Peach Leaf Curl. 5.20.19

Peach Leaf Curl.  "Charlotte Peach".  5.20.19

This is typical for "Charlotte".  Most of the leaves are affected.  Each year, it develops curl, then recovers most of the way, during the summer.  As a result, the peaches are usually few, small, and not very good.  I keep the tree because it's mature and sometimes I do get a peach.

I wonder what would happen if I overgraft part of it with "Cowlitz" peach.  Hmmm.

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.

Cowlitz Peach Progress Report and Comparison. 5.1.19

Baby Cowlitz Peaches.  5.1.19

Baby Cowlitz Peaches.  5.1.19

 Here is where things are so far this year on my peach and peach leaf curl (PLC) journey.

"Cowlitz Peach" (my designation for a seedling from Oregon Curl Free) has two or three spots of leaf curl.  Nothing significant.  Given the time of year, I doubt it will extend beyond that.

The tree has roughly 2 dozen peaches.  I stopped counting there.  They are widely spaced and minimal or no thinning will be needed.

This tree is in the chicken yard.  It is not adjacent to other peach trees that have extensive leaf curl.  On the other hand, those peaches with extensive leaf curl were planted no where near any peach trees so it must be spores borne on the air.

Over the past 2 decades, I think I've spent at least $200 on peach trees, and had few peaches to show for it.  Most had extensive PLC and eventually died of the disease.

Baby Cowlitz Peaches.  5.1.10

Cowlitz Peach Tree.  5.1.19

 Currently, in my orchard are Charlotte (7 years old), Salish Summer (It was "Q-1-8" when I bought it), Frost, and Kreibich Nectarine.  All are sold in the catalogs as PLC Resistant or PLC tolerant.  Of these, Charlotte has been tolerant of PLC but has never done much.  It usually gets a dose of PLC, blooms, looks ratty, then recovers and has a few small peaches.  This year looks about the same so far.  PLC much worse than "Cowlitz" peach.  Salish Summer had a little leaf curl last year and had some dieback.  I'm not sure if it's just making a late start this year, or if it's declining.  Frost and Kreibich were planted in Spring 2018.  They are still getting established.  Kreibich had PLC almost right out of the box.  Frost had less, but still notable.  We'll see how it does.

At the moment, Cowlitz looks pretty good.  Garden experiments can lead a lot of directions, and are not scientific, so who knows?  But  even if I get one crop of peaches this year, and they are small but decent flavor, I'll be very, very happy. 

Charlotte "PLC Resistant" Peach showing PLC.  5.1.19

Charlotte Peach Tree.  5.1.19

Frost PLC Resistant Peach.  5.1.19

Kreibich PLC Resistant Nectarine.  5.1.19

Salish Summer PLC Resistant Peach.  5.1.19

Cowlitz Peach. A work in progress. 4.24.19

Possible peach formation.  4.24.19

This is the seedling peach tree, now roughly 4 years old, from Oregon Curl Free Peach.  For brevity, I tentatively labeled it "Cowlitz Peach" for its provenance in this area.

Most of the flowers are gone.  I thought that none had set fruit, but it looks like there may be some peaches on this tree.  Hard to say from the flower remnants, so it's still up in the air.

One thing I can say, is in its 4 years of life so far, there is no leaf curl at all.  It's still a work in progress, but this is a promising result so far.

Cowlitz Peach.  No leaf curl.  4.24.19

Swelling Flower Buds. Hollywood Plum and "Son of Oregon Curl Free" Peach. 2.16.19

Flower Buds, Hollywood Plum Tree. 2.16.19

These are in the chicken and duck yard.  The Hollywood Plum tree was grown from cuttings taken about 5 years ago, I think.  The tree is covered with swelling buds now.

The peach tree was grown from a peach pit, from an Oregon Curl Free peach tree.  That tree died of canker.  This tree is also 4 or 5 years old.  Last year were the first flowers, no fruits.  It could be a dud, but I hope not.  No evidence at all for any leaf curl.   No canker yet, either.  This tree grew fast. If it bears nice fruits, I want to give it a name that honors those who were here before, possibly a word in the Cowlitz language.

These blooms could be killed by a late freeze.   However, they seem to produce, every year.   Wait and see.

Flower Buds, Peach Tree Grown From Oregon Curl Free.  2.16.19

Time to thin genetic dwarf peaches. 4.9.15

Peaches after thinning.  4.9.15  El Dorado genetic dwarf.

Today I used a kitchen scissors to thin the peaches on the containerized El Dorado genetic dwarf peach tree.  I removed about 90% of new peaches.  Looking at the photo I probably should remove just a couple more.  They are growing fast.  This is awesome - my first genetic dwarf peaches with no leaf curl. 

