Peach Tree

[miles.o]

Hello.

I live in zone 10. I had a peach tree that was producing a lot of fruit until one year it just... stopped. Any reason for this?? THere wasn't anythign wrong with the tree that I could see. It looked healthy with lots of foliage.

I sort of suspect that my neighbor might have done something to the tree since the peaches were falling into his yard... Is this even possible? Thanks!

[Mr Yan]

Is it worth it to you to call an arborist to look at the tree? They will give you the best answer.

I don't have experience with tropics but have a young peach tree in my zone 4 yard and have been reading a lot about working with peaches. Apparently commercial growers only expect to get about 1 good crop in 4 or 5 years. I think this is mainly due to late frost and wind damage though.

[miles.o]

Hm, I don't know if I want to spend the money, to be honest with you. It was yielding a pretty good harvest (I don't do much with the soil, but the yield from our trees and plants are pretty good), but suddenly nothing. Might have to just let it go if there are no simple solutions. :confused:

[Mr Yan]

By no means am I a fruit tree expert but have you thought about pruning the tree? I have read about trees that would not produce fruit being brought back to production with proper pruning. It may be worth looking into at least.

[miles.o]

Definitely will look into it. Thank you!:)

[silkcom]

Ya a tree that goes without pruning can last for several years, though as I understand it it will usually get slower and slower (and the fruit will get smaller and smaller) rather than just stopping, but you're in a pretty hot climate for a peach tree anyway (though within the bounds obviously), so it's possible that the foliage growth just outweighed the fruiting.

It could also have something to do with the weather. If the flowers were killed early on, then the tree wouldn't fruit. Like if it was too hot, etc. In this case, it should do fine the next year.

I would recommend pruning the tree though for sure, just make sure to not remove more than 30% of the growth of the tree in any 1 year. You can slowly get it back into the proper shape, but only 30% a year.