Hi- New to the forum but have read it for years. I am located in the Norther Virginia area and brown rot has driven me to the brink. I have noticed that earlier harvested varieties and just certain ones seem to fare better. Can anyone else confirm that? Had to pull out a donut peach as it seemed to be a magnet for brown rot. Anyway, can anyone from nearby list some stone fruit varieties that they have had success with without a ton of sprays.(cherry, plum, peach, apricot) Thanks for any help.
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You’ve already discovered the most important strategy- when it is warm and most humid and fruit is almost ripe brown rot is most encouraged.
As far as resistant varieties regardless of weather- with peaches often the old fashioned ones are more resistant- especially ones traditionally grown in the south like Elberta.
The Harrow program looks at brown rot with new introductions but U.S. breeding programs tend not to. Harcrest is a very good peach that is resistant. It does well in NY, but I can’t speak for VA. I wonder how O’Henry does there- it’s relatively popular with southern growers and a very old variety. I think it’s a better tasting peach than Elberta, really top-notch if you aren’t looking for bright red colored skin (birds are).
Of course, any tree ripened peach is going to be good.
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Here are a few posts from @scottfsmith that mention rot issues for Maryland. Sounds like a few good ones are: Euros plums–> Middleburg, Golden Transparent Gage and Bavay’s Gage. Asian plums → Lavinia, Satsuma and Spring Satin.
Also, look into the AU series of plums. Page 4 of this pdf ranks the rot resistance of each.
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Robert - I am south of you in Lynchburg Va. I had maybe 16 peach trees set fruit this year and zero issues with brown rot except on Tangos. Trees include Belle of Georgia, Elberta, Intrepid, Indian Cling, PF 13, PF 24C, Desiree, Evelyn, Tangos, Red Haven, Sure Crop, Coral Star, Reliance, Crimson Rocket, Elegant Lady and 3 or 4 more unknown varieties of peaches and nectarines.
I followed the spray schedule on the fungicide Indar (with Regalia added in) religiously at the start of the season. Maybe 5 to 6 sprays total. The only issue I had was a very small amount of bacterial spot on a few varieties of peaches.
I may have gotten lucky but this worked for me this season. Best of luck.
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In my own experience, the idea that all early fruit is less susceptible to brown rot is most certainly NOT TRUE. I have a super early unknown peach that ripens in late May (which is just unbelievable for my area here in KY/TN border). There have been at least 2 years in recent memory that I failed to properly spray this tree, and in both years I lost every single fruit on the tree to horrendous brown rot. Later peaches actually fared better. Certainly that tree could just be super susceptible to BR but it still seemed worth mentioning since it is an early fruit and gets hit hard. Even in years I spray it shows up a little bit in very ripe fruits.
I have found that extremely thorough spraying very early in the season is almost enough to stop brown rot on other peaches, much as @SpudDaddy has said above.
One of my least effected stone fruits are Montmorrency cherries. Here at my place they are pretty resistant.
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I second @SpudDaddy’s comments, hit it often enough with a good fungicide and you will be OK on most varieties. I’m currently using Indar alternating with Elevate (different mode of action) plus sometimes propiconazole aka Bonide Infuse (have some to get rid of) and myclobutanil (was already in tank for apples). Don’t just use any fungicide, many don’t work well on brown rot.
I have recently shifted to just including some brown rot chemical in most of my early sprays for curc and moths, and I then don’t need to spray in the hot months. My last spray was mid-June and I have about zero rot. I am going to spray a little more mid-summer next year for the moths, they got worse than usual later this season (had almost none earlier).
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What is the per gallon rate for Elevate? I may switch to Elevate when this batch of Indar runs out. I like Indar but I can only afford it if someone sells smaller quantities. Thanks - Spud
Spud,
Elevate is a bit cheaper than Indar.
But cheaper is a relative term.
I think I saw in one of the threads the cost per application is cheaper with Indar. But you have to buy so much, and I am uncertain what is the shelf life of Indar. If I can keep buying in small quantities I will stick with Indar - it has done me right so far. But Elevate will be my backup. I guess I should have checked if the water PH level matters with Elevate. Right now my application program for Peaches is simple, Indar, Regalia and Permethrin (Permethrin during PC season). Copper in late fall, late winter. I don’t have to worry about PH levels with these fungicides/insecticides, simple is better for me.
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Where are you getting all of those sprays at? I clicked on mamuangs link and that stuff is pretty steep. I have been shopping at home centers and walmart for the sprays. Where is everyone getting theirs and how much are they? Anything with a strong concentrate?
So no spray stone fruits are a dream and do not exist?
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It is good to alternate two things for resistance if you can manage… this year with alternating I have far less rot than I ever have had. Peaches on the counter are only rotting if they had a bug in them whereas in previous years they rotted if kept there too long. This is with zero sprays since mid-June…
@Robert, the good compounds can be hard to find. People here occasionally split a purchase. For small quantity the Bonide Infuse product has propiconazole in it and it should be highly effective.
Yes there is definitely no such thing as a no-spray stone fruit in the east. You won’t even make it to rotting most places as the curculio will take down all the fruitlets once it gets established.
