Cowlitz Peach. 5.17.19

"Cowlitz" Peach.  5.17.19

 "Cowlitz" is the designation I gave to a seedling of "Oregon Curl Free" peach, which I grew as an own-root tree.  It is located in the chicken yard in a non-ideal situation, with a shade tree directly south.  Despite that, it has grown nicely and, in its fourth year from seed, has about 30 peaches forming on its branches.  I thinned out doublets and any that looked too close together, otherwise there would be more.  Some branches did not set fruit.

So far, so good.  After an unseasonably hot week, in May, with temp almost 90F, we had chill and rains with temps down into the 50s.

This tree is not 100% free of peach leaf curl, but has less than any other peach I have ever grown - just a few scattered spots.  Whether that continues will be an observation in progress.

Still, I have optimism that this tree will do well.  Since peach seedlings are often similar to their parent trees, these may be similar to Oregon Curl Free.  I don't know if the Curl resistance is a multiple gene trait, or a single gene, and if it is likely to be heterozygous or homozygous.  There are lots of possibilities. 

"Cowlitz" Peach.  5.17.19

If these peaches are decent eating, my thought will be to germinate some of the seeds either to grow another generation or as rootstock for grafts of Cowlitz.

I've also read about growing peaches from air layers from the parent tree.  I should look into that to see if I can make some own-root progeny.