PEACH THINNING IS TOUGH BUT NECESSARY TASK Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service — Galveston County Office March 23 2016 Dr. William Johnson is a horticulturist with the Galveston County Office PHOTOS BY William M. Johnson of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Visit Thinning fruits is the hardest of all tasks for the novice peach grower but it must be done to pro- his website at duce a high-quality harvest. Peaches should be thinned before they reach the size of a dime. http://aggie- horticulture.tamu.edu/ galveston. Most of us especially enjoy fully pruned the poor crea- crop of fruits—and that in seeing blooms produced by ture's branches soon after turn means that some News column printed in fruit trees that signal the last year's harvest season fruits have to go! the Galveston Daily end of the winter season. To was over, the tree will like- News, The Post, and a commercial peach produc- ly still have too many How does one properly other Galveston County er, the sight of colorful peaches on it this spring to thin the fruit of a peach Newspapers. blooms signals an approach- produce a high-quality tree? First and foremost, ing task known as fruit thin- crop later in the summer. you must have will power! ning. Homeowners should Most peach trees in our In an earlier column, I also realize the importance area have produced an mentioned that a properly of this not-so-easy task of abundance of fruit this planted, properly pruned relieving peach trees of their spring, meaning that most and well-cared for peach "overload." trees are even more likely tree is capable of produc- to have too many peaches ing up to 400 pounds of Even though you unmerci- to produce a high-quality peaches. It takes about Page 2 PEACH THINNING IS TOUGH BUT NECESSARY TASK 382 small peaches measuring 3/4" them a little twist, and off they biting into a sweet juicy peach later diameter to make a bushel, while it come. Fruit should be thinned until in the spring makes all of the hard only takes 158 peaches measuring all peaches are at least 6-to-8 inch- work worth it! 2½" diameter to make the same es apart on the branch and there bushel. are no twin (or side-by-side) fruits. At a Glance One bushel of peaches typically When thinning, look at the number WHAT: Hands-on Demonstrations weighs 48 to 50 pounds. In other of fruit remaining on the tree and on Thinning Peaches words, you can get ample amounts not at the ground. Looking at the WHEN: 9:00 - 11:00 a.m., Thursday, of inferior size peaches without ground will likely prevent you from March 24 thinning or you can aim for the removing enough fruit. WHO: Master Gardeners will pro- larger sized peaches. It's a lot less vide hands-on demonstrations on effort and the end result in total Excessive fruit load can cause tree properly thinning peaches. poundage will likely be the same— limbs to break. Excessive fruit set LOCATION: Program conducted in it's a no brainer. will often also result in small fruit Carbide Park (4102 Main Street, La with poor flavor. One more cau- Marque) in the Master Gardener Thinning is the hardest of all tasks tionary note: excessive fruit set can Horticulture Demonstration Gar- for the novice fruit grower. Last also result in alternate bearing in den. week, the Master Gardeners start- which a tree will produce little or ed thinning fruits on peach trees in no fruit in the year following a large What: Texas-Tuff Landscape the Horticulture Demonstration fruit crop. Plants . Blooming & Beautiful Garden in Carbide Park. I was re- WHEN: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, minded of how difficult this task is When you complete this task, the March 29 when one of the newer Master Gar- ground will be covered with small WHO: Master Gardener Sandra De- deners exclaimed that she would peaches, and you probably will feel vall will provide a PowerPoint pro- not have had the courage to re- that you have lost your entire crop. gram on choosing healthy, hearty move so many baby peaches. But in reality, at harvest time you plants for your landscape that will will likely realize that you did not be ornamental as well as welcom- Peaches should be thinned when thin enough. ing to bees and other pollinators, the fruit is still as small as a dime. birds and butterflies. Program will The longer the fruit has to mature I thinned a peach tree a few years touch on ways to bring beauty to under the ideally thinned situation, ago and counted the number of the garden. the larger it will get—less competi- fruits. I had removed more than tion for nutrients and water equals one thousand peaches! Peaches LOCATION: Galveston County larger fruit. How late in the season were thinned at the half-dime di- AgriLife Extension Office located in can you wait to thin? If you can eas- ameter stage; trees normally abort Carbide Park (4102-B Main Street, ily cut through the pits of the a portion of the initial fruit set as La Marque). peaches with a sharp knife, then it fruits enlarge. will be of some benefit to thin. RSVP: Pre-registration required However, remember that the earli- Be sure to attend hands-on demon- (phone: 218-309-5065; e-mail GAL- er thinning is accomplished, the strations of peach fruit thinning [email protected]). greater the benefits in terms of provided by Galveston County Mas- fruit size and quality. ter Gardeners. The first demonstra- tion will be provided on Thursday, March 24 (see inset for more infor- If you only have one or a few trees mation). Needless to say peach in the back yard, it's easy enough to thinning is not one of the more en- remove them by hand—just give joyable tasks at the orchard but .