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wakullagirl23

Something eating my peaches

wakullagirl23
9 years ago

Hey guys i have been lurking around here for a long time but never have posted anything. I have a florida-king peach tree that has been in ground for about 3 years. This year is the first year that i kinda figured out the pruning,fertilizer, etc and had blooms and baby peaches but something is eating the baby peaches. There is clear hard like sap stuff next to the bites. I haven't seen anything on the tree so I am stumped. Any help would be so much appreciated :)

Diane

Comments (11)

  • jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
    9 years ago

    I hope you fare better than I did, I really do. You are further north so maybe that will work to your advantage.
    Four yrs ago I got ambitious and planted two Tropic Beauty low cool hour peach trees. Had to dig them up and give them away 3 yrs later, had no idea peach trees had so many critters that would literally commit suicide to have a chance at pecking away and destroying the majority of those luscious fruits. .
    The birds were the worst, despite the netting which was a major ordeal installing as the trees flew taller,..larger birds would fly underneath and wind up gasping and flapping their wings on a branch deep inside the netting, as they expired after their Kami Kazi attacks. Some with longer beaks would somehow manage to grasp the tip of a branch just inside the netting and then poke his beak inside, penetrating and destroying the peaches. Your green sample looks like one of them.
    Like I said, being further north ( I am in zone 10a ), you may not have the problems I did. I love my peaches but after almost 4 years I just had to lighten my load as I am a one man show here. GOOD LUCK !!!!

  • wakullagirl23
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    At least someone feels my pain lol. I have had a heck of a time with my tree. First year of course not much happening but new growth and then the second year i had something happening with the trunk. there was damage and sap leaking out. i am assuming it was some kind of borer? No sign of that this year but now this! I was so excited this year cause i actually had baby peaches and they didn't fall off as soon as they started growing. I am getting kinda frustrated cause it seems like i have to have a different kind of spray for every little thing and spray it at exactly the right time. I am considering just putting some more fig trees cause lord knows i can grow those and they are so easy! Thanks again for the moral support :)

    This post was edited by wakullagirl23 on Mon, May 12, 14 at 15:46

  • laura1
    9 years ago

    I have a UF Sun peach that has been in the ground for about 18 months. Last summer it in leaps and bounds and I had a bumper crop this spring (still some on the tree). The problem I have is fruit flies. The flies lay their eggs in the fruit and when the maggot comes out leaves a little hole. Even if the peaches look good when I pick them I find they have fruit fly larvae already in the fruit. Next year I am going to have to spray them with something much as I hate to.

  • carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
    9 years ago

    The double puncture might be the indents from rodent front teeth - or perhaps a bird's beak?

  • m5allen
    9 years ago

    Get some organza bags on amazon/ebay and then tighten one around each peach. That should keep most all critters away.

  • jofus, ( Englewood, Fl zone 10a )
    9 years ago

    Laura1, STOP ! Nothing worse than fruit flies, IMHO anyway. But before you spend time, money & effort on spraying chemicals ( enough already - am sure you will agree ), please consider pouring 6 - 8 ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar into an old pickle jar that has 6, 7 small holes poked into the metal cover with an ice pick ! Then tie a string around cap & hang on a branch. Hope you can see the jar hanging in the middle of pic.
    Nuff said,,..there's another, more detailed blog on GW you can reference,..just type in " Fruit Flies " or " FF's on Mangos ", etc.
    It works,..much less work,..try it, you'll like it ! ( smile )

  • Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
    9 years ago

    Diane,

    You may wish to take a look at a thread in the Fruit & Orchards forum, linked below . It is about Oriental Fruit Moths (OFM) and peaches. I hope your problem is not OFM but here's the info, just in case.

    Carol in Jacksonville

    Here is a link that might be useful: Extreme OFM pressure

  • katkin_gw
    9 years ago

    Laura, I took Jofus's advise and did the jar thing on my papaya and it worked great. Had a jar full of fruit flies in no time and nice papayas. :o) I now have them hanging in my mango tree.

  • Deeby
    9 years ago

    I just got a dwarf peach tree, and it has baby peaches. Because there are only a few I'm not going to pull them. I went to a crafts store and bought organza bags in the bridal section and tied each peach in one. Now that I know about the vinegar jar I'll make one but since the tree is in a huge blue pot I'll just park the jar under the leaves. Thanks !

  • wakullagirl23
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all the help guys. I will definitely be trying the bags suggestion. Carol I looked at the link you suggested and someone had mentioned cucurlio on there and i think that is what is causing the little holes and sap.Thanks again everyone :)

  • laura1
    9 years ago

    jofus- thanks for the information! I will try your method next year...but may need it on figs.

    Since my last post I found out that there is really nothing insecticide -wise that works for fruit flies.

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