Cheerful peach blossom

[mrsbusy]

Hi - my daughter gave me this dwarf peach for my birthday and it's flowering it's socks off - just hope I don't kill it off! I am hand pollinating it with a soft child's paintbrush - it is in my cold greenhouse and cheers me up on these chilly dull days.

[Jungle Jane]

That’s lovely at this time of year!! Nice to see some colour,most of the gardens green at the moment,hope you had a great birthday

[ameno]

My potted peach just started flowering yesterday, although it only has 8 flowers. And the one in the ground at my allotment isn't far behind, with somewhat more flowers (maybe 50 or so).
Both were seed grown, sown in early September 2020, so this is the start of their third year.

[mrsbusy]

That’s lovely at this time of year!! Nice to see some colour,most of the gardens green at the moment,hope you had a great birthday

Yes thanks I had a nice birthday but was in September!

[mrsbusy]

My potted peach just started flowering yesterday, although it only has 8 flowers. And the one in the ground at my allotment isn't far behind, with somewhat more flowers (maybe 50 or so).
Both were seed grown, sown in early September 2020, so this is the start of their third year.

When do you expect it will fruit,? Or has it already?

[ameno]

When do you expect it will fruit,? Or has it already?

Well, the one at the allotment with the decent number of flowers, hopefully this year, just as long as at least a few of the flowers pollinate (the weather isn't ideal. It's mild with no risk of frost, which is good, but it's also raining every day, which means pollinators aren't about, and the pollen is wet so I can't even properly hand-pollinate).
The potted one only has 8 flowers, so there's a fairly good chance none of them will pollinate (I'm trying to hand-pollinate them, but they seem to have very little pollen on them).

The allotment tree is quite large already, despite being only 2 and a bit years old and seed-grown. It's more of a bush than a tree (it doesn't have a clear length of trunk, but rather has three thick branches coming from near ground level), and is about 6 feet tall and about 5 feet wide, with the trunk about an inch and a half in diameter and ground level.
I had previously read that peaches (and nectarines) were by far the most suitable fruit tree for growing from seed, as the come mostly true from seed, can be kept at a fairly modest size even on their own roots, and will flower and fruit from a young age. Apparently in ideal conditions (i.e. somewhere warmer than the UK) then can even bear a few fruit in their second full year, and since mine has a decent number of flowers in the start of its third full year, I'd say that's probably true.

If you want to have a go, first you'll want to crack open some peach stones with nut crackers (or you may need a hammer, as they are very hard). Be sure to have spares, as it's hard to judge the force you need to start with and you may well crush the kernels.
Once you have the kernels they need a spell of cold before they will germinate. By far the easiest way is to just put them in a plastic bag with some damp compost and put them in the fridge door. Check on the periodically after the 5 week mark - at somewhere between 5-10 weeks they should start germinating in the fridge, at which point you can just take them out and pot them up. They grow very quickly, and will likely need potting on several times even in their first year.

[mrsbusy]

Wow Ameno that's very impressive - hope you get some peaches this year. I was wondering if I should repot mine, but I think I will wait now until it is dormant as it looks happy enough.

[MelanieSW]

My 2 year old trees are also covered in flowerbuds, I expect the one on the garden to be fully in bloom in the next couple of days. The one on the allotment in a container is bit behind.

I'd discovered 4!! seedlings in June 2021 amongst the beans where I'd applied homemade compost.
Since then i unsuccessfully tried to get more to germinate for friends via cracking stones and the fridge method, but the unintentional compost method somehow seems best .

The growth rate is amazing and I'm hoping for the first few peaches this year.

[It never rains..it pours]

Your daughter has a good taste in presents
Both peach and nectarine outside here have lots flower buds but none open yet
Saw bees today on the hyacinths so hopefully they will save me some paintbrush work this year

[mrsbusy]

Your daughter has a good taste in presents
Both peach and nectarine outside here have lots flower buds but none open yet
Saw bees today on the hyacinths so hopefully they will save me some paintbrush work this year

Hi - yes it is a lovely present. I had a quick look on your profile and see you are on the Isle of man. My father came from I o M - both his parents were born there but they moved to Manchester. I started trying to research but didn't get very far.

[ameno]

The peach at the allotment just opened its flowers today (although I wasn't able to hand pollinate because they were wet).
Also, I've counted them and it seems my guess of 50 or so flowers was a bit off. There are actually over 100. Hopefully that means I'll actually get some fruit from it.

[Nicos]

My outdoor Jalousia peach tree isn’t in flower yet . Exciting isn’t it keeping checking on them?

[It never rains..it pours]

Hi - yes it is a lovely present. I had a quick look on your profile and see you are on the Isle of man. My father came from I o M - both his parents were born there but they moved to Manchester. I started trying to research but didn't get very far.

It's a small world mrsbusy. I'm originally from near London. Know Manchester quite well as have friends there
Maybe of use https://www.manxfamilyhistory.com/
Happy gardening

[ameno]

My potted peach tree has seven or eight little fruitlets forming now. Hopefully the one at the allotment will have more still soon enough.

[It never rains..it pours]

Frost has hammered the nectarine here, flowers that appeared pollinated with paint brush as in previous years, are now falling off rather than forming fruitlets