Ants set up nests on fruit? So almost every fruit was a nest?
I’m wondering if they deterred other bugs. Almost no other bugs were inside the bags.
One fruit was badly damaged with many ants making deep ‘highways’ over the crown, and rot was starting to set it.
Just harvested another 16 last night. That takes the total harvest this year up to 52 so far. I’m quite impressed for a first bloom. Here’s another 10 or so still on the tree. I plan to leave them until fully ripe and see what happens.
This is just a hunch, but I think this variety of peach doesn’t get candy-sweet. Some of the smaller peaches appeared to have ripened early and falling off in the bag. They were a kind of vanilla yellow, and sweet without being sugary or intense in flavor.
I found this interesting. All of the local varieties for sale are “Hakuhou” (“White Firebird”) type, which is what I have. I have a smaller different type of tree I just got this year as a cross pollinator. There appears to be 2 alternate strains of Hakuhou, but the basic is standard. They are all sold as grades from 10 - 12+ brix as Royal, King, Queen, Ace.
I know the feeling. Due to the bad weather I only have 8 Redhaven Peaches. I bagged them a few weeks ago and they look good enough to eat but they are not fully ripe yet. I expect racoons, squirrels or birds to get them soon. This discussion has me thinking that I will pick one today.
Yes. Or at least the standards for sale are so high. Every commercial operation I’ve seen has netting around the whole orchard unless it’s something tough like persimmons. I just came up with the idea on my own of netting each fruit individually, because it was much easier and cheaper.
Our asian pears come in with the little plasticy-foamy net baskets (and they probably help minimize bruising) and we make small displays with them. But they’re pricey and we don’t sell many. A lot of stuffin grocery stores is more about the sizzle than the steak.
Yes, certain fruits come in foam cushion nets, or other protective gear. I think it’s mainly due to the seasonal gift-giving culture here.
Although there’s also a tradition of appreciating moments, the little things, like seasonal fruit.
Just picked another 14 tonight. Left two on the tree.
Only three had ants this time. Not sure if it was the sticky tape I put on the trunk or not. Amazingly somewhere very ripe and no problems. There was some bruising on a few of them, undoubtedly due to the hard squeezing I did the first time. Using white bags really affects the color.
66 harvested so far. I’m still amazed we got any peaches off it at all. I wonder if the ants actually protected the fruit from other bugs?
Is it safe to saw the central thick branch down now?
I have two dwarf peach trees in Cape Cod,MA. the last two years the peaches were great. This year there is rot on the ends of a couple, and there is weird gooey stuff near the stems on some.What do you all suggest?
Do you have any pictures?
I had gooey stuff coming out of the damaged branches last year. It was from OFM. The goo is the tree sap itself.
Maybe someone who has experience here will take an interest in your problem.
Around us, it is likely damage caused Oriental Fruit Moth. OFM larvae enter young shoot tips, causing them to flag, wilt and turn black. Sometimes when you cut the tips off, you see the worms inside. They cause more damage on the fruit.
Look up OFM and fruit trees, there are many university extension service articles about them.
