Marianne's Response

What’s Wrong with Fruits from My Peach Tree?

Hi Marianne,
l have a young Elberta Peach tree that has given me fruits for the last 3 or 4 years. Because the branches are so loaded with fruits, l have been removing about 1/2 of the fruits. However, the fruits that remain still get no larger than a golf ball and remain hard, no matter how long l leave them on the tree (until the porcupine knocks them off). They also taste quite bitter.

l live in zone 5, though because l am in the “foothills of the Berkshires” and it is often 5-10 degrees colder here than it is at the bottom of the mountain, l consider it a zone 4 garden. The orchard is on a slope, the peach tree is towards the bottom of the hill. l also have apple, pear, plum, and, cherry trees on the hillside that rarely even produce blooms.

How can l get decent fruits from the peach and fruits from the other trees, or am l just stuck because of our weather? Thanks!

Posted by Laura Flechsig on November 4, 2023

Marianne's Response

Don't want to sound cold, but your night temps are most likely too chilly to ripen most stone fruit such as peach and  cherry. You may be able to help things along with a special planting location such as close to a building where heat can radiate out at night or borrow from manor house English gardens during the last century and build yourself a walled garden of brick. Brick walls 8 to 10 feet tall will keep out varmints and trap heat. Not very practical for most of us but the romance of a walled garden really started to keep food crops safe and warm. There is one peach variety called "Frost" that has been bred for cool climates but success is mixed.  The easy answer to what fruit grows best in your area is to ask your neighbors. Each region has a changing climate zone but those who have succeeded are usually happy to share. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti

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