Peach & Plum Care

Nectarine

Peaches and plums can perform very well in North Florida when the cultivar has the correct chill requirement. Variety selection, winter pruning, thinning, and disease management are more important than simply choosing a tree labeled “peach” or “plum.”

Choose a Florida-Adapted Cultivar

Chill requirement: Match the cultivar chill requirement to your location. A cultivar needing too much winter chill may leaf and flower poorly; one needing too little may bloom too early and suffer freeze damage.
Peaches: Use cultivars specifically recommended for North or North-Central Florida whenever reliable crops are the goal.
Plums: Choose low- to moderate-chill Japanese/hybrid plum cultivars with proven Florida adaptation.
Pollination: Pollination requirements vary. Some peaches are self-fruitful; many plums crop better with a compatible second cultivar.

Planting & Watering

Sun: Full sun is essential for fruit quality and disease suppression.
Drainage: Plant in well-drained soil; peaches are especially intolerant of prolonged wet roots.
Planting: Keep the graft union above soil level and avoid placing fertilizer directly in the planting hole.
Water: Water regularly during establishment and during prolonged dry periods, especially from fruit set through harvest.

Pruning & Thinning

Peach training: Train peaches to an open-center form with 3–4 main scaffold limbs.
Annual pruning: Prune peaches annually while dormant to renew fruiting wood and keep the canopy open.
Plums: Prune more moderately, removing crossing, damaged, diseased, and overly upright growth.
Fruit thinning: Thin heavy peach crops early so remaining fruit can size properly and limbs are not overloaded.

Disease & Harvest

Disease: Florida humidity favors brown rot, leaf spots, and bacterial problems. Sanitation and an open canopy are important.
Insects: Monitor for scale, borers, plum curculio, and other pests; use current local and label guidance when treatment is needed.
Harvest: Pick peaches when background color changes and fruit begins to soften; harvest plums at cultivar-appropriate color and firmness.
Sanitation: Remove mummified fruit and diseased twigs after harvest.

Still stuck? Ask a plant question and our team will get back to you.