peach flowers dropping off

[theandyb]

Hi 1st post so hello to everyone.

My peach (perigrine) is in the green house and has produced lots of flower buds, great
But, only a few of them have fully flowered & set fruit, most are dropping off just as they are opening.
It was fine last year, so can anyone shed some light on what the problem is ??

Thanks A

[Nicos]

Have you been pollinating them by hand?

We usually lose a few once flowering has finished.
I'm wondering if it's got a bit too chill for the flower maybe?
We lost a whole branch of flowers on a peach tree in a greenhouse where 2 of the glass planes had broken and we'd not had a chance to repair them mid week.

Oh - and welcome to the Vine!

( whereabouts are you??...your location cold affect the reply- esp if yo are in southern Spain )

[Lovage]

I used to look after a garden with 5 peach trees in a peach house. They flowered early, before many of the pollinating insects were active so I had to sepend an hour or two pollinating by hand. Not hand actually I used a rabbit tail on the end of a cane.
It proved to work so well that later I had to spend a couple of afternoons thinning the fruit out.
If the blossom is dropping off so soon it may not be polination, is the plant too dry??

Hope you get some fruit - a freshly picked ripe peach is so much better than the importted things we get

[BarleySugar]

Not much help perhaps, as my peach has flowered already, and it looks as if the fruit has set. I pollinated by hand as the others have already suggested, but if your flowers are not opening properly it sounds as if perhaps the tree could be too dry? Mine is now outside as it is a potted one, but I am still watering.

[theandyb]

Hi, thanks for the welcome & replies, excellent forum.
From the suggestions here it sort of confirms my suspicion that its erratic watering, as it is in a pot in the g house.
I reckon ive let it get too dry (damn)so will up the watering
I successfully polinated it by hand last year and had a good number of very nice fruits (yes much better than the shop ones),started hand pollinating again this year but only managed about six before the flowers started dropping off.
Might re-pot into a bigger container this year
BTW i am in the south, Bristol/Bath area.
Thanks again for the help & hope i can be of help to others in future
A

[chris]

Sorry to jump on this thread, but can you pollinate by hand once more than one flowers are open, or do you need to wait for a specific stage to occur?

[Brengirl]

What a shame Theandyb. I do hope you get some to enjoy. My peach has been in and out of it's fleece for the past month and I have been dabbling at the blossom with a paintbrush. The blossom is fully open and none have dropped but how do I know if fruit is setting?

[theandyb]

Chrismarks, just when flowers are fully open i think, for pollination to occur, no second chances.

Brengirl, yeah , bit gutted but live & learn etc. You know when fruit is setting because there will be a tiny swelling right behind the flower which, in a matter of weeks, starts to look like a fruit (it is)

Thanks All

[Brengirl]

What do you think or is it too blurred?

[theandyb]

Too blurred im afraid, but as long as you keep polliinating the fruit should set (assuming you water it,unlike me!)

A