Here is a picture of my peach tree that I planted this year. I actually planted 5 this year, and two or three of them seem to be having this problem. I tried googling the symptoms and all I could come up with is bacterial spot. Do you think that is what this is? If so, what do I do about it...and if not, what is it? Thanks for all your expert advise.
Got no advice. Got same problem.
I don't know if this is the same thing that killed my apricot this spring, but it started on my new nectarine earlier this month.
This message was edited Jul 22, 2008 1:24 PM
This message was edited Jul 22, 2008 1:35 PM
Most of the branch tips are now dying back.
And on this Stanley plum
And this Stella cherry
Oh No...I'll be so sad if they die...
Those pix look a lot like fire blight. It starts by killing the tips of shoots. It is a nasty disease but can be controlled. Google it and follow the instructions
RED
I don't know, red. In my orchard, it's only affecting the stone fruit, and it begins with those spots on the leaves. Shoot dieback comes later.
That is strange, fire blight usually hits apples and pears first. What kind of spray schedule are you following?
RED
I've had to spray the cherries and plums with Sevin for the Japanese beetles, but the nectarines don't attract them so I didn't spray them this round. Otherwise I might have thought it could be spray damage. The brown shoots are mostly at the tops of the trees, where the JBs like to munch.
Sprayed with captan in the spring.
This is my 9th yr with fruit trees and the first yr I will get a good overall crop. I started with 3 plums and have added more each yr until I have about 80. at least 2/3 of which are 3 yrs or younger. I had to learn to prune, then to control fire blight which hit 2 yrs in a row and caused a tree loss. Then we had a locust hatch and it devastated most of my trees, then 2 yrs later(last yr.) I had them in decent shape again and we had the killer freeze. During all this I was learning how to spray. I still don't have it down perfect but I spray with Firewall when the trees start to show silvertip and continue until blossom drop, this has cured the fire blight(spray about once a week for 3weeks or so) I used Captain and/or Ziram for fungus from blossom to near maturity. I am using Imadan for insects which worked of the million plus Japanese Beetles I had this yr. The only problem this yr. was brown rot on 1 nectarine tree. I tried to work up a spray schedule that would work on apples, pears, plums, peaches, pluots, aprium, apricots, sweet & sour cherries, nectarines, and grapes. Other than the 1 nectarine, alternating Captain and Ziram with Imadan after fruit set has worked great this yr. I have already picked some apples, plums, all the cherries, peaches, and a few grapes. Have had no other rot, no worms and the other 4 to 7 yr old trees are loaded with great looking fruit. I would spray every 10 day or so unless we had a lot of rain and then I sprayed in 7 days. I still have a way to go but right now the worst problem I have is deer and Plantskidd seems to be working.
RED
Seems that here the pests and problems get worse every year.
Bagging the apples worked really well last year and cut down on the spraying, but it always seems to be something different cropping up.
Whatever hit the apricot doesn't seem to be systemic, as the rootstock was sprouting vigorously. I have a replacement ordered, but I'm hesitating now about more trees as long as I don't know exactly what this new thing is, and thus how to treat it.
I sent photos to the Morton Arboretum plant clinic, but they didn't recognize the problem. They suggested I send sample to the University plant clinic for culture.
I find it odd that this disease appears to be so mysterious.
LT
HI LT...so do you think we have the same problem...my trees don't seem to be dying...at least not yet. Does anyone else have any ideas???
Well, your peach and my nectarine sure seem to have the same kind of spots, looking at the respective photos. Some of the green leaves of the nectarine are also turning yellow and dropping.
They said it MIGHT be some kind of fungal disease, which does suggest that they would have recognized and dismissed fire blight as the problem.
This message was edited Jul 24, 2008 9:57 PM
One of my pear trees died of fire blight, but it did not have these spots on them. I'll have to look and see if the leaves are turning yellow. So much to learn...
I sure hope that you guys figure out this one because I had something similar last year. No die back but some defoliation. I sprayed the heck out of them through the winter and spring and so far it has not returned. Like you I could not find anything on the net or in books that matched.
Good luck
I hesitate to spray indiscriminately, as I can't entirely rule out that it could be spray damage.
But I really need to find out before I decide whether to buy new trees this fall.
lotsofkids, your disease looks something like bacterial spot. It doesn't look like how I get it, but diseases often express themselves a bit differently.
LTilton, that is a mighty odd thing you have. It is not fireblight since peaches do not get fireblight. My first guess would be spray injury. Are you spraying Malathion? It looks a bit like some Malathion damage I got. The new shoots tend to fare the worst with some sprays, and that is why I put that as my primary guess. It could also be some strange disease. There are lots and lots of them. X-disease for example (which it does not look like).
Scott
Scott, thanks...what do you do for your trees when they get it?
Doesn't look like bacterial spot to me.
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic2209.htm
http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/wvufarm6.html
Look those over.
http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/disease_descriptions/ombactsp.html
I never use Malathion. What I sprayed was Sevin, but I didn't spray the nectarine.
And other stone fruit that I did spray haven't shown a sign of this. It's very perplexing and bothersome.
I sent my pics to Stark Bros where I ordered the trees from and this was their reply.
It could be peach leaf curl that can be controlled with a fungicide or bacterial spot which there isn't a lot to do for except maybe increase the nitrogen fertilizer.
Everything has a one year warranty, so if they don't come back next spring let us know.
