I’m new to gardening and feel really bad about neglecting my peach tree that I planted a couple years ago. Not knowing anything I simply planted and and forgot about it until now. My peach tree looks to like it’s infected. Majority of the trunk and branches has a greyish color to it or covered in tree sap. It’s gotten so bad that one of the major branch of the tree completely swelled up and died. I had to amputate it and will spray some pruning seal on the area.
Can anyone identify if it has a disease or infestation? How can I cure my peach tree? I really don’t want to chop it down.
I dont know I am going to guese peach tree borer’s. Cutting down half the tree might be an option. Then insecticides to protect from the insects again.
Check trees frequently in spring near the soil line, looking for evidence of borer tunneling. If you find holes, probe them with a stiff wire to kill the caterpillar.
Spray horticultural oil at high, dormant-season rates once leaves fall.
After probing plant bulbs of garlic around the base of the tree.
Then once dormant do #2 above
If you have wood ashes dispose of them around tree trunk
Dennis
Kent wa
Also, I think its been asserted in this forum that mature peach trees generally don’t send new shoots from old wood. But perhaps it could be cut low and grafted.
It looks like the graft union might be just below that nastiness.
I’m having a hard time telling what exactly is going on immediately above the affected area from the picture. A too large scaffold growing across the interior split the tree in a prior year and mostly heal over? And is there a separate tree or a well established rootstock sucker in the bottom right?
I think it looks like canker as well. If that’s a sucker on the right you could chip bud it in the Summer or cut back to below the canker and bark graft next Spring.
Good point. My guess is that the rootstock is healthy and the variety is trashed with canker. Much of the tree is root stock with the lighter bark, and the red bark stuff is the grafted variety including the large diameter Y with the redder bark.
The well established rootstock sucker on the lower right, also lighter colored bark.
I did my best to clean up the tree. I might of overdone it. I also notice some larvae buried in the bark.
How bad does it look? I hope I didn’t do too much damage. I also sprayed sealant after I was done.
yea wow. that poor tree is ether going to thrive or die. apply some Kocide 3000 Copper Fungicide (solutionsstores.com) at minium and seel the cuts with pruning sealer. Then some more kocide on the rest of the tree.
I would also get a 30-gallon planter and a new peach tree. if your first tree lives great you plant a second tree next year for a longer harvest. If not well you dont loose a growing season waiting for your tree to size up.
Personally would start over. Peach trees grow fast and can bear early. Check out olpeas pics of attractive peach forms.
I suspect it would take several years to make that tree look good. All the braches are sprouting from the same place on the trunk which is already a bit high.
