I planted 3 new peach trees approximately 2 months ago (had buds). About a week after planting, we had frost twice, nipping the buds. Within the last month, it has rained about 8 inches and they are waterlogged.
One is OK, one has all but a few leaves left on it, and one has absolutely no leaves left whatsoever. The limbs are still very pliable, but there are no real signs of life.
What can I do, or is it too late to bring them back to life and leaf? Will they leaf back out? If yes, when? The branches are still very flexible and pliable and none are brittle. Please help if you can. I am new at fruit trees, so I need all the help I can get.
Let me first say that I live in NE GA. It took 3 years for ours to start producing as most plants have a "settling in" stage, then a growing stage and then production.
It sounds to me like they have gone into what most would call transplant shock. With all the water and the cold temps on top of being freshly planted and not really having a good root system yet, that may have set them back a while. Don't be alarmed! This could be a normal thing for your area. Just keep checking the tree for signs of life, bugs and such. You will be amazed what mother nature can provide us if we just take the time to wait.
I recommend that you contact your county or states horticultural or agriculture dept. to see if they have pamphlets on growing peaches in Texas. They are a wealth of information.
I don't have any real advice. I'm just lamenting with you. I see you're in north Texas; I'm in central Oklahoma. That was some crazy weather we had earlier this year. My parents have a few peach trees, and they had so many flowers turning into immature fruit. They figured they'd have to thin out the fruit so keep the limbs from getting too heavy. Then the first late freeze. They thought they'd have a few fruits. And then the second late freeze. No more fruit. They have leaves, but I think some of them have damage on their tips.
And I e-mailed a local pick-your-own strawberry grower -- he said that the strawberry crops were almost completely ruined. Boosupermarket strawberries for me. I hope your trees recover. I don't know how much chance of survival your trees have, but I think you should hang in there. Maybe next year will be a better year for fruit!
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