Fruit Trees lack blossoms

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by babbles, Mar 23, 2007.

  1. babbles

    babbles Member

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    My Nectarine and Volunteer Peach trees have limited blossoms. They are only on a few branches. It there anything I can do to extend the number of blossoms?
     
  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Too young?
     
  3. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    not enough cold hours over winter?
     
  4. babbles

    babbles Member

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    The trees are under an overhang of several feet so they don't get wet and
    they've never had leaf curl. They are planted on a south-facing wall and
    I don't think they are exposed to much wind. I've put compost where they
    are but nothing else. The peach tree produced visually attractive but
    tasteless fruit for several years until --- duh --- last year when I
    watered the trees regularly. One nectarine produced 1 delicious nectarine
    2 years in a row; last year it produced a few more and they were good.
    It's fairly close to a down spout, so it got more water than the other 2
    until I started watering them religiously last year. The 2nd nectarine
    tree produced its first fruit last year; because the blossoms were so much
    different, I thought it would produce plums, but it, too produced
    nectarines. I've trained all 3 to grow against the house, but I think I
    need to be a little more agressive with pruning for them to produce more
    abundantly. What I'm most curious about is how to get more branches to
    blossom - the blossoms seem to be concentrated on a few select branches.
     
  5. silver_creek

    silver_creek Active Member

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    Location:
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    Peaches and Nectarines bloom on 1 year wood, requiring heavy annual pruning to produce well. A commercial orchardist may remove 1/3 of the tree each year to produce young fruitful wood. Very different pruning than most other fruit trees.
     
  6. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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  7. JanetW

    JanetW Active Member

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    I agree with Liz on the fact that the flowering wood may be getting pruned out. Did you prune in the fall, maybe inadvertantly pruned off the forming/formed buds for this spring? Janet
     
  8. babbles

    babbles Member

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    I want to thank everyone for their advice. I think the problem is in the way the trees are being pruned.
     

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