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Permethrin 10% labeled for fruit tree use is available on Amazon. You can buy in small quantity, not to expensive. Koicide which is what I use for copper is only available in large quantities but I think the shelf life is very long. I just looked Keystone Pest Solutions has a $45 4 pound bag. Regalia is expensive, I think I paid about $100 for the bottle, per an e-mail from the manufacturer the shelf life is at least 3 years. Hope it is longer I will never use a bottle in 3 years. Indar is expensive - I have bought pints of Indar from other forum members for $45 to $60 a pint. I can’t justify a $300 plus container of Indar. In Virginia the only fungicide that I have every seen in Home Depot or Lowes that was worth using was Immunox. Immunox worked well almost as well as Indar.
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Scott- Just looked at the orchard walk through at your house from another thread. I am impressed as I did not see a single rotten fruit. I see you use the less is better idea.
At my house in the woods all of those trees would have been picked by deer with their ladders. They would have been able to see the fruit easy since the japanese beatles would have eaten most of the leaves. The small trees caged in fence would have been eaten from the top or bucks would have pushed the fence over and killed the tree. No bird or other critter problems here. Just deer, fungus, and insects.
Here deer are real predators. They come creeping around late at night looking to steal and cause property damage. Can’t understand why the police will not arrest them. They are criminals!!!
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Spud- Hi- I spent some time in lynchburg and other areas in southern virginia. Grew up in virginia beach/chesapeake. How long do the sprays that you spoke of last? Their fat price could be justified if they stretch far enough. Also, from your response and others I am learning that I am using the wrong sprays and not enough. I remember a few years ago when I first started I thought you just stabbed them in the ground and collected fruit.
How is Edible Landscaping down there. Is their products worth buying? From what I have heard they are mostly small potted plants. Are they worth buying from? Thinking of getting some fuzzy kiwi from them.
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When you say how long do they last - I assume you mean what is the length of the sprays effectiveness after being sprayed on a tree (vs shelf life). I do not know the “official” answers (from the manufacturer or university studies) for spray efficacy but I spray Indar/Regalia prebloom, then Indar/Regalia/Permethrin immediately post petal fall, then every 7 days Indar/Regalia/Permethrin at least 4 more times (maybe as much as 6 if I see any Plum Curcilio damage). If work/life doesn’t allow me to spray every 7 days the most I will allow between sprays is 10 days.
So my assumption is that the spray last 7 - 10 days. During PC season if you get a hard rain you may need to spray early, right after the hard rain.
There are university studies that show the length of efficacy of the chemicals. Unfortunately I can’t find any of them now. Permethrin was ranked high for PC.
I am with you on throwing the trees in the ground, I have spent a lot of time, work, money figuring all of this out. This is the first year I have gotten a full set of fruits off my trees (took 4 years). The people on this board are helpful, I would never have figured this out without there help.
Edible Landscaping is a mixed bag. First off they are expensive, they are reselling trees for the most part from other nurseries and you never know what you will find when you go there. Sometimes they have a lot of trees, other times there selection is poor. Sometimes the people who work there are helpful other times not. The owners are old and I think it shows. I have 4 Asian pears from them that have done really well and one peach. The trees were 5 to 10 gallon trees. My father bought small trees from them and every one has died or runted.
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I was looking at how concentrated and duration on the tree. Rain is so frequent here I would need to keep spraying. I’m starting to think that sprays only minimize rot and it is more based on the amount of rain as to how much rot.
My story is just like yours. 4 years in and over that time have put in well over 100 fruit trees. Most have not fruited yet. Should have joined the forum years ago and could have saved money. Had to pay to play like everyone.
Thanks for the heads up on Edible Landscaping. Larger potted always do well, but it was the smaller potted ones they sell mail order I was looking at. Your dads experience is about what I expected. I have had better luck with plants from e-bay than the classic big name mail order companies. I am about to start a new thread on that as well. The guy who owns that place has a few you tube videos I was watching. At the end of each video he grabs his guitar and puts on a little concert. I think he might have a little hippie in him.
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I need to get a hold of Indar and Elevate.
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If you are not using synthetics that is about the story, but with the proper synthetics you should be able to get rot-free fruit. You don’t need to cover after ever rain, I have not sprayed for two months and I have no rot. You just need enough sprays to get the level low enough; each spray will in the next few hours kill off the spores so if there is no rain for those couple hours congratulations you just wiped everything out. Assuming good coverage of course.
Re: deer, my tree fences are for the most part 7’ tall, no deer will get on top of them (I have a few shorter ones but I move them higher as the plant grows). I also have not had any problems at all with deer messing with the fencing. Next door the bucks ripped off all their tree guards but this mesh fencing has been 100% reliable so far, they don’t seem to want to get tangled in it. All the low fruit in any of those pictures I let the deer have, but most should be above their reach. The main problem I had with deer this year is the groundhog was all over my trees and many limbs bent a lot lower or broke and then the deer did clean-up. Also a few grafts I thought I put high enough the really big deer could nose down and break. Graft 6" higher next year or fence those in as well.
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Just last night a deer ripped up a 6ft tall korean giant. Mostly my fault, I should have let it get taller to fruit. They broke almost every branch taking the fruit. I live on the side of a mountain and hundreds of deer show up each night. The grass is smashed out where they just take a nap after eating my fruit. Keep forgetting your more in the city. Out here all I need is some alcohol and I could have a huge 4-leg party every night.
I appreciate all of the advice on the rot. This thread has taught me a lot. Mostly I am using the wrong sprays and not enough. To late for this year, but will make changes for next. I don’t think I will be adding any more stone fruits though. Just swapping rotters.
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OK I think you have me beat there 
I always have deer but its usually not so many at once. We have lots of cars out thinning the herd in suburbia, and most of the deer are younger ones.
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