Improving Peach Production on Peach Cocktail Tree

Q. I planted a peach tree that has 3 varieties of peach grafted into the same tree. I can’t remember the names of the peaches. In either case, my tree bore no fruit last spring. What can I do to get fruit this season?
A. It is fortunate you have only different peaches on your fruit cocktail tree. When there is a mixture of different types of fruits on the same tree the tree is harder to manage.

            You didn’t mention the age of the trees but sounds like a pruning problem if it had peaches in previous years. It is possible it could have been a late freeze as well. It depends if you saw flowers or not. Flowers and no fruit...probably a freeze problem. No flowers at all. Probably a pruning problem.

Pruning a peach requires removing half of last year’s growth. It is getting late now but you can still prune during, and a couple of weeks after, bloom.

            One big problem with "cocktail" types of fruit trees is the different rates of growth between the different fruits. Some are more vigorous than others.

            This can give the tree an unbalanced look before pruning. All of the growth, more vigorous types and less vigorous types, must be brought back into proportion each year.This will require more aggressive pruning on the more vigorously growing sides of the tree. If you don't do this, the more aggressive varieties will dominate and probably eliminate the less vigorous ones.

            Another problem is that parts of the tree will be in flower at different times. During bloom move slowly and carefully making sure you do not accidentally hurt any bees.  They are busy "working" the flowers the same time you are pruning. If you are not careful, they will view your work as “aggressive” behavior and defensively sting.

Bee in peach blossom

            Fruit comes from flower buds growing along the length of last year’s growth. In peach and nectarine, fruit buds are only produced on last year’s reddish growth. Older brownish wood does not produce fruit. Older wood is there to support the fruit and, with your help through pruning, balance the fruit load throughout the canopy.

Here you can see the older brown wood (two year old wood and no flowers) and the newer (last years) reddish brown growth with flowers.

            Your purpose in pruning is to give the tree structure that will support the fruit, distribute the fruit load and allow light to get inside the canopy. Last year’s growth is easy to see because it is reddish brown compared to the older, brown wood.

            The more vigorous growth requires more aggressive pruning. First bring the tree into “balance” by removing older wood that is growing too close together and remove any strong vertical growth.

            Preserve 50% of the best reddish growth when pruning for fruit production. If your pruning removes all of the new, reddish growth, you will have no fruit.

Strong vertical growth is normally removed unless there was nothing else in that area to bear fruit.

            When pruning, remove reddish growth that is growing perfectly upright. Fruit from this growth will dangle above older wood and get damaged as it gets bigger. It will also help to keep the canopy open for better light penetration.

            Next, remove reddish growth that is growing straight down. Finally remove reddish growth along the branch that is closer than 4 to 5 inches apart. Leave the most robust reddish growth spaced far enough apart for bearing the fruit.

            Lastly, if you have reddish growth that is exceedingly long (over 18 inches in length), cut it back to about 10 inches.