I have about 15 peach trees and the birds obviously take small bites from tons. Do/would you net your trees in my case?
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I’ve planted a lot of young trees that aren’t fruiting yet so I went to a pick your own farm to get some yellow plums. They didn’t have nets on the plum trees but there were speakers hung in them hooked to car batteries on the ground. They were incredibly loud and sounded like a hawk screeching. I saw zero birds going for the plums, maybe another option?
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How tall are your peach trees?
I put nets up to protect my peach trees. Mostly to protect them from the raccoons. They will strip a peach tree if left unchecked.
It is interesting to know this worked. I would like to have some solar versions of this type alarm. I have a friend that has a solar one that makes a shotgun blast noise and dogs barking.
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I put old fruit sox over the peaches a couple of days before they get ripe. It works pretty well, but not 100%.
John S
PDX OR
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I keep them around 8 ft. They’re from seed and if left unchecked will get massive, so I trim heavy in spring. Wonder fruit and TONS of it. I think I will net. I just did two but was wondering if I’m just being silly/over cautious. But I wanted to know other’s stories.
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Slightly related, I ran across an article that was about netting for Japanese Beetles that was a pyrethroid-infused product to trap and kill them. Virginia Tech was studying that in 2022.
Plain Japanese Beetle netting is available but expensive at $430 for 14 feet x 100 feet and being promoted for covering raspberries and blackberries.
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I just netted three of the trees. I did some summer trimming trying not to drop fruit. The netted them. I have a tree that we think is the best tasting and we know it’s one of the three I netted. So if we get our favorite one to be as big and flavorful as possible it’s worth it. Found 10x10 nets with zippers for 2x$14 on Amazon. Pretty durable I think. So we’ll see
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We have 3 trees and have minimal bird pecking. If green they heal. If they are near ripe, we turn them into jam.
Our trees are 8 ft tall but 20+ ft wide, so impossible to net
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Thanks for the input
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I netted my peach tree over two weeks ago. The birds had already ruined half the fruit. And the peaches won’t be ripe for another two weeks. It’s way easier in the greenhouse.
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I have 3 peaches in pots and netted one, Mid Pride, as it was the earliest of the 3 to ripen and it worked out very well. Probably like 50-60 fruit made it, no losses to pests. The ones that weren’t netted have slowly lost around 75% of their crop at this point 
.
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Wel…right now about 10 ft buti can trim to anything. Their only 4 years from seed, but produce an insane amount and delicious quality. And extremely resistant to fungus. I really want to baby them.
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Neat! But pricey.
My big problem with the nects is squirrels, not really birds. Birds get after the plums
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Little too pricey for me. I found 10x10 nets with zippers on Amazon…2 for $14. They arrived already and I tried them. They seem durable. Next year I’ll trim my trees a bit smaller and they’ll fit perfect. I do however like the idea of putting up posts and just netting the entire rows. So I’m pricing out netting for that.
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My net is 30x30ft. That covers a decent sized tree. 10x10 would be a limb or small tree.
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No, not practical and 15 decent trees should produce enough for you and the birds…unless you are in bird hell.
I do pick newish trees with a handful of peaches a little ahead due to birds / chipmunks / squirrels. I do this bc I’m in a rush to see what the variety tastes like. But the big trees have tons of fruit on them
How tall is your tree and how do you get it on and off?
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My peach tree is only 7-8ft tall. Pretty easy to get on and off just using a short pole.
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I only have one tree producing. I am just trying to get a few peaches to eat for myself. I started bagging two years ago bought some fruit bags on Amazon got a real good deal and worked pretty well . This year I made several peach sleeves along with the bags . I used insect row cover and a glue gun . I just tied the open end with plant tape . I started bagging because I did not want to use pesticides and I don’t. It also works as a deterrent to squirrels, birds and raccoons . But I plan on adding baffles next year to help with the raccoon problem. Only lost a couple of bags this year to raccoons
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I do not net or spray mine and I etting so many that wee are frezing them as prepaired pie filling.
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