North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

Shirley,
We live in NE TN where our late peaches are ripening.  We do not spray
them, and they have surface bacterial spot, but not much brown rot. 
Said otherwise, we are enjoying fresh peaches for breakfast and lunch.
We try to limit brown rot by 1) picking and removing any fruit from
the tree that starts to develop brown rot, 2) picking up drops each
day and disposing of them.  These lessen brown rot spread to good
peaches still on the tree.

Also, we only have one peach tree ripening at a time, so this hand
work is manageable.

Many fungi need a certain number of hours of wetness before they can
grow.  Maximum air circulation helps the fruit dry more quickly, so we
prune to maintain an open tree, like an upside down umbrella, and we
thin the fruit to make sure no mature fruits will touch each other.

If you have a limited number of trees, these admittedly labor
intensive steps can deliver the majority of the peaches on the tree,
in most years.

We have a new nectarine that was devastated by brown rot this year
despite above methods, so it looks like we'll have to spray that one
to get those fruit.  There are some organic spray options for brown
rot worth trying.

Richard Moyer
East Tennessee, Zone 6
Picked last of our Crandall Currants today.