Doesn't seem to help much does it? I guess the only thing to do is to wait until next year and see how they do, unless anyone else has any new ideas.
The chances are high it is bacterial spot and if its not that it is another disease. So I would get a spray program going for diseases. Copper right after the leaves fall off in the fall and just before leaves come out in the spring is a good plan.
Scott
I dont know what this one is I know fire blight and bacterial spot - what it looks like most of the time - this is not them. You need to send some samples in and see what they say.
So, is copper a spray I just buy or is it in some other kind of spray? Is that considered organic? If not, is there something comparable that is organic that I can use?
Thanks
Copper is in both, I dont know if it is organic or not but it is what works best.
Copper is organic, but some copper spray products are not organic due to how they were prepared. Look at what Peaceful Valley sells, they generally sell organic formulations only.
I should add that this is really just splitting hairs as far as I am concerned, there is little difference in the organic vs non-organic.
Scott
All my peach tree leaves fell off early due to this problem and a high wind storm we had. Should I spray copper now, or wait a little while until all the other tree leaves start to fall off? Once I spray, is there anything else I should do before spring? Thanks
I would spray them right now. The infection enters through the petiole where the leaf fell from. Spray in a dry period. Spray again as late as you can in the spring (just before blossoms or leaves out) and spray a couple times with a dilute (growing season, not dormant) dose before the petals fall. Make sure you use the full dormant strength this fall and early spring, the dormant dose is around 5 times stronger than what you can do in the growing season.
Scott
Thanks...
I also have apple, pear, and plum trees. Should I spray those as well? It was only the peach and nectarine trees that had the problems this year. Can I get copper at the local garden store, and is the only difference between the dormant and growing season spray the dosage, or do I have to buy two different sprays?
The only difference is the dosage. If you are having disease problems on the other trees spray them as well. I spray all of my trees with dormant copper since I have had diseases on every tree. Well except the pears but I sprayed them anyway. You can combine copper with dormant oil in one spray.
Scott
I was wondering when someone was going to mention dormant oil spraying. I know that things are different here in so. Cal., but dormant oil, with copper mixed into it, used two or three times during the winter up until bud break keeps my trees healthy. I put it on heavy and saturate the ground under the trees. I do NO GROWING SEASON SPRAYING FOR INSECTS OR ANYTHING ELSE. It seems that a healthy tree and a balanced population of insect pests and predators works for me. I do take care to keep ants out of my orchard. (Amdro & spectricide)
I do use a systemic (Bayer) on my apple and pear trees every spring. You cannot do this with stone fruit but bayer says it is safe with your apples and pears. Well, you could do it with your stone fruit, but then it would not be safe to eat the fruit.
I also wash my citrus with a safer soap type concoction during their growing season. Citrus are winter fruiters here in So. Cal. This approach works for me and I get loads of good fruit.
Lotsofkids, Dormant oil is a heavy oil, there are several types, I like using canola. Growing season oil is a very light oil, also several types. It seems as if all of them work pretty well even the older petroleum based oils. Some growers add a sufficant to get better coverage or cut down on the cost of spraying their orchards. Go to your local fruit growers or fruit growers coop supply store and they will have multiple produts to chose from and their prices are better than the big box stores.
This message was edited Sep 22, 2008 8:45 AM
This message was edited Sep 22, 2008 8:48 AM
What do people think of Bordeaux mixture instead of straight copper?
Does anybody know about this product?
http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8066&ss=soap%20shield
I bought this last fall, and was wondering if I could and/or should use it now as a dormant oil spray? Thanks for the help, as I'm new to fruit trees and spraying programs.
lotsofkids, It might be a good product. I am not familiar with it. But it cannot be used as a dormant oil spray as it is not an oil. I believe Oil Sprays work by sufficating organisms, insects and their eggs.
Its a soap, not an oil. Oil is recommended for dormant sprays. I wouldn't buy that stuff again, it has about 50 cents worth of copper and soap in it and they are charging a small fortune. Gardens Alive is often called Ripoffs Alive.
For a dormant spray go to a good garden center and ask for horticultural oil. Also it is good to mix in either some copper or lime/sulphur in your dormant spray; ask them for one of those as well.
Scott
OK thanks. So is this stuff good to use during the growing season at all? If so, when should I start using it? I'm trying to prevent the leaf spot problem that I originally posted about. And thanks for the tip about GA. Do you recommend any online garden stores that sell similar things as GA but perhaps not so expensive? Unfortunately our selection of garden stores is very limited here and they don't usually know what I'm talking about when I go in and try to ask for the things recommended on these forums.
That stuff is fine to use but it has so little copper in it that it will not help with serious diseases like what you have.
I would get some Kocide (copper) from e.g. Peaceful Valley Farm Supply (big place) or 7 Springs Farm (small place). Also they sell oil; my current favorite is Saf-T-Side. Google will also pull up other places selling those two brands. I would hit your peaches with a strong dose of oil and copper before they leaf out - something like 2tbsp copper powder and 1/4 cup of oil per gallon of water. Then after they leaf out up until the petals tall off the flowers I would use 1tsp copper plus 1 tbsp of oil per gallon; give them a couple sprays of that. After the petals fall you should stop spraying copper; you can keep spraying the oil as long as its not too hot on the day you spray.
Scott
Thanks Scott, I ordered exactly what you said, so once I get it, I'll get busy. Veronica
