North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

Too many peaches not many leaves suggests a stressed tree.  Of course too
many peaches can be the source of the stress and fruit should be thinned to
at least a 5" distance when small.  Mature peaches should never have been
grown densely enough to touch.  Rule of thumb as I recall is there should
be about 30 leaves for every fruit.

A stressed tree may not set fruit the following year and then grow
vigorously without the burden of fruit.  That is, unless the stress is from
something else- such as soggy conditions or heavy competition from nearby
larger trees (peaches are particularly poor competitors in this regard).

Trees that tend to get broken branches are usually trees that grow branches
of excessive diameter.  A  scaffold branch more than half the diameter of
the trunk at point of attachment is an invitation to disaster- particularly
with peaches.  During first couple years of training such oversized
branches should be removed unless you want to rely on ringing a tree with
rope or using crutches.