Nectarine tree without fruit

[Mazat]

There was no fruit again this year.

The tree is big and strong, but there is still no fruit.

What can we do?

We have fertilized and cut back ...

[SeanK]

I had the same problem with a pair of plum trees. Flowers, then tiny fruit that all dropped. I just cut them down.

You need to find some old fellow in town that grows fruit and can tell you when to fertilize, how to trim, when to spray for bugs.

[Jonathan]

I'd probably be inclined to prune it heavily now. See the link below on summer pruning. The centre of the tree needs to be opened up and all the inward growing branches removed. You can be very brutal with it and it will grow back strongly. It should keep growing into autumn after pruning and this will be next year's fruiting wood. Good luck

https://www.gardeningaustraliamag.com.au/summer-prune-peach-nectarine/

[Silas_Sancona]

Agree that it may be time for a trim / some thinning  ....Late winter / early spring while the tree is dormant,  right before it wakes up / starts it's flowering cycle only.

Would read up on how to prune, ...from credible sources on the subject,  not just x or y " easy ( lazy ) info. " source on the internet...

Weird, whipsaw weather pattern factors during the flowering period / lack of bees ..and / or other pollinators.... when the tree is flowering  ...which can be a consequence of said odd weather at that time...  can also be significant factors in fruit producing trees not properly setting / holding onto developing / aborting all developing fruit. 

Age of the tree is another factor..  Some vars.  can fruit at a much younger age than others.. un-named / random from seed? = going to be hard to say when it will start producing.

...Amount of fert applied,  esp. if the fertilizer used is high in N / low in / lacking the of proper amounts of K. can be another negative factor.   Lots of Nitrogen = lush green growth,  often at the expense of much ( or any ) fruit development / flowering..  



 

[Mazat]

22 hours ago, Jonathan said:

I'd probably be inclined to prune it heavily now. See the link below on summer pruning. The centre of the tree needs to be opened up and all the inward growing branches removed. You can be very brutal with it and it will grow back strongly. It should keep growing into autumn after pruning and this will be next year's fruiting wood. Good luck

https://www.gardeningaustraliamag.com.au/summer-prune-peach-nectarine/

Thank you very much, Jonathan for the informations and the link.

Okay, i will do that. 

[Mazat]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Agree that it may be time for a trim / some thinning  ....Late winter / early spring while the tree is dormant,  right before it wakes up / starts it's flowering cycle only.

Would read up on how to prune, ...from credible sources on the subject,  not just x or y " easy ( lazy ) info. " source on the internet...

Weird, whipsaw weather pattern factors during the flowering period / lack of bees ..and / or other pollinators.... when the tree is flowering  ...which can be a consequence of said odd weather at that time...  can also be significant factors in fruit producing trees not properly setting / holding onto developing / aborting all developing fruit. 

Age of the tree is another factor..  Some vars.  can fruit at a much younger age than others.. un-named / random from seed? = going to be hard to say when it will start producing.

...Amount of fert applied,  esp. if the fertilizer used is high in N / low in / lacking the of proper amounts of K. can be another negative factor.   Lots of Nitrogen = lush green growth,  often at the expense of much ( or any ) fruit development / flowering..  



 

thank you very much, nathan, for your tips.
the tree is about 9 years old. we had planted it as a small tree since 2017. at the beginning it had fruits for 2 seasons.

then he had curl disease (fungal disease).
We then sprayed lecithin and after that it was better in the following season, but it didn't really produce many fruits and when it did it produced very small, aromatic fruits, 10 - 15 pieces maximum.then nothing more.
Winter / Spring in fact it was a strange temperature pattern, weather pattern anyway and rather dry winter, almost never really cold and bees, insects we both (Sabine too) didn't see many this spring, the temperatures were rather mild compared to the long-term average, but everyone felt rather too cold. the palm trees bloomed much later, about 4-6 weeks later than normal, in our area and in the surrounding area in any case.yes, I will do this pruning next week. 

 

[Silas_Sancona]

45 minutes ago, Mazat said:

 I will do this pruning next week. 

 

Considering that your winters are cold,  probably not a good idea to prune now and risk the tree pushing any tender new growth  before  winter  ....that can end up being damaged during  winter.  

 

[Jonathan]

34 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Considering that your winters are cold,  probably not a good idea to prune now and risk the tree pushing any tender new growth  before  winter  ....that can end up being damaged during  winter.  

 

Yes, thinking more about this - I tend to agree with Nathan. Summer pruning in Australia is no problem due to our very mild winters but it might be risky in a colder climate.

I can prune stone fruit trees in March and still get a couple of months of growth and hardening before any frost in June. But if your climate bounces quickly from warm to cold in autumn then maybe wait till leaf drop before pruning.

[Mazat]

11 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Considering that your winters are cold,  probably not a good idea to prune now and risk the tree pushing any tender new growth  before  winter  ....that can end up being damaged during  winter.  

 

yes, that's true. it has become much milder and so have the winters. however, it can get cold again and again, especially in january and february and drop down to -9 degrees celsius, although only briefly most of the time, but that would probably be too much as you have just explained. ice days at the same time have become much rarer here than 10 years ago. for the place here we have around 11 degrees celsius on average for the last 15 years. the palm trees are much better off than the nectarine tree, as well as Eriobotrya japonica, which doesn't really care when it gets very cold, according to Sabine's somewhat amusing statement. The Mediterranean cypress is also growing extremely well. but these are probably not the most suitable plants for comparison ...

in that case, i'll leave it with the pruning now.
last time i had left only 4-5 main trunks and cut back all the side trunks and branches to about 2m / 6ft 5.6 in height, which is about 4.724 inch / 12 cm /higher than my height. maybe that was too low. 
i had used a long, relatively heavy professional pruner from my brother-in-law, who always provides me (us) with all the tools, but i do the maintenance myself.
the question is whether this was also not ideal 🤔

[Mazat]

11 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Yes, thinking more about this - I tend to agree with Nathan. Summer pruning in Australia is no problem due to our very mild winters but it might be risky in a colder climate.

I can prune stone fruit trees in March and still get a couple of months of growth and hardening before any frost in June. But if your climate bounces quickly from warm to cold in autumn then maybe wait till leaf drop before pruning.

thank you very much for your advice, your opinion on a possible pruning now.
yes, i will do it later.

[happypalms]

On 7/31/2025 at 7:04 AM, Jonathan said:

I'd probably be inclined to prune it heavily now. See the link below on summer pruning. The centre of the tree needs to be opened up and all the inward growing branches removed. You can be very brutal with it and it will grow back strongly. It should keep growing into autumn after pruning and this will be next year's fruiting wood. Good luck

https://www.gardeningaustraliamag.com.au/summer-prune-peach-nectarine/

I spent many years in the stone fruit industry and the good old vase shape to the four arms and a central leader along with the palmette shape where the best shape for fruit production. A summer prune to remove the water shoots, then a winter prune for shape and fruit set. Pruned thousands of them! 

[happypalms]

You need to spray your tree with fungicide to prevent bud rot, they have vegative buds and fruiting buds. The good old copper spray was always the go!