"Sigurd Kallhovde" writes:
pinching off blooms and small fruit, but as the tree grows, this will no
longer be an option.

If it gets so high that you can't pick the top fruit, you might as well
cut that part of the tree off, now. You can delay the annual pruning
until the emerging flower buds (*) open, and prune to leave just
one pair on each new stick. Pinch any others off with your snips as you
prune. It is best when you are confident of reliable pollination by bees
of the [fewer] remaining flower buds.

I'd reckon it's better to thin out at the bud stage rather than let
the tree put energy into starting off a lot of fruit before you thin
them out, and it's easier, too, cause the tree is leafless at the
usual pruning stage.

If you are too softhearted to start, stand back and imagine two big
red juicy peaches dangling tantalizingly at every node where I recommend
that you leave just two (or three and then thin one later) flowers. You
may discover that you can count 50 or more fruit. That's stacks--when
they are going to be a good size.

Is the tree likely to moderate its fruit production as it matures? If not,
what can I do to reduce the number of fruits it wants to carry?

Be brave! Have faith! Trust me! :-)


(*) at the real early stage, some of us find it difficult to tell the
difference between buds that will turn into leaves, and those that
are destined to become flowers, so wait until they show their hand!
--
John Savage (newsgroup email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)