Does anyone have an idea of what could be causing these wounds? This is an Indian Free peach on Citation. We had a heck of a bug year last year with a warm wet spring, and an amazing amount of earwigs and who knows what else. I never saw a peach borer but they could be there. The way the bark is split makes me think it is bug damage and possibly a secondary infection of bacteria or fungi. I used pure neem oil on the base of the tree and no damage occurred there. Wonder if peach borers skipped the base and just chose higher spots. The first photo could be an infection from that old cut that didn’t heal well. The last photo looks different - like something damaged the bark on a growing shoot and then it healed. I didn’t use a dormant oil last year, and I won’t make that mistake this year. But also wondering if there’s anything else I need to do.
Looks like some type of canker to me.
Agree… bacterial canker I would guess. Usually on peaches it just sets the tree back and doesn’t kill it. I have 20-year peaches with cankers like that all over them which are still putting out peaches. Maybe after 20 years you will see some significant decline. I have a few trees I am replacing now which are in that camp, not sure it was the cankers alone doing it though.
Interesting! That’s good to know, thanks guys. I was totally thinking bug from the way the bark peels back on some of the wounds. I am going to try to be more consistent with my spray regimen this year, doing multiple copper sprays and adding lime sulfur and dormant oil, and regalia throughout summer. I’m not sure that will help but maybe.