The genetic dwarf peaches have very short internodes, so can be left closer together compared to normal-length internode peaches.  It's not the distance, so much as how many leaves are needed to support each leaf. 

This article states that 30 to 45 leaves are needed per peach for the best production.  That is not on genetic dwarf peaches, which tend to have smaller fruit.  I don't know when it needs to be 30 to 45 leaves - early or near harvest.    I need to find some more articles - that # of leaves seems like much more than I recall.

Peaches have set. 4.2.15

Genetic Dwarf Peach Set.  El Dorado  4.2.15

Peaches have set on the containerized El Dorado peach tree.  It looks like there could be a big bowl of peaches from this tree.  That's all I need.

I kept it out of the rain all winter, under the eaves, north of the house.  Looks like it worked  - I don't see any leaf curl at all.

Potting a Peach Tree and Some Tree Volunteers. 10.29.14

El Dorado Peach Tree, Uprooted.  10.29.14

 I have been meaning to dig up the smallest of the genetic dwarf peach trees - this is El Dorado - and pot it up.  The main reason is peach leaf curl.  If I can keep it in shelter, out of the rain, in theory, PLC should not be a problem.  I have larger Honey Babe and Garden Sun, too big to dig up and treat this way.

I love peaches but it's been quite difficult growing them here.  The main problem is devastating peach lead curl disease.

This El Dorado Genetic Dwarf Peach tree is really too big to dig up.  It a robust, 6 foot tall tree, well branched.  I started digging yesterday, and finished today.  I dug a trench in a wide circle around the tree, then tried to slice under the tree with a shovel.  I was surprised there was a large thick tap-root.  I had to cut  through it to release the tree.  I pruned to even up the somewhat rough cut, trying to minimize removal of any more feeder roots.

Most of the other roots look ok.  Even though the root pruning was drastic, I've seen worse and the tree survived.  It does look  very drastic to me.  Being fall, there is a chance the tree will re-root itself with feeder roots despite removal of the anchor root.

Reasons it might not live -
*Too drastic removal of roots.
*Residual leaf curl disease on the stems.
*Root mass may freeze.  I plan to keep the tree outside because it needs chill time in order to bloom.

If the tree survives, it will make a nice ornamental.  Genetic dwarf peaches bloom beautifully.

Based on the tree planting info from Linda Chalker-Scott debunking horticultural myths, I did not top the tree or prune top to compensate for loss of root mass.  I did remove dead twigs.  There were a lot of those.

For this winter, I intend to keep the tree under house overhang, on the North side of the house.  That location may also keep it cooler, and delay bloom, which would be good.  But it it does bloom, and frost threatens, I can move it inside on chilly nights.  Next Spring and Summer I can keep it on the deck, for TLC. 

El Dorado Peach Tree, Potted.  10.29.14

 Doubtless, it will need a larger container by early summer.

There are also the peach seedlings at battleground.  They survived potting up and look nice and healthy.

I want at least 2 cherry seedlings in order to create Japanese cherry trees.  I think sweet cherry seedlings should be very robust and make a nice tree.  This was a volunteer sweet cherry from the yard.  At Battleground I also have a few sweet cherry seedlings.  By growing them in containers for a season, I can protect them and give TLC, as I do with figs, for maximal growth.    It would be nice to be able to bud graft at least one, next year.

While I was at it, I also potted up the volunteer fig tree from the front of the house.  It had nice roots.  Based on inspection, it was a stem or cutting, I just don't know from which variety or why it was there.

El Dorado Peach before moving.  10.28.14

Volunteer Fig Bare Root.  10.29.14

Sweet Cherry Seedling.  10.29.14

"Volunteer" Fig and Cherry Seedlings, Potted.  10.29.14

Transplanting Fruit Tree and Vine Starts. 10.18.14

Hollywood Plum after 1 season of growth. 10.18.14

 I replanted some of the fruit trees and a grape vine that I started in the raised beds. 

The Hollywood Plum was from cutting late winter this year, so one season of growth.  Pretty good.   Some of the others were eaten by deer.  I know they need protection but someone else left the gate open  :-).

This was one of the better cuttings.   It did not need any pruning.  I planted it in the location of the dead Satsuma plum.  That might not be wise, but my tree autopsy suggested the problem was, the tree was root bound in its original container, and I had failed to correct that. 

It's useless planting a little plum tree without protection, so I protected it.

The peach seedlings were volunteers.  I think they are from one of the genetic dwarf trees.  They have short internodes, so I think that is correct.  I dug them out, bare-rooted them - easy - and replanted in potting soil in containers.  Rationale - leaf curl disease is carried by rain during the winter.  If I keep them in the garage, I may be able to avoid that frustrating problem.    Depending on how they grow, I could either see what the peaches are like, or use them as a rootstock and graft scion from the other genetic dwarf peaches.  The plan - keep them out of the rain until dormant, then place them in a shed along with containerized fig trees, for the winter.  That may also have the advantage of delayed bloom.

