Everything to Know About Dwarf Peach Tree

Do you have a small landscape or perhaps not even a garden? Do you want to enjoy fresh peaches grown at home? We can help!

Check out these dwarf peach trees to grow right on your patio. We have all the inside info to care for these peach trees.

Plant Name: Prunus persica spp.

Other Name: Dwarf Peach Tree

Plant Type: Fruit Trees

Native Areas: Cultivar

Light Requirement: Eight Hours of Daily Sun

Watering: Medium

Fertilizer: Balanced Organic Fertilizer

Toxicity: Toxic to Dogs

Temperature: 75°F

Propagation: Seed

Growth: 4-6 feet tall

Soil Type: Well-Drained Soil

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9

More About Dwarf Peach Trees

dwarf peach tree flowers

If you have limited space, the dwarf trees can provide fresh fruit during the year to enjoy comfortably at home.

You can find many varieties to grow peach trees in containers. So, instead of waiting up to three years to harvest peaches, you can harvest them in a year or two.

Thus, you can enjoy a peach for an afternoon snack and the tree fruits faster than those growing outside in the garden.

A dwarf peach tree is a gorgeous variety for any space and is easily grown in a container with limited space.

So, instead of waiting years to enjoy the fruit, your dwarf option allows you to harvest peaches in a year or two.

Dwarf Peach Varieties

dwarf peach tree

When growing peach trees in a dwarf form, you still get regular-sized fruits, and they grow a few feet tall taking up less space. Still, when choosing your dwarf trees select one that will grow best in your growing zone.

Here are some trees you can grow to harvest at different times.

Dwarf Peaches to Harvest in Early Summer

  • The Golden Gem bears large fruit with a red pit and a great flavor.

  • The El Dorado is a medium-sized peach with a rich taste.

  • The Pix Zee is another dwarf variety with flavor peaches suitable for container growing.

  • Lastly, you get the Southern Sweet that bears medium peaches with yellow-red skin.

Dwarf Peach Trees to Harvest in Mid Summer

  • Bonanza Patio is a fruit tree with giant peaches and an aromatic yellow-orange flesh scent.

  • The Southern Flame is similar to the Bonanza with the same large peaches and coloring.

  • Honey Babe bears small fruit with a sweet taste and grows well in pots, but it does need cross-pollination to produce fruit. Thus it is self-pollinating.

  • The Summer Rose blooms medium-sized red-yellow flesh fruit.

If you prefer a late-season peach to grow in a container, the Garden Gold is ideal. You get a red pitted peach, the only late-season dwarf peach tree available.

Dwarf Peach Tree Tips

peach tree flowers

When planting your young tree, it is best done in late winter or early spring during the dormancy period. Hence you provide your fruit trees with enough time to become established. The fantastic thing is that most peach trees grow in US zones 5-9.

Placement For Your New Peach Tree

Depending on where you plan to grow your peach trees, they do well with a south-facing or southwest-facing fence or wall to provide shelter.

We recommend growing young trees in cooler climates under glass or in a greenhouse. Also, choose a spot where water will drain away fast if grown in the ground.

If you plan on planting a few cultivars in rows in the garden, then provide them with a space 13 feet apart with a row gap of 13 feet.

PLANTING DWARF PEACH TREES OUTSIDE

dwarlf peach tree flowering

When you plant a peach tree outside, it will grow more than the one grown in a container. Selecting a variety like your Bonanza is self-fertile and allows at least a space up to eight inches apart.

  1. Find a sunny spot and dig a hole larger than the root ball, twice as deep, and a couple of inches wider.

  2. Add well-rotted organic matter and insert stakes about 18 inches from the trunk on either side.

  3. Place the young tree in the hole and cover it with soil.

  4. Water well, fill up the rest of the hole, and fill with water again.

  5. Attach your stakes to the tree with some tree staking straps and leave them in until solid roots develop. That can take one growing season.

  6. Dig a berm about six inches around the root zone to retain moisture, and add some mulch.

  7. You can prune the tree to about 30 inches to encourage new growth.

CONTAINER DWARF PEACH TREES

You can grow peach trees in a container and survive in a pot not smaller than 18 inches in diameter.

You can leave it in the container for a few years before transplanting it to a larger one.

The important thing is to ensure that the pot has enough drainage holes to allow the excess water to drain out to prevent root rot.

Soil pH For Dwarf Peach Tree

garden soil for dwarf peach tree

Whether grown in the garden or a container, the demanding thing for your fruit tree is well-drained soil with a pH near 6.0 to 6.5. We recommend having a soil test done to amend the soil as needed. Your peach trees can thrive in sandy soil.

