choosing a peach and plum

14 years ago

Hi,

i just starting doing research to pick a peach variety to plant in my back yard and i am already overwhelmed. would love some help from some of you expert out there.

i know i want

-yellow

-freestone

- good peachy flavor

-easy care (organic friendly)

- good for eating and jam and pies

and heirloom is appealing because we own a victorian home ( kind of fits , silly i know) and older varieties usually were bred for taste rather than shipping

we are very close to lake michigan most zone maps show us 5 or 6 the coldest my home thermometer gets is -7 or-8 or so and only a handful of days we get lots of snow not lots of cold.

also looking for a plum with similar needs except that it taste like a plum not peachy ;)

don't have lots of room so two trees is about it.

thanks for your time in advance, Ann

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Comments (5)

Scott F Smith
14 years ago
Ann, there is no such thing as an easy care peach, so before you get a tree look into how much work is needed, in particular if you want to grow it organically. The easiest way I have found to grow peaches organically is to bag them in cotton drawstring bags when they are small. That will keep the bugs off of them. If you don't bag or spray they will all be bug-ridden. You will also probably need to spray for diseases such as brown rot and bacterial spot - two or more times a year.

If your temps are not going below -8F and you are by the lake, you should be able to grow most varieties. The old heirloom peaches are wonderful but there are not many nurseries selling them. Vintage Virginia Apples was selling Early Crawford at some point; it is one of the best. Elberta is a fine old peach still sold in many places. Most of the 100+ year old varieties are whites since that was the popular color back then, so there are more whites to pick from.

Scott
trampslikeus
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks Scott,
i know you have to prune and spray peaches i just meant not an extra needed variety. when you say bag them do you mean each peach gets a bag or you put a bag over the tree? so many to choose from it is hard to pick just one.
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Scott F Smith
14 years ago
Ann I mean just bag each peach, its a lot easier than trying to grow the whole tree under a cover. I use 5"x7" cotton parts bags which cost about 20 cents each but work for several seasons. You need a bigger size for bigger peaches like Elberta. Another thing I like about the bags is it makes the squirrels have a harder time stealing them if they are tied to the limb (there is another problem with peaches BTW - if you see squirrels in your yard you see your future peach thieves). Peach varieties are not all that different in terms of how easy they are to grow; some are more disease-prone and that is the main difference.

In terms of the varieties, all home-grown peaches are good so its not as important as for example picking apple varieties. I think this is due to peaches being less genetically diverse than apples. If you are getting two trees make sure to get an earlier and a later one so you spread out the harvest.

Scott
trampslikeus
Original Author
14 years ago
thanks Scott we do have squirrels so i will keep this in mind. i didn't know peaches had less variety then apples. Are all stone fruits like that? so much learn. thanks again for the help.

ann
goodground
14 years ago
My Contender Peach has been care free.
No spraying and perfect peaches 3 years straight.
I'm sure micro climate has alot to do with it, so results will vary.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:123379}}

choosing a peach and plum

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Scott F Smith

trampslikeus
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choosing a peach and plum

Comments (5)

Scott F Smith

trampslikeusOriginal Author

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Scott F Smith

trampslikeusOriginal Author

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trampslikeus
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