Roots of Hollywood Plum, one season after starting cutting.  10.18.14

Transplanted Hollywood Plum.  10.18.14

Protected from rabbits, voles, deer.  10.18.14

 The grape was from cutting of Price grape, about 2 years old now.  The roots grew down through the screening underlying the raised bed, so I was unable to salvage most of the roots.  I think it will still be OK.  I pruned off the bottom node, which I had badly damaged in digging it out.   Now it's planted in the row with the other grapevines.  I like that I grew my own from a cutting, and Price is one of my favorites.

Peach seedlings and Price Grape Cutting.  10.18.14

Replanted peaches.  10.18.14

Pruned grape cutting.  10.18.14

Replanted grape.  10.18.14

Update. Fruit trees. 5.24.14

Q-1-8 Peach

Jonared apple

 Some of the fruit trees, especially ones planted this winter.

Q-1-8 peach growing nicely. Deer didn't eat it.  No leaf curl.  I expected that - most likely stored inside as a bare root tree, and rains in late winter didn't inoculate it with leaf curl.  My speculation.

Jonared apple.  Growing nicely.  Today I mulched.  Tomorrow I should install a wider deer cage.  The new shoots have almost reached the openings in this cage.

3-graft dwarf apple.  Growing nicely.  Not as fast as Jonared.  I spread the branches for a wide base.

Sugar Cane Jujube.  I thought this was dead.  No sign of life, no buds, until last week.  Now growing  Li Jujube.  Also looked dead, now growing fast.  Jujubes seem to make a late start.

3-graft dwarf apple

Jujube Sugar Cane new growth.

Jujube Li new growth

Peach Leaf Curl. 4.29.14

Charlotte Peach

 This is Peach Leaf Curl Disease season in my area.  I have enough resistant peach varieties to make a comparison.

As of now, they all have peach leaf curl.  Charlotte seems to have the least, and looks like it will have a small bowl of peaches this year.  Oregon Curl Free has a bit more, and also looks like it will have some peaches.

Indian Free peach has a moderate amount of curl.  It didn't bloom, except for one flower that fell off.  I think

Charlotte Peach

Oregon Curl Free Peach

 As for the Genetic Dwarf peaches...  anyone who sells them in the Pacific NW is doing their customers a big disservice.  Photos are the varieties Garden Sun, Honeybabe, and Ponderosa.  They may make a comeback.  The peaches will need a lot of thinning.  It's too difficult to cover them to keep out rain, and spraying in the fall is difficult to time.  Rainy season starts before the leaves fall.  So they are going to get leaf curl each year, they look terrible and it has a big effect on peach production.  The only solution I can think of is treat them the way hobbyists treat fig trees.  Grow small, in containers, keeping them pruned small, root prune, and put them in garage or shed for the winter.  Bring them outside when they start to grow.  I might try that, maybe starting my own variety with seedlings.  I have 2 seedlings in the garden beds, so that is a start.  For what it's worth, one was in a covered bed, and has no curl.  The other was exposed, and does have curl.

The seedlings might take a long time to bear.  I don't know.  But, being on genetic dwarf rootstock, they might also stay smaller than if grafted on regular peach rootstock.

Not pictured, the Tri-lite Peach-Plum hybrid has as bad leaf curl as any of the others.  The susceptibility of the peaches dominates the resistance of the plums.  So it's not worth buying that one either.

Indian Free Peach

Garden Sun Dwarf Peach

 I suspect that none of the Zaiger hybrids will be curl resistant.  They are bred in California where the disease is not an issue.

Ponderosa Dwarf Peach

Honey Babe Dwarf Peach

Summary:

Less susceptible to peach leaf curl, but not immune:

Charlotte
Oregon Curl Free
Indian Free

Q-1-8 is in its first year.  There is no curl, but as a bare root tree it was probably stored in a barn, and not exposed to winter rains which are responsible for spreading the fungal spores.

Highly susceptible to peach leaf curl:
Tri-lite Peach-plum
Honey Babe Genetic Dwarf
Garden Sun Genetic Dwarf
Ponderosa Genetic Dwarf.

Potential alternative:
Raise in container, keep small by pruning and root pruning, and move container into shed for winter, similar to fig hobbyists in cold climates.  Or similar to my brugmansias and geraniums that I overwinter.

Thoughts.
Next year, buy one for the container treatment.
This year, try to pot up the two seedling trees so I can get them started, but it may be a long path and who knows if I will live that long.