Lighting Needs For Fruit Trees

peach tree under full sun

As with all peach trees, the dwarf variety also needs full sun. Hence, it needs up to eight hours of direct sunlight with protection from the harsh sun in the afternoon. When grown in the shade, your tree starts to lose its vigor and will become susceptible to diseases and pests.

Watering Your Peach Trees

Whenever you feel the soil dry, then quench your tree’s thirst. For watering, hold the hose over the pot at the lower trunk and let the water run out of the drainage holes. You may find you need to water your trees more in the fruit production season when:

  • The tree’s roots are more mature

  • Are in wood or unglazed clay pots

  • Newly planted trees

  • Hot and dry days

During winter, you will find you need to water less. The important thing is preventing overwatering.

Temperature and Humidity

All peaches need 600 chill hours at 45°F or lower to help trigger fruiting. Still, extended freezing temperatures below zero can damage your peach trees.

Hence, it helps to keep your dwarf peach tree sheltered in freezing temperatures and add some wood chips as mulch to protect the roots and retain moisture.

Fertilizing Peach Trees

fertilizer

The best time to fertilize for the flowers to bloom is with the first signs of spring and fall using a balanced organic fertilizer like a 10-10-10 feed. During the hot summer, you can spread some organic mulch around the tree base but do not let it touch the trunk.

Pruning Your Peach Tree

Pruning is essential to help train newly planted trees to develop a main trunk and help stimulate healthy growth while reducing the risks of pests and diseases.

With early training, you can form a vase shape to allow the light to penetrate all the branches. With annual pruning, you will notice the fruits on the previous year’s branches. The best time to do pruning is when the trees are dormant.

You can remove the dead or damaged foliage to low-hanging branches and the ones blocking upright shoots to very old branches not bearing fruit. Alternatively, you can do thinning of your fully developed tree.

It helps to do this four weeks after blooming when you notice fruits measuring about three inches. Doing it by hand and only leaving the eight-inch fruits on the tree.

Propagation of Peach Tree

The easy way to propagate your tree is to use softwood cuttings:

  1. Take a 9-inch cutting in spring that is soft and green.

  2. Dip the cut end into a rooting hormone.

  3. Plant in sterile potting soil and keep moist until roots develop. It takes around a month to develop a root system.

Growing Peach Tree from Seed

peach tree seeds

You can harvest or buy the seeds to start your tree:

  1. But first, remove the kernel from the pit.

  2. Then, take a resealable bag filled with moist soil, place the kernel inside, seal it, and place it in the fridge.

  3. Leave the seed at low chill hours for 60 days and keep checking for root development.

  4. When the roots are a half-inch long, you can place them in a small planter with soil.

  5. Leave the seedling to stand in a sunny location, and after the frost passes, transplant it into your small gardens or keep it in a suitable size container.

Common Pests and Diseases

The fantastic thing about a peach tree in the dwarf variety is that you can detect common problems earlier.

Another crucial thing is to remove any fallen fruit, as it can attract insects. The main concern is insects boring into saplings, while the plum curculios love feeding on unripe fruit, flowers, and buds.

You can easily hand-pick the bugs from the tree to plunge into hot water. Another concern is peach borers that drill holes in the bark, and you can eliminate them poking a needle into the hole.

Like most outdoor plants, it can also get fungal diseases from humid climates, like brown rot. You can do preventative spraying with an organic fungicide. Also, keep an eye on slugs, aphids, and snails.

Another considerable culprit causing severe damage is the peach tree borer. These oriental fruit moths deposit their eggs in the bark in the fall, and the grubs burrow and feed on the root system forming a jelly-like sap to impale grubs with a wire.

For fungal disease, you can see peach leaf curl that leads to leaf browning. You can use a copper-based fungicide from late fall to spring to control the issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your peach tree can bear fruit one to four years after planting.

Yes, you can prune your fruit tree as it helps to train your tree to help develop a strong trunk. You can remove damaged to dead foliage and branches as well.

The important thing is to provide your tree with enough full sun and water when you feel the soil is dry. It helps add wood bark around the base to protect the root structure and retain moisture in cold regions. You can initially provide the tree with a wire cage if you have strong winds.

When no more green is seen on the flesh, and it turns yellow, you know your fruits are ready to harvest.

You need not leave your home to buy a peach tree, as Planty has different peach varieties to buy here.

Whether you want to buy, sell, or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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