We closed out 2022 without much fanfare and started 2023 with our annual challenge of pruning. Our weather has been somewhat favorable for taking the pruning equipment out into the orchard these past few weeks. Over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, however, the temperatures plummeted to below zero with gusty winds and thus prevented orchard activity during that time frame. The past few weeks more favorable temperatures have given us the opportunity to get out and get the trees in shape for another year.
Some may consider the beginning of our season starting with bloom in the Spring. We actually consider pruning as the beginning of another harvest season. Producing good fruit is dependent on proper pruning. Pruning can only be done when the fruit trees are dormant. Fruit trees can not be shaped like a bush or an ornamental shrub. Not only the dead and broken branches need to be cut away, but the inner growth and “suckers” need to be removed as well. It is imperative that the tree’s fruit gets air, light and moisture. Effective pruning techniques provide all three of these necessities. The trees’ fruits also receive greater benefits from the application of chemicals when the sprays can penetrate the canopy of the trees and get “inside” to the inner fruit bearing limbs.
The below zero temperatures during the Christmas holiday did our peaches no favors. One overnight thermometer reading was minus 18 degrees with bitterly high gusty winds. Mother Nature always has a bag of surprises and maybe no damage was done to the peach trees. Only time will tell at this point. When the trees enter their bloom time we will be able to make a better assessment. Our professor friend (now deceased) from Purdue University always said that zero is the cut off temperature. Every single degree below the zero mark, there will be a ten percent loss of the peach crop. So if this holds true, with the minus eighteen degrees, we can say ” bye, bye peach crop.” But as I have stated before, one never knows for sure what is potentially out there until bloom. Nature always has the last say in the matter.