One additional thought.  Deer seem to stay away from most of the peach trees.  They do take some bites out of Indian Free.

Fruit Tree Order for Spring 2014

From Raintree Nursery.  I've made a habit of ordering way ahead.  Not wanting many additions this time.  Each has a specific reason -


Jujube Sugar Cane.  According to the web page very sweet but very thorny.  Raintree states they send 3 to 5 foot trees.  The trees I One Green World sent last year were 1 foot trees - pretty lame.  They survived and grew, and are now whopping 18 inch to 2 foot trees.  Look out Sequoias, your record is about to be broken!  So I want to jump start a little and add a taller one.  Different variety for novelty sake.  It's not clear if they need pollenizers.  According to CFRG, jujubes don't require cross pollenation, but according to Raintree they do.  CFRG states:  "Small to medium fruit which can be round to elongated. Extremely sweet fruit but on a very spiny plant. The fruit is worth the spines!".  Maybe the spines will frustrate marauding deer, or at least annoy them.  Pic is from Raintree site at link above


Q-1-8 Peach.  I researched many websites for a late blooming, peach leaf curl resistant variety.  I'm not sure about the late-blooming aspect, but Q-1-8 is described by most as quite leaf curl resistant.  Since I have 2 yellow-flesh varieties, this white-flesh variety will be a novelty.  It takes a few years to start bearing,  and I want to see if I can get enough peaches for a pie, from any variety.  Pic is from Raintree site at link above.  Kind of a cute name for a peach.  Rolls off the tongue....  but if it bears OK, resists peach leaf curl, and tastes good, that's all I need.

PrairieFire Crabapple.  To feed honeybees and provide pollen for other apple varieties.  DEscribed by Raintree as "A disease resistant, upright crabapple to 20' with reddish bronze leaves, pink flowers, and bright red 1/2' fruit loved by birds.".   WSU Extension states "Very resistant to apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fireblight and mildew."  Pics are from WSU Extension.  This might be the one I saw at Home Depot on sale, but that was similar size and I like the idea of buying from Raintree.  Raintree states they sell 4 to 6 foot trees.  If it was 6 foot it would be awesome.    Many of my spring blooming trees have white flowers, so one with pink or red would be a nice addition.

Fruit Trees. Mini Orchard.

Almaden Duke Cherry

Jujube in bee yard

Jujube in orchard

 Almaden Duke Cherry, I moved last summer.  At the time I wondered if it would survive, due to wilting.  Growing nicely.  Only a couple of cherries now.  That may be due to the late frost, which caused a lot of damage to other trees and vines.

Illinois Everbearing Mulberry

North Star Cherry

Sunflower Paw Paw

NC1 Paw Paw

Oregon Curl Free Peach

Indian Blood Peach

Charlotte Peach

Chinese Haw Red Sun

Seijo Persimmon

 Jujube.  I forget which of the two this is.  One is Li and the other is Coco.  From One Free World last summer.  Both are late to start, but now growing.  They have a lot of growing ahead before they amount to anything.   Not a good recommendation for the source.  Planted last fall.

Nikita's Gift Persimmin

One jujube is in the bee  yard, the other in the little orchard.  This fall the other may also be in the bee yard, to provide room for another plum or peach.







Illinois Everbearing Mulberry.  Whatever frost damage was there, it's recovered.  Soon it will need a bird net.

North Star Pie Cherry.  Thanks to the rainy week, it didn't lose a leaf or wilt after planting.  From Lowes.

Sunflower and NC1 Paw Paws.  growing nicely.  They seem to leaf out later than most other trees, about the same time as the jujubes and mulberry.

Oregon Curl Free Peach.  This little tree won't have peaches this year.  It is one of the least affected I've seen as far as Leaf Curl is concerned.  From One Green World last year.  So far, not very vigorous.  There is a summer ahead for growth.  Might make up for lost time.

Indian Blood Peach.  Minimal leaf curl.  Much less than most of the others.  This year I hope it recovers from the damage I did transplanting it from vancouver.  I lost most of the roots when I dug it up.  Surprised it survived.  Can't be disappointed at it for not having peaches this year - just survive and grow.  From Raintree.

Charlotte peach.  Supposed to be curl resistant. It's not.  Or not very.  What a mess.  I will need to research replacements.  I don't want to get stuck with another susceptible peach tree.  It's making a comeback with new growth.   Give it another year to see what happens.

Chinese Haw.  Growing nicely.  From One Green World.  Bare root planted last fall.

Seijo Persimmon and Nikita's Gift Persimmon.  Both growing nicely.  Bare root, planted this spring.  From Raintree.  They will need extra water all summer, because persimmons are said to have inadequate roots to support their tops, for the first year.