Any One in the North Have Peach Trees?

[Nyboy]

I am looking to plant a few peach trees this spring. I am in zone 5, anyone have peach trees they are happy with? Do you have to spray them ? Thanks

 

[Smart Red]

Okay, your question was does anyone in the North have peach trees. Yes, I do. Then you had to ask if anyone was happy with their trees. No, I have had a few delicious fruits, but few. Finally, do I spray? Not nearly enough. I have found that three sprays - 1 dormant, 1 before flowering, and 1 after petal drop will give me a good harvest of fruit (not the peaches) with minimal insect damage.

I have Reliance from UW-Wisconsin, Contender, and a donut shaped peach whose name escapes me right now. Most years they fail because of a late frost in the spring, not because the trees are not hardy. Now only two are left. Drought took them out the summer of 2012.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

@Smart Red - When do you apply the dormant spray? I have found a new looking bottle of dormant oil out in one of the barns here. I didn't think dad used much spray (on anything growing out there) as he was about as much "organic" as any gardener I've ever known. I also found a gallon of Seven with a very old price sticker and lots of dust on it. It has never been opened. Maybe dad had a weak moment at the farm store a few years ago . I do know that he always planted more than needed so that the bugs and other pests had their share of the harvest. But I also know that it is very disappointing when all of your veggies end up in the tummies of the pests and none for the gardener.

His fruit trees never did live up to expectations. Maybe a little spray here and there would be a good thing.

 

[Smart Red]

Glad to see you again, @Smiles Jr., Dormant spray can be (mine is) organic. It is basically just an oil spray that is applied to tree trunk and branches before the leaves open. Depending upon the weather I can get mine on in mid March to mid April. That is probably the most important spraying that needs be done -- smothering the insect eggs and scale that spent the winter on the bark of your trees.

I try to be as organic as possible where my food-stuffs are concerned. There are many fruit sprays out there. I think I have found an organic one, but can't remember right now. The directions say to spray every 4 weeks or so through the season. I've never done that. As I said, one spraying before the flowers pop open and one a bit after the petals have fallen seems to work pretty well for me. There is some insect damage, but most of the fruits are nearly good enough for the store.

No spraying when the bees are out! That means spray late at night, during the night (the air is calmer anyway) or very early in the morning before the pollinators are busy. I'd rather skip the spraying than kill the bees so I am very careful.

I, too, have a bottle of Sevin. Its age is hard to determine, as the label is faded, but I am more likely to use it on the perennials than on the veggies or fruits. Just me.

 

[Nyboy]

Smiles I am the same way, hate to count the number of unopen bottles I have.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I HAVE a peach tree, but it is a Hiawatha, a red leafed peach grown more for ornamental and rootstock purposes than for it's fruit. I does make peaches, but they are tiny (about golf ball sized) not particularly tasty, ridiculously long season (the flowers fall by mid march, but I often don't have the peaches ripen until NOVEMBER) and not that many make it to maturity (I think the record is four) so probably not what you are after.
I usually don't have to spray, but that is because the tree doesnlt seem to get all that many bugs (and seems curl resistant)

 

[catjac1975]

There are a few varieties designed for the North. I am in zone 6 and have luck with dwarf peaches but not nectarines. I get a lot of peaches, have no time for spraying. The peaches are imperfect but I pick and cook them and they are like the peaches we ate as kids. There are organic sprays I just do not have the time. I would not waste time with big box store fruit trees. Get them from a good supplier. They are surprisingly inexpensive and you will get what you want. I always liked Miller.

 

[Nyboy]

@catjac1975 I have unopened bottles of spray, I never had time to use. Is Miller a supplier or a peach type ?

 

[catjac1975]

Miller is a supplier.

 

[catjac1975]

This looks good from Stark Bros. Whom I have also purchased from. I think my peach is Reliance. 36 years old. I almost cut it down once. It got the message and gave me at least 25 gallons of prepared peaches that year. I had to prop up the fruit laden branches. Like everything else it has good and bad years, but always a fair crop at least.
http://www.starkbros.com/products/f...-assortments/cold-hardy-fruit-tree-assortment