Knowledgebase

Is this a peach or an almond tree? #753876

Asked June 03, 2021, 9:44 PM EDT

When I first bought my house, about 5 years ago, I planted what was supposed to be a nectarine tree. It was grafted onto the root of a different tree--no idea what. Long story short, the nectarine graft died but the root stock it was grafted onto thrived. Last year, it had a few fuzzy fruits that I thought were just inedible peaches. This year, it's covered in those fruits. And someone suggested they might actually be almonds. From web searches, it's impossible to determine what this might be, so I thought that, perhaps, you could help in determining which it is. Thanks in advance.

Clackamas County Oregon

Expert Response

Hi Anita- What an interesting problem to have a mystery rootstock. I agree, web searches are inconclusive as to almond or peaches. The only information I could find suggested the most common nectarine rootstocks are an almond/peach cross known as Nemaguard or a straight peach rootstock known as Lovell.

Since you didn't enjoy the "peaches" last year, I would suggest treating the fruits as almonds this year and harvest as nuts instead. The following article explains how to do this.
http://cebutte.ucanr.edu/files/152899.pdf

And if that is not successful, it might be time to get a new tree!
Best of luck!
Rhonda Frick-Wright Replied June 04, 2021, 3:30 PM EDT
Thanks so much, Rhonda. I've never heard of a peach/almond cross. I Google Nemaguard and it appears that it's only offered as a rootstock and not as a tree to plant on its own. I imagine that means that whether nut or fruit, it won't be the greatest, but it will be hardy (which it's shown itself to be). Hoping to have some almonds in another couple of months and we'll see.

Best,
Anita

On Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 12:30 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
The Question Asker Replied June 04, 2021, 4:23 PM EDT
At the very least, you should have a lovely tree that is pretty hardy and some good "items" for composting if they don't turn out to be edible!
Gardening... always an adventure!
Rhonda Frick-Wright Replied June 05, 2021, 11:36 AM EDT

Loading ...