

[riptides]

Sadly, my remaining peach trees produced not one fruit this year.

Watering was not the issue, neither was blossoming or pollinators. Very odd. I suspect a bad frost soon after flowering.

Not related, I know......

 

[Paddy]

To get peaches, the stars need to be perfectly aligned!

Here in the mid west we fight everything.

First year we planted 3 trees no bigger trunk than your little finger, some how picked two nice peaches. They grew to 6 feet tall and shaped to an open center
Year two 1000's a blooms but OFM worms got in every peach and dropped
Year 3, frost, 225 peaches
Year 4, 1500 peaches
This year, maybe 750 peaches

I have to get past the late frost, spray for darn worms, shoot squirrels all summer and keep the electric fence going to keep the 'coons out