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  • From: Jay Cutts <orders@cuttsreviews.com>
  • To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [nafex] Peach problem - borers?
  • Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:10:06 -0600

Can anyone help with these peach tree symptoms? I'm not sure if it's borers or something else.

The main symptom is that patches of bark crumble and flake off, revealing the wood underneath. In some spots there is a sticky liquid but it's not that prevalent. The crumbling happens on the trunk and on branches.

The trees on which this has happened have suffered serious die-back of upper branches. Is there a cure/treatment?

I am in a climate that is very hot and dry in the summer and the sun is very intense.

Regards,

Jay

Jay Cutts
Director, Cutts Graduate Reviews
Lead Author, Barron's Test Prep Publications
(505) 281-0684
10 am to 10 pm Mountain Time, 7 days


On 3/23/2012 10:41 AM, Scott Smith wrote:
Caren, brown rot can be a challenge for organic growers. You need to attack
it on every level possible.

1. Keep the tree healthy, well-mulched with organic matter, and regularly
fed with foliar feeders such as seaweed and fish emulsion.

2. Prune the trees to be very open. Open trees let in more sun which kills the
disease spores. To give an idea how open peaches can be pruned, look at the
"after" picture on this link:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/johnston/homehort2/06_peach_pruning_demo.html

3. Regularly scout the trees for fruit with any sign of brown rot, and
remove that fruit from the orchard. This may not be possible on large trees;
its another reason to keep trees short!

4. Sprays that can be used include sulphur, Serenade, and Saf-T-Side oil (a
mineral oil with disease smothering abilities - it is thick like yogurt).
Don't just start spraying when you see the rot, do a delayed dormant (with
lime-sulphur), a post-bloom, and then later cover sprays. Don't spray oil
for two weeks after sulphur; sulphur can be sprayed 3-4 days after mineral
oil since the oil should have all evaporated in that time. Of these three I
have found sulphur to be the most effective, but none of them give strong
control.

I have used this approach for several years now and while I generally do
pretty well, I still have bad years on the susceptible varieties. Speaking
of varieties, I have removed the most susceptible varieties, that is another
important element of brown rot control. Your climate is not as severe as
mine for diseases so you may be able to control it on your existing varieties.

Scott

On Mar 22, 2012, at 1:58 PM, Caren Kirk wrote:

Last year I had brown rot on my cherries and plums for the first time.
I had not had any experience of brown rot before, so it took me a awhile
to identify it. However after doing so I was pretty meticulous about
removing mummies and trying to keep the areas around the trees as clean
as possible.

Can anyone suggest the best organic methods for controlling brown rot?
Last spring I just sprayed with dormant oil. I've heard sulfur can be
effective.

I'd really like to keep it under control, not only for my cherries and
plums but so it doesn't spread to my other stone fruit.

Thanks,

Caren Kirk
St. Jerome, QC
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