Peaches

[jangchub]

Well, my peach tree made a ton of peaches, all or most of which had worms in the center, and/or brown rot. The red admirals are drunk out there and I mean drunk and many thousands of them.

Anyway, I don't kill insects, but does anyone know of a way to prevent brown rot aside from proper hygiene after the growing season is over. Also, I was wondering if I can do an extreme pruning after all the fruit has fallen off. The tree is a good umbrella shape, but it is way too tall...about 14 feet tall. The raccoons get up in there and poop on my canopy to mark THEIR peach tree. I don't mind, but if the tree was shorter they can get to it without skating the canopy and maybe I can pick the peaches easier. Does anyone have any good book recomendations regarding peaches?

Victoria

[George Shirley]

I keep all my fruit trees pruned to ten feet tall. There are many guides to pruning but your best recommendations for fruit trees will probably come from your state agricultural extension service. If you're in Texas TAMU is your friend. If you don't spray at all you probably will never get a decent crop. I only use dormant oil spray in the winter and it has improved my crop greatly. Proper pruning will also help in letting light and air into the interior of the tree plus you will need to get rid of some of the fruit so others will get bigger. HTH

George, USDA Zone 9b, SW Louisiana

[Victor Martinez]

I'd love some advice on that too, we haven't had a peach in 2 years!!! The trees are strikingly beautiful when blooming though. :)

I'd wait until February to prune them. Let the leaves produce energy now.

[David E. Ross]

If you are trying to grow something that does not grow in nature (a hybridized peach), then you must resort to some non-natural practices. I use a spray that combines dormant oil (which kills over-wintering insects and their eggs) with copper sulfate (which prevents fungus and other diseases). I spray this immediately after pruning and again just as the flower bud swell and begin to show red (and again if it rains within 48 hours after spraying).

Gather up all fallen fruit and trash it. Don't leave it to become a breeding ground for next year's brown rot.

Prune in the winter. If you normally get snow, wait until the buds swell slightly. In my area, I prune around New Year. Don't prune now; the tree is forming the wood on which next year's crop will appear.

[symplastless]

NO !!

See pruning

mulching would be great!!!!

Mulching -

Look up "Mulch"

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist

Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist

Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.

\

The tree is a good umbrella shape, but it is

[symplastless]

[sherwindu]

My Ortho Problem Solver suggests spraying your peaches about 3 weeks before harvest with a fungicide containing triforine. Besides the usual cleanup of infected material around the tree, next spring spray the tree as the first flowers begin to open with a fungicide containing either triforine or chlorothalonil as the first flowers begin to open. Continue spraying as the label suggests. That book again is 'The Ortho Home Gardener's Problem Solver'. They also have a more extensive version in a professional edition (more expensive).

I would trap the racoons and get rid of them. If you prune, don't cut off more than

1/3 of the tree in any season and do it in late fall or very early spring when the tree is dormant. I would also suggest planting a semi-dwarf tree instead of a full standard peach, next time.

Sherw> Well, my peach tree made a ton of peaches, all or most of which had

[jangchub]

Do you know the chill hours on your peach? Mine is 400. Last winter we finally had at least or close to temps below 45 for 400 hours. Fruit trees, particularly peaches will show beautiful flowers, but if the chill hours aren't there the blossoms abort the fruit along with them when they fall off.

I agree, but peaches set fruit on new wood. So, my line of thinking was that if I cut out all the largest and oldest limbs I'd encourage new growth. Then, in February prune it back into the scaffold I have it pruned into now.

I'm going to go take a look at Dromgool's peach orchard at the store.

[jangchub]

[cat daddy]

An article in the Statesman yesterday about the impact of the rain had this: "....says Bill Psencik of the Psencik Peach Farm in Fredericksburg

"The foliage on the trees is so dense that we will have to do a lot of summer pruning to allow adequate sunlight to enter the inside of the canopy of the trees," Psencik says. "This can have a great effect on the amount of next year's peach crop."

So, apparently pruning in Summer is not a bad thing.

[jangchub]

Yes, this is in line with my original thought to remove most of the old wood which will no longer produce fruit and cut it back hard. Summer pruning on fruit trees is very common.

Since the tree has given me brown rot for the last three years, and if it doesn't get remedy I was going to remove it and plant another on the other side of the property...well, I have nothing to lose. So, I will follow my instinct and cut it back and prune heavily so new wood will grow out for next years fruit. I made a mistake in my terminology, peaches fruit on second year wood, meaning whatever new wood grows this year, will be the shoots to produce fruit next year. The shoots are from 18 to 24 inches long and those (generally red in color) will be the shoots to produce next year.

I will also use a copper fungicide or something similar, but I will not use pesticides. I don't kill. That's that.

[Victor Martinez]

I don't remember, but it made sense for Austin when we got them.

I didn't mean to say the trees do not produce fruit. They do. We just don't get to eat any because they rot.

[Victor Martinez]

Actually, we all do. Whether we want to or not. :)

[William Wagner]

All we have to do is look at our cars radiator. Then imagine what the radiators of the trucks that bring us our foods look like.

Bill

[jangchub]

Ah, okay. We started removing the very old wood on the tree today. We are only going to leave last years wood, and anything which grows out from this season. I am going to investigate how to curtail the brown rot, although the butterflies are so drunk out there I almost hate to deny them! There are literally thousands of butterflies, and all types at that. I don't think I've ever seen so many.

Removing the oldest wood has also removed the route the raccoons use to get up in there. They started marking their territory on top of our pavillion and we can't have that. Round worms are a very real thing I don't want to get involved with :(

[jangchub]

Well, of course we do ultimately. My Lama told me there is not an atom of space where you won't find a sentient being. So breathing kills bacteria and whatever else. Also, I've been told just under my armpit is a zoo! What a fantastic Lama I have :)

I guess I should have have said, I don't kill with intention. I don't eat any animals, and I am working toward being a vegan, though that is difficult to do when I have a livingroom full of Thomasville Leather! Then again, I did buy it 8 years ago, so...nah, it still isn't yard sale yet. It's that lifetime type stuff. I digress...

v

[jangchub]

Which is why I usually use drive time to recite mantras. I also have a copy of a mandala that, if an animal sees it will not take another animal rebirth. One would have to be a Buddhist to know what that's all about. We sure do kill all day, but not with intention.

[sherwindu]

Spoken like a true believer.

[sherwindu]

Not sure where this summer pruning is taking place, but heavy pruning in the summer encourages the tree to put out lot's of new growth, usually in the form of water sprouts that grow up vertically and our not desirable. Better to wait until the tree goes dormant in late fall or early winter.

Sherwin D.

cat daddy wrote:

[Charlie]

Spoken like a true believer.

Charlie