Peaches and Thinning

Many backyard orchardists ask “why do I have so many peaches on my tree but have very few, if any, mature and ripen?”

Remember back when the tree was in full bloom?  It probably had hundreds of flowers, each one with the potential to make a peach.  If you want peaches that mature and ripen then you must reduce their numbers and gain proper spacing.

The goal of thinning is to reduce the number of fruits per branch, increase spacing between the peaches, have more fruit make it to a mature size, and decrease disease.

Many experts say to begin this process when the fruit gets to be about an inch in diameter, too soon and you could risk damaging the remaining fruit. Here in North Georgia this is sometime in April. Which peaches should stay? Start with the largest disease free peach on the branch. If it is clustered with another peach then remove the smaller of the two. To remove a peach gently pull it by the base toward the end of the branch (apical meristem.) Next make the shaka sign, your thumb and pinky wide apart and your middle three fingers folded down. This makes a good spacer. When finished thinning the peaches should be no closer to each other than this space. Repeat this process throughout the canopy. The result should be about 70 to 80 peaches per medium sized tree.