Help! Peach tree dripping gobs of jelly

I posted my problem, but I guess I need to go to a broader forum. I'm new, forgive me. Anyway, we have three peach trees - two very productive last year, one not so good. One of our "good" trees has started dripping gob of (sap?) in several places. I've tried to find out how to treat with confusing results. This tree produced bushels of peaches last year - I hate to see it go down. We bought this house last July. Unfortunately the people we bought from had let everything (approx. an acre of fruit trees, berry bushes and flowers) go to weed. The man who owned it before them was a master gardener, and we would like to bring the property back to what it was. I know I'm going to need help; I'm so happy I found this website!
I found a picture that looks very similar to what we have, except that it is not on the bottom of the tree but on the branches.

I just spoke to my neighbor and she told me that when they moved in 20 years ago, the peach trees were already there. I didn't know they could produce that long.

This message was edited Mar 11, 2006 11:06 PM

If you're not getting any answers over here, you might try posting your question on the Trees & Shrubs forum too. Or I think there may be a forum for fruit/nut trees that you could try. Most of the discussions I've seen on this forum tend more towards pests like insects/squirrels, etc vs plant diseases, and when I had a fungal problem with one of my trees a few months ago I got no responses here but found some help over on Trees & Shrubs.

It's possible that you have peach tree borers. Can you see piles of wood dust anywhere by the sap? Holes in the middle of the sap? If you do, then that's the problem. You might be able to kill the larvae by inserting a thin piece of metal,like a skewer, into the hole.
It's a good idea to spray your peaches with a dormant oil in the fall and winter, that will help kill any overwintering bugs.
Another problem might be a bacterial canker. That's a problem I can't advise you on, in either case you might want to have a arborist come and make a housecall to truly diagnose your problem, good luck!

I have a couple of thoughts on this but I really need photos of the actual damage on your tree to try to take a stab at this. I have a small hobbyist orchard here and I have Reliance, Contender, and one other cold hardy Peach that is slipping my mind right now. I try to keep up by reading what I can more so to be able to spot any issues before they get out of control.

My thoughts are Leucostoma Canker and Tomato Ringspot Virus but there are a few others that come to mind as being possibilities. Without photos it's pretty tough so maybe you better post this over in the Trees Forum.

Best wishes to you.