Fall time is back to enjoy the peach fruit by grabbing them from the tree. Their Autumn leaves also make one of the good looks to enjoy the beauty of the tree. It’s wont to be looking good if a peach tree dropping its leaves.
Peach tree drooping its leaves, due to not getting enough water (give more water than what you are watering now), other reasons will be affected by leaf curl, fertilization, less exposure to sunlight, improper soil, improper winter care, improper pruning.
1. Less Watering For Peach Tree
A major cause for peachtree to droop leaves is insufficient water, If the soil is bare and watering every alternative day is sufficient for new trees, But the amount of water what you are giving to a tree is not sufficient.
To store the moisture in the soil, if the soil is covered with mulching about 3-4 inches then it’s ok to water every 3-4 days once with a good amount of water.
Make sure to water the tree at least 18-24 inches deep, you can use a metal rod, or screwdriver to check the deepness, simply put the rod in the soil and check how much further you can push and measure it.
Peach trees that are 7 feet tall and wide should receive at least 90 gallons of water, this can be applied by sprinkler or pouring direct water by any other type.
Basically if you consider all the above your tree should grow good number of leaves and leaves should stop drooping.
2. Over watering For Peach Tree
This has basically two meanings, Quantity of water applied or poured for trees is more at a single time and another one is watering trees very often.
watering too much a single time destroys trees more than the other one. Enough water should be given to wet all the roots of the plant. To answer how often you should water changes season to season.
In summer you need to water more often than in winter.
3. Leaf Curl Problem For Peach Tree
Leaf curling problem is caused by fungal disease targeted during the growing season for peach trees. Cool temperature, wet during spring makes the perfect time to spread the fungal infection.
Initially, leaves will turn red, curling, as the spring season continues the peach tree leaves start turning yellow and finally fall of early.
You can cure only when there is off-season by giving peach tree fungicide, if the tree already started with infection you need to wait for next season to apply a fungicide. (normally during its dormacy period)
4. Fertilization For Peach Tree
Low nutrition to the tree also plays one of the major roles in the falling peach tree leaves. An established peach tree needs to be fertilized at least once every 2years, should be fertilizing the peach tree in early spring, late spring, or early summer.
If you have just planted the peach tree, needs to fertilize one week after planted, again one and half month later. This helps the peach tree to establish itself properly.
Good fertilizer consists of a good balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Fertilizer should not be kept at the trunk of the tree instead, should be given 10cm to 30 cms away from the trunk, where it reaches the roots and the tree will absorb.
Fertilizer should be applied depends on the size of the tree, about 100 gms of fertilizer for new tree and for 1-5 years 0.5 kg of fertilizer. Matured trees can have around 2kg of fertilizer.
If you are giving more fertilizer, sometimes plants will grow bushier with fewer fruits, cut down on fertilizer to make it balance.
5. Less exposure to sunlight For Peach Tree
Peachtree location plays a major important role, if you don’t give enough sunlight, optimum sunlight is 6-8 hours of sunlight each day during the growing season.
This also helps tree to keep hold on fungus problem. Consider this while choosing location for new peach tree.
6. Winter care For Peach Tree
Mulching Peach Tree
Start Mulching around the base of the plant in mid frost before the first fall, use waste wooden chips, straws make a thick layer of mulch about 3 inches to protect from winter.
Extend the mulching till 3 to 4 feet around the Peach plant to protect it better.
wood chip mulch prevents soil moisture loss and insulates roots to absorb more heat.
Water the peach plant once every week late fall throughout the winter before the freeze, water the soil, and put some more mulch on top of that this helps in warming the ground, making more warmer for the plant.
Placing it in Frost resistant spot
It is true for plants as it is for real estate, good location plays an important role. keep the seedlings, peach plants in areas that are less likely to experience damaging cold.
cold air moves from higher ground to lower ground so it will pass the plants located on the higher side of the ground or slopes. That’s why the best place to keep plants in a less susceptible place to frost in these elevated regions.
Keeping the plant near benches, walls where there is a dark color, particularly if they are south or west facing provides additional protection.
During the day structure absorb heat from the sun and throughout the night they radiate the heat. This helps the peach plant
Covering the Peach plant
Peach plants or trees are native to India, so when you try to grow these plants or trees where it freezes in winter, need to take additional protection for the plant.
Here are some of the items which you can cover the peach tree in winter
- Bed sheets/blankets
- drop clothes
- cloches
- milk jug with bottom cut out
- inverted flower pot or bucket
- frost clothes
- Garden blankets such as reemay
Remember that covers need not be expensive, just cover the trees with a blanket upside down and you will be good to go. If you need you can connect sticks on the ground to make a blanket not to slide off from the plant or tree.
other options are
Warming up Peach plants with Water Jug
Fillup the water jug with water in the morning and keep it outside.
Idea is to get the water heated and before dusk, you cover the jug with plastic which will help the water to get cold slowly and emits hotness, and keeps the plant warmer.
Protecting Peach plant with Cloches
strictly speaking cloches are made of glasses or plastic cover that protects plants from cover. most often it covers individual plants, sometimes also covered for whole row.
These are placed on plants before the sun go down. removed back in the morning once the sun rise up.
Plastic cloches are less expensive compare to glass ones. They are also less weight but they must be staked on the ground to prevent them from blowing away from high winds.
Wrap Peach Plant
Be sure to wrap the trunk of the peachtree/ plant in the fall with burlap strips or tree wrap. The most tree has thin barks so when the temperature drops drastically there are chances of splitting. so this tree wrap helps the Peach plants to not split when temperature drops drastically.
You can wrap up with many layers depends on cold temperature, wrapping should touch the ground to till the limbs, branches of plant/tree. don’t keep the cover too tight.
Unlike covering the whole tree wrapping can be kept whole winter season.
Removing weeds under Peach Plant
Remove turf / weeds from under tree canopies, this helps the plant or tree to absorb more heat.
Bare soil absorbs and reflect soil best compared to which have weeds.
7. Improper Pruning For Peach Tree
Peachtree needs to be pruned every year, leaving many shoots and buds for new growth. Don’t heavy prune the tree-like new small shoots, buds.
FAQ
Q. why is my peach tree dropping leaves?
A. Peachtree drooping its leaves, due to not getting enough water (give more water than what you are watering now), other reasons will be affected by leaf curl, fertilization, less exposure to sunlight, improper soil, improper winter care, improper pruning.
Q. why does my peach tree not have leaves?
A. Peachtree does not have its leaves, due to not getting enough water (give more water than what you are watering now), other reasons will be affected by leaf curl, fertilization, less exposure to sunlight, improper soil, improper winter care, improper pruning.
Final Thoughts
I am able to save the drooping of leaves from peach tree, please let me in comments if you have any queries.
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