What does 10 below do to peach trees?

[sixdogs]

Has the cold weather damaged my Hale haven and Red Haven peach trees or buds? We went to nine below three times this year and it's starting to make me wonder if the buds have been damaged. I've searched online but they don't seem to address the issue. Anyone know if our low temps have damaged my peach trees?

 

[oldballs]

My guess is "No", since my peach trees over the years haven't been bothered by zero and below temps at this time of the year. If I remember, one is a Hale variety, among the four varieties. Best of luck with yours.

 

[JimRB]

It has been cold in Ohio more than once and we still had peaches on the tree when it got warm. You worry about fruit after you have seen blossoms.

 

[forgeblast]

Ill let you know this spring we have two redhaven.

 

[smstonypoint]

Peach growers in South Carolina have had to worry about having enough chilling hours during relatively mild winters. That's not going to be a problem this year -- now they have to worry about late frosts.

Steve

 

[Steppenwolfe]

You should be fine. It's when the buds swell, or flower when the damage can occur.

 

[kenmac]

You should be fine. It's when the buds swell, or flower when the damage can occur.

That must be the time when the peach growers in some counties here, hire Helicopters to sit with the engines running / rotors turning to save the peaches. Always seemed like extreme measures to me ,but I guess if it's your living, you'll do what it takes

 

[jinman]

I think the only danger to the peaches would be if the temperature was cold enough for long enough to freeze the ground down to the level of the root zone. I think in zones where the frost may go deeply into the ground, you could see some damage. I would suspect that black poly on the ground around the trunks would help keep the ground warm, but you don't want it so warm that it encourages early budding and subsequent frost damage. As with many things, it's a balancing act between doing too much and too little.

 

[MacLawn]

Yeah, I think you're okay until blossoms come out. I lost a native maple tree a few years ago after it budded. That was at me place in Georgia too! Shocked me. Freeze split the bark at base of tree, it became firewood.

 

[sixdogs]

Well, we're going to find out because it's going to 16 below tomorrow night and the high for Tuesday is only going to be 2 below. Funny, but I can't even remember the heat of summer right now.

 

[sixdogs]

That 16 below turned into 21 below this morning with more of the same tonight. This will be an interesting experiment because it seems the bud has to suffer some damage at these levels.

 

[oldballs]

Yeah, I think you're okay until blossoms come out. I lost a native maple tree a few years ago after it budded. That was at me place in Georgia too! Shocked me. Freeze split the bark at base of tree, it became firewood.

As I recall, that split bark is called "sun scald" wherein the low sun hits the frozen bark on one side with resultant bark splitting...usually on older trees.....but I ain't no arborist.

 

[sixdogs]

Here's how this ended up after a series of nearly 20 blow last winter and my Hale Haven and Red Haven peach trees.

The trees had some dead branches but lived. There were zero blossoms this year and I thought the trees seemed more susceptible to bugs.
So let's see what happens next year.

 

[toppop52]

Treat them for the bugs and diseases, if you don't they will likely fail in large numbers. You may lose some anyway. In this weakened state they are very susceptible.

 

[sixdogs]

Good advice and that's what i've been doing.

 

[toppop52]

Any that don't bloom this coming year, may never produce properly again, if you the fruit is important, you may want to replace those with trees as northern hardy as you can find. Peaches are climate sensitive as you know, when we get 30-40 years of milder weather, they get moved north, then we get a 30 year colder spell and they shift back to the south.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's how this ended up after a series of nearly 20 blow last winter and my Hale Haven and Red Haven peach trees.

The trees had some dead branches but lived. There were zero blossoms this year and I thought the trees seemed more susceptible to bugs.
So let's see what happens next year.

Our peach tree had a total of about 6 blossoms this year. Probably 80% of the leaves were gone as well. 30% of the branches were completely dead. I severely pruned it back to the few living branches and we'll see how it does next year. If nothing, its a goner and I'll replace it. Lost a nectarine tree completely. ZERO leaves. Cut it out and replaced with some pear trees. Apple trees lived, but no fruit this year. Apricot trees the same. Cherry trees had about 10% normal fruit, so I let the birds eat those. Grapes, on the other hand, will be too many to process. Same with raspberries. Strawberries were weak.

 

[toppop52]

I actually lost a gum tree, a fully mature one, no great loss there, planned to cut it anyway. It had some freeze damage and it never put out a leaf this year, was normal last year, never saw that before.