The medium early ripening Red Haven peach variety is known and loved all over the world. Originally bred in the USA, Red Haven is also well represented in Europe's growing regions. It is now the best-known and most widespread “Haven” variety.
What characterizes the Red Haven peach variety?
The Red Haven peach variety is a medium-early ripening variety with medium-sized, yellow-fleshed and juicy fruits. It is bred less for beauty than for yield and taste and is ideal as a table and canned fruit.
Medium-sized, juicy fruits
Red Haven was created around 1930 at the US Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station in South Haven. The variety comes from a cross between “Hale Haven” and “Kalehaven” and has been sold commercially since 1940. The medium-sized to large, yellow-fleshed fruits weigh around 120 grams and are rather rounded in shape. The medium-firm flesh is very juicy, has a fine texture and tastes mildly sweet and sour. The meat can be easily removed from the stone, especially when fully ripe, and it does not brown. Red Haven peaches can be harvested around the fifth to sixth peach week.
Universal variety with good yield characteristics
The variety was bred primarily for yield and taste, rather than for beauty. In contrast to the ornamental peach “Rubira”, the bell-shaped flowers are rather small and unattractive. However, they tolerate little frost and are self-fertile. Red Haven is quite undemanding in terms of location, but good care is essential for a rich and regular yield. Only regular cutting and thinning maintains the performance of this variety.
Pruning the peach tree
Peach trees should be cut back and thinned out if possible in spring, shortly before the flowers burst. It is mainly the shoots from the previous year that bear fruit, while old wood usually no longer bears fruit. How to proceed:
- Leave three to four strong main shoots.
- Short or remove at least two thirds of the shoots that bore fruit the previous year.
- Remove non-structural wood.
- Cut or trim out false fruit shoots.
Mother variety of numerous mutations
A few bud mutations are known from Red Haven in the USA: Shoji (sold since 1955), Garnet Beauty (sold since 1958), Early Redhaven (sold since 1961). Red Haven is also the mother strain of Richhaven. Peaches of the Red Haven variety are not only ideal as a table fruit but also as a canned fruit, i.e. H. They can be wonderfully processed into jams, jellies, juices, chutneys or preserves.
Tips & Tricks
White-fleshed peach varieties such as B. Pilot are generally better suited for cultivation in German gardens as they are less sensitive to disease and weather influences. However, Red Haven is a good alternative, but shows greater susceptibility to curl disease.
