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Fruit & Orchards

peach tree winter survival issues

14 years ago

I am growing an elberta peach tree,and i have an issue with it.The winter die back prevents it from ever producing any fruit,in fact all i have left every spring is a bunch of dead branches,that must be trimmed back to the trunk.Now when i purchased this tree i was told that it is perfectly suited to the growing zone in which i live(in between a zone 4-5) my neighbor grows elberta peaches with out too much die back and a harvest,however a minimal one.is there anything i can do,short of relocating the tree(not possible), to prevent a die back? I was thinking of wrapping the tree in burlap or plastic,to prevent the drying winter winds from dessicating the branches.This tree is located on the edge of my garden with no protection from the north wind.

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Comments (4)

Michael
14 years ago
One more industrious method might be to build a temporary shed, closed on the south, east and west sides over the tree. I have read of some who used it effectively. For your tree's sake I hope others more knowledgeable than I will weigh in.

Michael
jellyman
14 years ago
Vermont:

There is a product sold called "Wilt-Pruf" that is intended to slow or prevent dessication of woody plants. I have used it on Asian persimmon grafted trees that were in danger of drying out due to early planting, and it preserved them completely.

Wilt-Pruf is sold in 16 oz. spray bottles that cost about $10. It is also sold in larger quantities and as a concentrate. If the problem is dessication more than the cold itself, it might be worth a try. Apply in fall just as the trees are entering dormancy. If the tree is not too large, you ought to be able to easily cover the entire tree with one bottle.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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I think a lot of it has to do with how much our temperatures can swing compared to other growing regions. I have always read how hardiness increases as the temperature decreases slowly. If it starts to warm up then the trees start to lose hardiness. On Jan 3rd I was 66f, then on the 6th we bottomed out at -12f. On Feb 6th we had -15f, but it had been over a week since we saw 50's. I think the freeze in Jan probably hurt more than the one in feb. Most places don't get swings like that. The guys in WI might get -20f without seeing too much damage, but it was probably a couple of weeks of 0-10 highs before that, and after it for that matter. My reliance and redhaven (20 trees) are either froze out completely, or later and not swelling yet. I have one Q-1-8 that has bud swell now. I haven't checked at the orchard further north. There was still snow on the ground there yesterday, so I doubt they are doing anything there yet.
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Don't know about your spray program Sara but my 3rd leaf Redhaven lost all but 1 of it's flower buds last Winter when the temps. dropped to -10, -6 and -8 during one stretch, that was a bummer as I was hoping to have a peach or to to try this year. OFM is a real bugger, I'm discovering that horror for the 1st time this year having never had them the previous 7 years. Best of luck.
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Scott F Smith
14 years ago
I have had very good luck using tents of aluminum bubble insulation for figs and pomegranates in my zone and I expect it would work well on peaches in your zone. Here is one of them:

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Notice how a large area of ground is covered. This allows the warm air of the soil to come up and warm the tree. In your climate with lots of snow I would make it cone-shaped so the snow will slide off. You also need to trim the tree every year to fit under the cover. It is held to the ground with ground staples and the "rope belt" helps keep it from blowing off.

In general this can be done with any insulating and wind-blocking material. Don't use plastic however, it will heat up too much in warm spells and the tree will come out of dormancy too early.

Scott
franktank232
14 years ago
Scott-

Did you just go to a HD or Lowes (or Menards in my case) to buy that stuff? I really should do that to my sweet cherries! They are small (in Gisela) and right in a row... Only problem is the ground freezes here and sometimes very deeply depending on snow cover.

To the poster... you might want to try a different variety. Die back is a huge problem around here too (i notice it on almost every peach tree i find growing in this area).

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