Those look nice. My Contender is weeks behind you I think. They are a bit small for my liking. Yours donât look all that big either. Is that as big as they get?
How many years have you been able to get no-spray peaches?
Bugs do not bother me as much as brown rot does. I got clean peaches for only 2 years. By year 3 (counting years of the tree producing fruit), brown rot showed up and the game was over by year 4.
If I donât spray (where I am), brown rot would ruin pretty all my peaches.
One of my last no spray peaches⌠BR showed up that year⌠and wiped out about half of my cropâŚ
Then the next year BR took 90%⌠i had to dispose of 400 peachesâŚ
Enjoy them while you can⌠and i hope that last forever for you.
I visited my neighborâs 3 OâHenry trees yesterday. 15 years ago he bought them at Lowes. He has never sprayed anything on them. He has never thinned them and every so often he has someone chop the whole top off if in half. The only thing i can see he has an issue with is âwormsâ this year. He never cleans up the mummies or fallen peachesâŚso he said he is going to clean them up this year.
No mulching, and he has big metal rings around the trunks for when his neighbor weedeats.
By all accounts with the cultivar being fairly weak at disease resistance and prone to all kinds of issuesâŚalong with everything he doesnt do⌠these trees shouldnt even be alive let alone producing.
I studied everything the best i could and can only come up with the reasoning that the trees get lots of hours of full sun and they are in a location that has excellent drainage.
As for the solution that i could propose to himâŚif he were to âsprayâ i read Olpeas advice that said to spray Triazicide. Which is extremely toxic to almost everything⌠just reading the MSDS is tough.
Worms are âsafe to eatâ according to Olpea as wellâŚ
So technically my neighbor doesnt need to spray if his only issue is worms.
I ate a few fallen peaches and i am still alive as of this writing. They were very tasty⌠and i may have gotten a few grams of Protein. 
The link you provided was 12 years old. Maybe, @Olpea could chime in here since you cited his old post.
Not to be too critical of you but I donât see any you picked anywhere near enough ripe to have any flavor. They are still sizing up unless you are in a drought.
I did recommend Triazicide 12 years ago for backyard growers. Since then many backyard growers have expressed disappointment in it, used as an exclusive insecticide. Since then the new âSevinâ which is used for fruit trees has Lamda Cyhalthrin as the active ingredient I believe. This is commonly used by commercial orchards. Itâs called Warrior.
My spray program in the Guides category now suggests using ânew formulaâ Sevin. Availability of products for home use are always in flux- more so than for commercial formulations, I think. Triazide was always a bit hit and miss.
Incidentally, I grow a limited amount of OâHenry here just because it is an excellent Sept. peach, but it seems to be tender and a bit of a shy bearer- that is, they sometimes die prematurely and bear relatively light crops. However, itâs an old fashioned peach with enough fuzz to resist insects better than some and itâs not especially prone to brown rot for such a late peach.
Itâs a lot like a late Loring.
Thanks.
Triazicide is currently available to be bought at nearly all box stores and hardwares and still does the exact same thing it did 12 years ago. And the worms are still safe to eat as far as i know unless something has changed in the last 12 years.
Alan started a topic on it in 2016 and Olpea added a bunch of other insecticides that he likes.
Again i replied to the topic of no spray and my neighbors peaches that only seem to have an issue with worms⌠the âsprayâ that was recommended was listed⌠however the fact remains that he said the worms were safe to eat. So no spray is âneededâ for my neighbors tree with the current 12 year information.
If worms are no longer safe to eat then that changes the dynamic.
Mark
New Sevin has zeta cypermethrin, not Lamda.
For most of us, it isnât a question of safety. When you are raised on pristine fruit, often without a single insect scar you tend to find eating worms repellent, I think. I know I do. I donât like the idea of eating slugs either, although with butter and garlic snails are OK, I guess.
A lot of this is cultural.
interesting.
The history that i can find on it says that it is nearly fuzz (less)âŚand is believed to be bred with a nectarine.
AnywaysâŚmy neighbors peaches are nearly fuzzless.
You commented that it had less fuzz than others and you praised it⌠5 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then as i was made aware of previously.
More info here also noted for being the most red and very little fuzz
Still on topic but this post was from 2 years ago and Jesse states that he grows Contender as well as others no spray in Maine. Which i believe relates to the previous topic of East Coast. He says that he grows them for home consumption as well.
I wouldnât be surprised if I contradicted myself, Iâm speaking from memory about the qualities of the OâHenry peach as I donât grow it myself anymore, but Iâm managing it in a few sites. However, having less fuzz than Encore doesnât come close to suggesting it is nearly fuzzless. It would have been more polite to paste my actual sentence on the subject. I always feel like Iâm in court when I discuss fruit with you. Lawyers twist the truth, I swear, Iâm trying to find it.
In a search of descriptions and history I find no mention of it being smooth skinned, except the one you supplied- and I searched every source I could find. Photos showed ample fuzz, but I donât trust such photos.
Next time I have a chance I will check it out- I tend to assume all old-fashioned peaches are fuzzy
This is my quote, âLess fuzz, prettier, deeper orange flesh and higher brix than Encore.â
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Back in the day⌠when i had peaches⌠my early elberta peach ripened mid June⌠and was a decent peachâŚ
My other tree was labeled reliance and ripened later around July 10.
Even after OFM and BR got bad here⌠i got a few good no spray peaches off my early elberta.
It seems to me that your best bet for no spray peaches is to have varieties that ripen early.
If i were to try them again (doubt it)⌠but if I do⌠i would try something like rich may / flavorrich.
I hear they are a decent peach for being so early⌠and they might ripen closer to June 1 for me.
BR started showing up here late June. Rich may should be picked and eaten by then.
I think we have pressure, Iâm finally removing my tin foil, the peaches are getting redder, but the rats are out there, this is why itâs harder to leave them alone.
That is a great point. Or possibly to have a very late one like OâHenry or better late one that bypasses the âearlyâ issues. Or possibly have both?
So far the words lucky, and gambling have been used and you added the word bet. I think someone said it was like playing the lottery as well. (why not a crap shoot)?
I guess if i had to put a label on everything i grow it would be Iffy.
Iffy Orchard and Berry Farm
Them - âYou gonna have peaches this yearâ?
Me- âIffy. Its a shot in the darkâ.
Itâs not just cultural. A lot of insects are actually pretty dangerous to eat, slugs being a perfect example.
Slugs can give you, among other things: salmonella, Lyme disease, Weilâs disease, tapeworms, heartworms, liver flukes, flatworms, and, most commonly, the rat lungworm.
Theyâre gross for a reason.
I suggest you give blackboy Indian peach a try. Itâs a late peach, with a fuzzy, thick and bitter skin till 2 weeks before ripening. My 6 years of experience with this peach tells me that itâs relatively bug and disease resistant. It will rot from core if left on tree for too long. Taste is exotic, like raspberry.