North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Anton Callaway <marillen@earthlink.net>]

Of course whether you stimulate the tree to put out tender shoots depends on 
how much and when you remove the current season's growth.  I see what you're 
saying, a little nibble here & there wouldn't cause growth stimulation.

Your clarification helps because I thought you were referring to the meadow 
orchard system often credited to the Israelis who have implemented it on 
significant acreage, but interestingly is essentially described in 'The 
Peaches of New York'.  In this system, the entire peach tree is cut down to a 
stub immediately after harvest.  If this is done early enough in the season, 
the shoots that regrow form fruiting buds and you get an annual harvest.  
Obviously, this system doesn't work on later ripening cultivars.

As to your questions of my personal experience... I have not had problems 
with winter injury, but then again I've always avoided heavy pruning late in 
the season and have only grown peaches in the balmy [in the American sense, 
not the British one ;)  ] Southeast.  BTW, I used to live in Ithaca, but 
didn't grow peaches there. [Aside: Is that wonderful apple orchard between 
Ithaca & Trumansburg where the apples were piled in a barn all winter & sales 
were on the honor system still there?]

It's interesting that you mention Fall fertilization.  The fellow I did my 
Master's with, Dr. Gary Couvillon at UGA, did quite a lot of research on the 
effects of Fall fertilization on hardiness and peach tree health.  His 
research supported exactly what you said, that fertilizing in the Fall 
(within limits, of course) not only did not decrease hardiness, it could even 
increase winter hardiness, presumably by increasing solutes in the buds.  
Based on his teachings, I've routinely Fall fertilized for the last 30 years, 
with no ill effects.

Anton
North Carolina


-----Original Message-----
>From: Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
>Sent: Mar 29, 2011 2:27 PM
>To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: [NAFEX] pruning peaches
>
>Anton wrote "I basically agree with Alan.  One minor clarification is that
>the stimulation of growth by summer pruning near harvest works OK for early
>ripening cultivars, but not as well for the late-ripening cultivars.  Soft
>new growth stimulated too close to winter will encourage freeze damage & the
>tree won't have sufficient time to develop fruiting buds on the new growth."
>, to which I respond.
>
>The point of summer pruning one month before harvest is not so much to
>stimulate new growth as to help the peaches color and size up as is stated
>in the Rutger's guidelines I provided a link to.  They discuss different
>ripening times and specifically suggest holding off pruning for later
>ripening varieties on the schedule I noted.  There research is in NJ, of
>course.
>
>It's easy for me to believe Rutgers as I've never had any problem with trees
>suffering as a result of summer pruning at this time in Z6 and I've been
>doing it here for a couple of decades- not that that proves anything,
>especially if you've suffered winter kill from the same practice.
>
>My experience, and I prune fruit trees all day long from mid-Dec until early
>April and then again most days from mid-July until mid Sept, is danger from
>winter damage by over stimulation of late summer growth is largely
>mythological.  I believe you can have some problems if you prune shortly
>before extreme cold but all these other fears, such as late summer
>fertilization or pruning- well I'll believe it when I see it.
>
>I first became skeptical one year when my nursery was stunting out from a
>bad drought.  Rain came in mid-Aug and a lot of stuff began vigorously
>growing- especially J. plums.  The only thing to suffer winter damage was
>the very tips of those late growing shoots after the following unusually
>cold winter.  The wood held up well in all my trees.  These kind of late
>growth surges are a natural event anywhere with summer rain that
>occassionally get drought.
>
>Since that time I've read of fall fertilization experiments that seem to
>confirm my hunch.  You can check out what Carl Whitcomb says about that in
>his "Establishment and Maintenance of Landscape Plants.  I believe there's a
>copy in the NAFEX library.
>
>I'm not saying I know anything here, but I have my opinions.  Anton, are
>yours based on bad experiences, because a lot of things might be in play
>there.  I'd love to be directed to some research if mines wrong,  because
>I'd hate to be giving people bad advice.
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