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Too Good to Be True? How Fast Can Peach Trees Really Grow and Produce Fruit?

Too Good to Be True? How Fast Can Peach Trees Really Grow and Produce Fruit?

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If you’re one of the many people who love to eat peaches, growing a peach tree in your backyard is likely going to be quite appealing. It isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do if you aren’t patient, though.

Growing one will take time, and you aren’t going to be able to enjoy peaches the first year that you plant the tree from a seed. When growing from seed, you should expect to start seeing the tree produce fruit in three or four years.

This might disappoint some people, but you have to understand that growth takes time. Just how fast do peach trees grow, though?

Read on to learn a little bit about the average rate of growth of these fruit trees. You’ll also learn more about how to care for them and what you might be able to do to help them grow as fast as possible.

Yearly Growth Rates

The yearly growth rate of peach trees will be about 18 inches every year. It could wind up being a bit less than that if you haven’t been caring for the tree as well as you should.

The tree can grow up to 18 inches each year when you’re fertilizing it fairly regularly, watering it on the right schedule, and keeping it safe from other potential problems. If you want to see your tree grow and produce great peaches, you’re going to need to pay attention to its needs.

Keep reading to get more information about proper peach tree care. Understanding the nuances of taking care of this fruit tree will put you in the right position to succeed.

Watering Peach Trees

New peach trees are going to need about two gallons of water each week. This might seem like a lot at first, but they need this amount of water so that they can grow and establish themselves.

In case you don’t know, two gallons of water will equal about one inch of rainfall. If you want to avoid watering your tree too much, it’s best to pay attention to how much rainfall you’ve been getting.

Keeping a close eye on weather reports will give you a good idea of what’s going on. If it isn’t going to rain during the week, you’ll just have to water it yourself.

Mature peach trees are going to be a bit different, and you’ll be able to wait longer to water them than before. You should give a mature one around two gallons of water every week and a half.

After approximately 10 days, it’s going to be best to check the soil near it. You want to make sure that the soil is evenly moist, but you don’t want it to be mushy or overly wet.

If the soil is sopping, you should wait another day or two to water the tree. Watering trees and plants too much can cause issues, and you also have to keep in mind the potential for natural rainfall.

Fertilizing Peach Trees

Fertilizing peach trees will play a big role in ensuring that they grow to be tall and can produce many peaches. The best time to fertilize them is in the early spring.

You’ll want to use a slow-release fertilizer that is high in phosphorus. This is going to give it everything that it needs to thrive, and it should help it to grow quite a bit.

Experts recommend going with a 10-10-10 fertilizer, and you should use about one or two pounds. If you want it to grow even better, fertilizing it two months after the first fertilization of the season will be good.

Don’t skip out on the fertilizer if you want your peach tree to grow as large as possible. It can truly make a difference and will help to keep the tree producing as many peaches as possible.

You should be able to get the right fertilizer at any department store with a garden center, but you can also order it online. Going to a special nursery will make it quite easy to get what you need as well.

Prune the Trees Each Year

Forgetting to prune the trees each year will actually make it tougher for them to keep producing fruits. Pruning them will have a positive impact on your crop yield, and it isn’t going to take much of your time to do it.

You should go ahead and prune your peach trees sometime during the early summer months. This should happen each year during the first three years of the tree’s life.

After the tree is older than three, you’re going to start pruning it in late April for ideal results. Do your best to shape the tree and cut off shoots that are growing out of the center.

Experts Recommend Thinning Out Smaller Peaches

Are you noticing that you have some small peaches on your tree along with some larger ones? Experts recommend thinning out the peaches by removing the small ones.

Removing the small ones will allow more nutrients to go to the remaining fruits. These peaches should be spaced about six or eight inches apart.

If all goes well, you should be able to enjoy some of the biggest and juiciest peaches possible. Try to do this each year so that you can get the best peaches that you can.

Failing to thin out the peaches will likely make it so that none of them will get particularly large. You don’t necessarily have to do this for growth, but it is good to do when you want to enjoy high-quality peaches.

Watch Out for Pests and Diseases

Pests and diseases will make it so much tougher for your peach tree to grow strong. If you want your fruit tree to grow as much as it can, you’ll need to be on the lookout for pests while also watching for signs of diseases.

Many of the most harmful maladies that these trees have to worry about can be controlled with a fungicide. Pests such as peach tree borers will be problematic, but you can kill them off with insecticides if you notice them.

Being vigilant about protecting your trees will give them the best shot of growing and producing more fruit. Many peach tree experts recommend applying fungicides and insecticides to them ahead of time to ensure that they won’t become a problem at all.

Care for Your Peach Trees to the Best of Your Abilities

Caring for your peach trees to the best of your abilities should make it easier to enjoy good growth. You’ll be able to see your tree hit 18 inches of growth each year if you’re doing things right.

If it doesn’t quite hit that mark, you’ll absolutely be very close so long as you’re doing what you should be doing. Keep it safe from diseases and continue to fertilize it properly to see it thrive.

Now you know everything that you need to know about peach tree growth. Just do your best to care for them and you’ll surely be happy with the results.

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