Currently growing only no spray fruit trees but peaches are my favorite fruit and I’m willing to get into the spray game for a good fresh eating yellow peach. looking for varieties with high bacterial spot and brown rot resistance. Was looking into Rio Oso Gem, Red Baron, Clayton, and Gold Dust. Red baron in particular sounded nice for ornamental use too if I don’t get good fruit. open to all suggestions. Likely not purchasing for another year or 2 at least.
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Not an expert, but from what I know it’s quite hard to grow peaches in md without spraying.
I have 6 peach trees that are on 2nd and 3rd year in my yard. I spray regularly following Scott’s low impact spray guide. Even with spraying I have seen signs of oriental fruit moth damage on the tips and have peach leaf curl on a couple of trees.
I am mainly trying to prevent having an ongoing issue of brown rot and pest pressure. I have heard if are not on top of your sprays within a couple years you could have major issues with those.
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I think you misunderstood me. re read the first sentence.
So therefore While I only grow no spray fruit now, I am willing to begin spraying so I can grow quality peaches.
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Whoops, misread
If you spray synthetics then you have a lot of options. Look at Scotts stone fruits variety experiences 2005-2015 thread. That was helpful for me when I was selecting varieties
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Glohaven? Just put one in last year so no feedback on anything much but I specifically chose it because it’s allegedly resistant to brown rot and bacterial spot. You might find this helpful:
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I would highly recommended Winblo from NCSate. Non-browning with bacterial spot resistance. I grow it commercially in the 80’s and 90’s. I still grow it on a small scale. It was the one peach out of 10 varieties that people asked for every year. But don’t take my word on it, check this enthusiastic video from Clemson University Peach guy.
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I would skip on Rio Oso Gem as I have had some spot on it. Clayton is too hard to find but Winblo is similar and larger sized so I would get it instead. My Clayton died recently and I replaced it with a Winblo. The others I don’t remember seeing spot on. Note that I hardly ever get spot any more, and I don’t know why. Maybe I am pruning more openly, or maybe something in my sprays is nailing it. I don’t spray anything labeled for it on a regular basis, copper I only do every few years.
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So the basis for my disease question came directly from one of your previous posts about growing peaches in the mid Atlantic:
Also the ideas for all the cultivars I was looking into came from you too, cross referencing the ones listed in your profile as “keepers” against previous posts about their qualities:
So I’m thinking based on the most current data Winblo and Red Baron would be good picks?
I have three Rio Oso peach trees. They do well for us, peaches larger than my fist, good eating. I don’t spray my trees much - just copper + horticultural oil + soap in dormancy and haven’t had issues with the peaches aside from leaf curl and borers
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I think they are all good picks, I am growing all but Clayton which just died. But you asked about bacterial spot and I had some on the Rio Oso Gem. It supposedly has a latent virus in all of the wood and this also makes it somewhat less vigorous. So, a really great peach but if you only have a couple varieties it might be better to get a different one. Red Baron has also been lower vigor for me but I don’t know if that was the rootstock or location or what. I would look at ripening times as well, you want to spread things out a bit. Gold Dust is good due to its earliness. Rio Oso Gem is quite late so good in terms of spreading things out. I would say Winblo is the most no-brainer of them all, definitely a tasty and reliable one and it’s reasonably easy to find. Looking through my list I would also say Baby Crawford is a great one, it is similar to Rio Oso Gem as far as ripening season goes but has fewer issues. Or Kit Donnell which is also of that season.
@Perkolator I assume you are in California, your spray regimen would not get you very far in the mid-atlantic.
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I like Rio Oso Gem, big nice peaches, but they have a weak stem and the peaches sometimes fall off. Red baron is a favorite of mine, heavy fuzz, excellent flavor. I like red baron so much that I planted a second tree (first time I have done that). Even if you don’t get they many peaches the flowers on the red baron are great. Gold dust is good, but much earlier and not the same quality as the other 2 (here at least).
First pic is rio oso, second and third is red baron
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Scott, I’ve found in my orchard that by slowing culling out the bac. spot magnets, it significantly reduced the bac. spot on trees that weren’t bac. spot magnets. Sort of like getting rid of the typhoid Marys.
I read that once in some publication, that having a lot of highly susc. bac. spot trees can cause disease in trees normally resistant to it. Seemed to have proved out in my case.
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Would ditto the comments on Winblo. Very nice uniform peaches.
Just an FYI, Claton, ripens about 3 weeks prior to Winblo here. Clayton is good enough that I’m still grafting and planting it. As Scott mentioned, it’s pretty small, but very good flavored. PF9a-007 is much bigger but not as reliable.
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Well I’ve been thoroughly convinced Winblo would be a great peach for me to pick up when I do decide to get into peaches.
Since Vaughn’s nursery is only doing single cultivar orders of 10 or more, it looks like plant me green is the only source of Winblo to backyard growers that I know of now. If there are any others, feel free to let me know. to save the cost of sourcing peaches from multiple vendors (and high shipping) are there any other peach trees you would recommend from the ones available at plant me green? based on some google searches and cross references on this forum, it doesn’t look like the others they offer have the flavor quality of Winblo, but maybe a few good ones that have high disease resistance, and reliable producers in my area (central maryland zone 7b/8a). I’m particularly looking at yellow flesh, freestone, fresh eating types. I was thinking possibly Contender, Carolina Gold, and Norman, but if there is anything else I overlooked on their site please feel free to talk about them.
I got a Winblo from PMG a few years ago and it came with severe bacterial canker. And that was on the replacement, the first one never grew. And the apple I also ordered barely made it. I’ve had OK luck in past years but be warned that they have quality issues. My Winblo from them is still chugging but I’m not counting on it. I later got a very nice one from Bob Wells Nursery, but it looks like they are sold out now.
Some other yellow peaches I think are awesome include Red Baron, Rio Oso Gem, Kaweah, and Baby Crawford. All of these I would put a bit higher than Winblo for taste. Ernie’s Choice is about equal to Winblo for me.
Good to know PMG might not have the best quality trees. I’ll email Bob wells and see if they plan to get Winblo back next year.
That rio oso is a great looking peach.
I got my Winblo from CVN.
If you want one now…
Petals From The Past has them for $29
Would be interesting if Rick still has the same thoughts about Winblo.
I just heard back and not only are they sold out, but they don’t plan on getting it back in stock ever again.
Thanks for the heads up. I likley won’t be getting one this year, but good to know of another producer. searching the forum, it looks like they have a very good reputation.