Too much water spells doom for peach trees. If your orchard side doesn't drain properly, the roots of peach trees sit in waterlogged soil and are prone to diseases and fungal rot. One type of fungus common to peach trees is called brown rot.

Brown rot causes deformed fruit and other problems on orchard trees including:

Excess soil moisture also harms young peach trees. New trees (saplings) without proper drainage may not have enough air spaces around the roots to take up oxygen. Young peach trees essentially drown if soil at the planting site doesn't drain properly.

After peach trees set fruit, the water needs of the trees increase as the fruit develops. A young sapling only needs 5 to 10 gallons of water per week during summer months. Contrast that small amount of water with the 45 gallons per day needed for a mature peach tree with a full crop of ripening peaches.

Sort out your mini orchard's irrigation and drainage needs before you plant your peach trees, whenever possible. Hire professionals to assess the site location and provide proper drainage to the soil. Work with an irrigation crew to lay out your orchard lines and your irrigation at the same time.

When you settle site drainage issues and establish a proper irrigation system for your orchard, you save yourself a lot of work down the road. You have healthier trees without having to hand-water trees or apply loads of fungicides to avoid diseases common in wet soil.

Your trees benefit from having irrigation right where they need it. Your watering system is much easier to operate when you have a professionally installed orchard irrigation system. Your trees never have to be disturbed in the future when you have drainage, irrigation, and trees installed at the same time.

Your irrigation specialist offers tools to monitor water usage of your peach trees and monitor rainfall provided by the skies. You can get as sophisticated or as simple as you want to go with rain gauges, soil monitors and other irrigation-monitoring tools. In addition, numerous online apps are available to help you determine your irrigation needs for your home orchard.

Accurate rainfall records and soil moisture monitoring help you reduce irrigation levels when the soil is well-hydrated with rain. You reduce disease risks from overwatering the soil when rainfall is adequate or excessive. You also know exactly when to kick your irrigation system into overdrive if your county experiences drought conditions or long stretches between soaking rains.

You can monitor peach tree moisture levels in the following ways without tools:

Automatic irrigation systems turn on and off at pre-selected times. Automatic irrigation systems can also be configured to turn on when soil moisture levels are low. Whether you manually turn on your irrigation system or use an automatic system, monitor your water needs and usage to provide optimum protection and production of your micro peach orchard.

Set up your peach orchard in Greenville, South Carolina the right way from the very start by contacting Smith Irrigation today. We offer site drainage, irrigation systems, and lighting for your home peach orchard to make growing peaches easy and fulfilling.