Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Apricots, Cherries... Climate Puts Limits on What You Can Raise

by John H. Weinberger and Harold W. Fogle.

John H. Weinberger is a Collaborator with Horticultural Crops Production, Agricultural Research Service, Fresno, Calif. Harold W. Fogle is a Research Horticulturist, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Md.

Growing peaches or other stone fruits in your home garden can reward you with luscious, tree-ripened fruit. But you must give your trees the care they require. Here are three specifics:

Regular sprays for insect and disease control are absolute necessities to growing unblemished fruits.

Birds and bees will take their share unless you protect ripening fruits.

You must select varieties adapted to your climate to be assured of regular crops.

Despite such requirements, the opportunity to have fruits of various flavors, tastes and textures for up to six months in your home garden is a real inducement to plant stone fruits.

Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and cherries are called stone fruits because they have a hard, stony pit. They can be eaten fresh, or saved for future enjoyment by canning, preserving, freezing, or drying. Sour cherries are most often used in pies.

The climate where you live limits your selection of the kinds of stone fruits you can grow. Individual varieties must be adapted also. One or more of the stone fruits can be grown in every State except Alaska.

Low winter temperatures hamper the growing of stone fruits in Northern States. Some fruit buds of peaches, nectarines, and Japanese Plums are usually killed by temperatures below 0 F and a reduced crop results. Lower temperatures damage or may kill the trees. European and native plums, cherries and apricots are hardier in fruit bud and wood than peaches or Japanese plums.

Along the southern border of the country, winter temperatures may be too high to break the rest period of the buds of many varieties. Only varieties with a low chilling requirement succeed there. In the vast area of the country between the marginal areas most stone fruits can be grown successfully.

Nectarines do best in a climate where rain rarely falls in the three weeks before ripening. They are very susceptible to brown rot disease.

Japanese plums, except for a few varieties, are not adapted to the humid climate of the Southeast. Diseases affect the trees and the fruits of most varieties.

Apricots bloom early in spring. The blossoms are usually killed by frost or freezes each year in all but the most favorable locations.

Sweet cherries are not adaptable to the extreme North or South. Everywhere birds will get a good share of the fruit before the home gardener is ready to harvest unless the tree is protected by netting or otherwise.

Peaches should receive first consideration by the home gardener for their wide adaptability, long ripening period, and ease of growing. Nectarines, where adaptable, are equally as good.

European plums need more care than peaches. They bloom later than Japanese plums and may escape frost. Japanese plums, where adapted, produce large and attractive fruits with a minimum of care.

Apricots in the home garden should be tried only in commercial apricot-growing regions.

Sweet cherry trees reach large size, which adds to the problem of growing them in a backyard.

Contact your county Extension office for recommended variety lists and cultural practices.

Location, Spacing

Stone fruit trees should not be planted in a low or frosty location, where frost damage to blossoms and young fruits is probable. Moderately elevated ground or a slope will provide the necessary air drainage. Temperatures below 30 F will kill most fruits.

The soil should be reasonably fertile, with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Poorly drained soils are not suitable for stone fruits. Avoid planting trees in the permanent sod part of the lawn. Plant them in border plots or edges of the lawn. Fruit trees need full sun. Do not plant them in the shade of larger trees.

Peach, nectarine, plum, and sour cherry trees need the least space for maximum production; 18 to 24 feet is adequate. Apricot and sweet cherries need 25 to 30 feet. Peach and plum trees can be kept small by pruning and maintained in a 10- to 12-foot spacing if necessary.

All fruit can be picked from the ground if trees are kept low by pruning. Training trees on a wall or wire trellis is practical where space is limited.

A single tree can have fruit ripening over several months if three to six early, medium and late ripening varieties are budded into one tree. Budding is best done in late August while the bark still slips. The buds remain dormant until spring, when they are forced by cutting off the branch just above the bud. The ordinary "T" bud is the simplest type to use.

Sweet cherries and some Japanese plum varieties require cross-pollination in order to set fruit. A tree of another variety capable of cross-fertilization must be planted nearby. For best results select two varieties to plant which are known to be cross-fertile. An alternative is to bud or graft a branch of the pollinator variety in the desired tree.

Nearly all peach, nectarine and apricot varieties set fruit with their own pollen. Avoid self-sterile varieties of these fruits.

Select only varieties which do well in your locality. The fruits should have good flavor and smooth texture to make your efforts worthwhile. Extreme firmness and slow softening are not necessary since the fruit will not be shipped. On the other hand, rapid softening makes handling difficult.

Fruits of most commercial varieties will fill these requirements satisfactorily when picked at their peak of perfection. Do not let nostalgia for old varieties overly influence your choice. Peaches, nectarines, and plums have been much improved in recent years.

Hundreds of peach varieties are available. Freestone peaches are preferred for fresh use and for freezing. Both freestone and clingstone peaches may be canned. Varieties grown in the humid region east of the Rocky Mountains are usually different from those grown in dry irrigated areas west of the Rockies.

For the eastern part of the country, a succession of varieties in time of ripening from early to late would be Springold, Candor, Early Redhaven, Dixired, Harbrite, Redhaven, Red-globe, Loring, Redskin, and Monroe.

In States from Texas to Maryland where bacterial leaf spot disease is a problem, give special consideration to resistant varieties such as Sentinel, Ranger, and Dixiland.

Special varieties having a low chilling requirement are needed where winters are too warm for the above varieties. These include Maygold, Junegold, and Suwanee. Desertgold and Flordasun, which require even less chilling, are suitable for central Florida and the Rio Grande Valley.

A succession of peach varieties for the dry, irrigated areas west of the Rocky Mountains are Springold, Springcrest, Royal May, Flavorcrest, Regina, Redtop, Suncrest, Fayette, Summerset, and Fairtime. They ripen from mid-April to mid-September. Firm-fleshed clingstone peaches for canning are Loadel, Andross, and Halford. Junegold, Sunnyside, and Fairway varieties are freestones adapted to warmer areas of the region. Desertgold can be grown where winters are short.

Some of these peach varieties may not be available in your area. You might visit a local fruitstand where you can select a locally-grown, adapted variety suiting your needs.

Nectarines are beautiful fruits. In recent years some non-patented varieties have been developed which are available to the home gardener. The earliest is Firebrite, followed in order by Independence, Flavortop, Fantasia, Late Le Grand, Flamekist, and Fair-lane. Fairlane ripens about September 1 in California. Remember that in humid climates, nectarines are harder to grow than peaches.