I bought a young peach tree two years ago and planted it. The week after planting we had a windstorm and a nearby tree fell on it. The main stem appeared to be dead but the next year it had a couple branches start growing near the bottom. Some friends said it may be the root stock growing and not the peach tree. How can I tell?
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A picture would help. Please [edit] to add a nice clear one so someone can see where the graft union is relative to the growth. In any case, you can bud a new peach on to the rootstock if it's only the rootstock that's alive. – Ecnerwal Apr 23 '22 at 14:48
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The graft union is usually an area at the bottom or near the bottom of the trunk that is wider than the trunk above and below it; sometimes you can see a flattened portion of trunk (where the rootstock was cut off from the roots) on one side of it. It's also possible that the union graft is obscured by mulch or is underground if the tree was planted low. As another poster has asked, a photo of this join would be very useful. If you can identify the graft union, then any growth coming from the trunk above it is your peach tree, while anything below it is the rootstock, which will not set good fruit.
Jurp
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