For a long time, I assumed that apricots, peaches and nectarines needed humus-rich, well-drained soil in order to grow at all. In the United States of America, I was convinced that this is not necessarily true! So in 2024, I dared to test different varieties of peaches, nectarines and apricots in order to literally give this newfound knowledge room to grow.
If you would like to find out more, keep checking back here. I will keep you up to date! I also sowed “Solanum muricantum” or better known as Pepino Dulce in the past few days, another rarity that I would like to test this season.
The Prunus-Experiment
February 2024
Apricots, peaches and nectarines, just like cherries and apples, belong to the plant genus Prunus, which belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae). They all originate from the same region, today’s China. As fruit trees are normally planted in the fall in order to be well rooted for the coming spring, my selection was somewhat limited in February. Nevertheless, I was able to get hold of the following varieties;
Nectarine:
- Honey
Peach:
- Benedicte
- Anita
- Harrow
Apricot:
- Bergeval
- Lilly Cot
- Fantasme
- Mia
- Elsa
With the exception of the peaches, which are growing as bushes, all the other trees have been grown as half-stems and grafted. On February 9th, all the trees were planted and the branches were guided if necessary. If you would like to know more about how to cut and guide branches correctly after planting, don’t hesitate to contact me via the contact form.

All three tree species can withstand light frosts during flowering, the whole thing only becomes problematic if these are accompanied by wetness or if pollinator flights no longer take place due to the cold. I can hope for dry weather in the polytunnel, so I’m not worried about freeze damage to the flowers. Peaches as well as nectarines and apricots are self-fertilized. This makes it easy for me to pollinate the trees myself if there are no bumblebees flying at flowering time due to the weather. Further updates on the condition of the trees will follow!
After planting the trees, pruning is extremely important. This is the only way to reduce the biomass and ensure that the damaged roots can adequately nourish the reduced tree. As a general rule, 1/3 of each leading shoot is removed. Depending on the circumstances, it may be advisable to remove more. This was done on February 18th.
March 2024
In addition, newly planted trees should be tied to a post to protect the not yet rooted trunk from windthrow. As wind can only come from one side in my foil tunnel, lashing was only necessary in one direction. Fruit trees are normally tied in a triangle. Correct guiding of the shoots is another important factor for optimum yield and ventilation. For example, branches that point steeply upwards always have a low yield, while branches that are directed crosswise do well. Due to a lack of time and materials, this was not done until a few weeks after planting. However, this should be done as early as possible in the year to prevent the branches from breaking off. By the end of March, all the planted fruit trees were in bloom.
Important; Although apricots and co. are self-pollinators, you can also pollinate the trees by hand if there is no bee flight! This promises a high yield. To do this, take a brush and gently twist it in a flower to load it with pollen. Then rub it carefully in other flowers on the same tree. For the sake of simplicity, I simply took one flower and rubbed it on others. I did this as an experiment with the first two peaches in my high tunnel.


April 2024
All the trees are starting to produce their first leaves. Lilli Cot in particular stands out with the very early formation of foliage (at the same time as peach) and above all very lush.

Towards the end of April (21.04.24), the Benedicte peach in particular shows the first small fruits forming.

May 2024
The two peach trees that were pollinated by hand now clearly show the bearing of several fruits of approx. 2 cm in size. A maximum of between 25 and 30 fruits per tree were counted on “Benedicte”, “Anita” bears less fruit. By the end of May, these had grown strongly once again.
In May, the base of the trunk was also covered with grass cuttings, so it doesn’t always have to be weeded and the soil remains evenly moist, which is very beneficial for the young trees.


June 2024
Despite a very, very wet and cold spring and start to the summer, all the trees are healthy and no fungal diseases or pests are recognizable. Now in June, many flowers are blooming beautifully again, which provides a great contrast to the dark green, strong leaves of the peach trees.

The peach bush of the Anita variety finally produced 3 fruits. These grew incredibly quickly in the end and changed color from a light orange to a strong purple-red. These very sweet and extremely juicy fruits were harvested on June 30.
July 2024
Benedicte shows a fully hung tree on July 12, but still with green fruits that are about 10 cm long.