Newly planted peach trees not leafing out

[Eternal_sunshine]

I planted a mini orchard with ten dwarf fruit trees at the end of April in zone 5a. Everything looks great except the 2 peach trees, which have no leaves at all, and the buds seem dead. Any ideas? They've been in the ground since April 22.

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

Pics -

 

[Chuck]

Have you broken open one of the buds to look for color?

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

Have you broken open one of the buds to look for color?

I haven't, what color is "good"?

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

Have you broken open one of the buds to look for color?

This is what one looks like inside. Yellow brownish

 

[Chuck]

I haven't, what color is "good"?

This is what one looks like inside. Yellow brownish

It appears that the tree was in a frost during bud swell and killed the blooms. It is possible but not probable that the tree will bloom this year. Blooms come before leaves. Give it a week or two and I bet it will start showing leaves. Have you scratched the bark to see if the tree is still alive? You will see a greenish color if alive and brownish if not. Are you sure you purchased a tree with the correct chilling hours?

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

I bought them all at home depot so I have no idea if they were chilled. if it doesn't bloom, it could still grow leaves and survive?

I just scratched back the bark and it is green inside!

 

[Chuck]

I bought them all at home depot so I have no idea if they were chilled. if it doesn't bloom, it could still grow leaves and survive?

I just scratched back the bark and it is green inside!

A peach tree needs what is called chilling hours. A chilling hour is an hour that is below 45F. Being bought from a big box store probably isn't a good thing as whoever bought the trees from the grower probably had no knowledge of chilling hours or your date of last frost. If you can tell me the name of the tree on its tag I can probably tell you how many chilling hours are required for that tree. What probably happened was you purchased a tree that had a lower chilling hour requirement. What this means is that the tree, after it received its required number of chilling hours, started to form its bud swells because its DNA told it to. But, the DNA didn't know that there was another frost coming. The bud swell formed, a frost came and killed the buds. The tree will survive and leaf out fine, but there will be no fruit this year and depending on the chilling hours required and the last frost date maybe never. This is one of the reasons it is always an iffy proposition to buy long lived plants from a big box store. Send me the name of the tree and I will try to find out its requirements.

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

A peach tree needs what is called chilling hours. A chilling hour is an hour that is below 45F. Being bought from a big box store probably isn't a good thing as whoever bought the trees from the grower probably had no knowledge of chilling hours or your date of last frost. If you can tell me the name of the tree on its tag I can probably tell you how many chilling hours are required for that tree. What probably happened was you purchased a tree that had a lower chilling hour requirement. What this means is that the tree, after it received its required number of chilling hours, started to form its bud swells because its DNA told it to. But, the DNA didn't know that there was another frost coming. The bud swell formed, a frost came and killed the buds. The tree will survive and leaf out fine, but there will be no fruit this year and depending on the chilling hours required and the last frost date maybe never. This is one of the reasons it is always an iffy proposition to buy long lived plants from a big box store. Send me the name of the tree and I will try to find out its requirements.

It's an early elberta dwarf peach tree. It (and the other 9 fruit trees) was an impulse buy!

 

[Chuck]

It's an early elberta dwarf peach tree. It (and the other 9 fruit trees) was an impulse buy!

what is your zip code

 

[Eternal_sunshine]

what is your zip code

03104

 

[Chuck]

03104

Your tree requires between 800-950 actual hours of below 45F. You are in zone 5b. The average first frost is Sept 23 and the average last frost is May 16. You might have peaches some years but I would guess that a late frost year or even a normal year will preclude this. Your tree should have a requirement of around 1000-1200 chilling hours for continuous yearly production. Chilling hours begin when the tree looses its leaves and goes dormant. Try to get a Reliance peach tree

 

[cpp gardener]

I agree. Maine is not noted as a major peach producing state. Reliance or other extra cold tolerant variety is a must.