I felt they were decent sized, some were difficult to thin as the tree lacks pruning and they can’t be reached
This is the last several years the
Raccoons got them
They were within a day or two of soft ripe, yes we have been in a drought here
@Shuimitao … my last two years of BR… any peach hanging on the tree in July was done for. Brown fuzzy mummies.
I need a extra fuzzy, thick, bitter skin peach that ripens June 1 and taste decent… I have no faith in late varieties… since my mid season peaches got completely wiped by BR. I dont see how later peaches could make it.
Late season i have figs, persimmons, raspberries… i can do without peaches then.
Glad you got fruit with no brown rot. The disease is dreadful.
@TNHunter from reading the forums I remember you grow organically. Have you tried using organic sprays. Like Hydrogen Peroxide based sprays or for microbial Bio-Control agents (Serenade etc.) or home made compost/lactic acid bacteria brew as such.
@Oregon_Fruit_Grow … I have not tried most of that stuff. Many years ago i tried spinosad… and i have tried BT in the past.
I would feel better about all organic approach… but honestly I dont even like spraying water.
Plant it… it grows like a weed, produces good fruit without a lot of fuss. Now that is for me.
Since i got rid of my peaches… i realized I have a natural haven for persimmons. I did not even have to plant them… they just grow here like weeds. No fuss no spray required.
Once i get all the persimmon, mulberry, pears, pawpaw, figs that i want… i may consider a peach again if there is room for one.
Would you mind telling us what state in which you reside? If you have mentioned it, I must have missed it. I see you are zone 6b.
I think that the phrase “no spray fruit”, in this case peaches, means something different for each of us, as is alluded to by the many responses.
I guess when I read “no spray” fruit, what comes to mind is that the fruit hasn’t been sprayed with anything, be it fungicide or insecticide, AND the harvested fruit is clean. Free from worms, bugs, disease. Like what Alan describes of his time in CA… myth or reality? Just kidding Alan. Certainly it sounds like a fruit growing paradise.
In some areas you can grow peaches with no sprays and not have disease issues, so you still get fruit. But if that fruit is scarred up from stink bugs and the flesh is 75% ruined by PC… well, I don’t consider that a win, and it wouldn’t classify as a no spray peach to me.
@KSprairie … i called my peaches and my early mc apple no spray… well because i never sprayed them with anything.
But now that does not mean that i had 100% perfect fruit… that was and is not the case.
I did and do get some perfect fruit (no longer have peaches… do still have my early mc). Some years are better than others. But i also get some imperfect fruit where i cut out the bad and eat the good. And of course i get some that just have to be tossed.
If someone is getting 100% good no spray peaches or apples… i think they are very blessed.
I don’t know what the percentage would be, but if you are in the 50%-75% range of clean fruit with no sprays, I would definitely call that a win.
If I did not spray anything, I would have about 0.5% clean fruit, and that would be with a lot of wishing and praying
How much insect damage we are each willing to live with is very much an individual thing. I have a friend that doesn’t spray her peaches. She calls them no spray peaches and says they are great. She doesn’t have brown rot or any other disease problems, but how I’m not sure. I guess if she has peach leaf curl, it isn’t too bad because she’s never mentioned it (She lives several hours west of me so I have not seen her trees in person. It’s drier with less humidity 2 hours west, so maybe that plays a big role in her lack of disease problems). However, all the peaches get PC. She is totally fine with that. To the point that you might have to cut away 3/4 of the fruit, and have 1/4 left to eat and use. That is acceptable to her. It isn’t acceptable to me. That’s too much work for too little fruit for me.
Your Early Mac sounds like a great apple. I’d be happy with that!!!
No spray, they were not sprayed with anything. Yes there were some that were ruined some that had very little damage. I live in south west missouri near Branson
Thanks Tippy! I was in a hurry typing and didn’t look it up. I knew it was one of the insecticides we use. Zeta cypermethrin is the same active ingredient as Mustang, not Warrior, as I mentioned in my post.
Derby,
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m highly doubtful your peach is Contender, if it’s only two days away from being soft ripe.
You’re in SW MO. My orchard is south of KCMO. I’m sure there are some differences in ripening times, but we aren’t even picking Redhaven yet. Contender is 3 weeks behind Redhaven. In fact we are just starting to pick Clayton, and PF 9a-007 which are about -5 (Redhaven).
Additionally your peaches look much less blushed than Contender. It’s not uncommon for peach trees to arrive mislabled. I think that’s the case with your Contender.
I think my orchard has the genuine Contender to compare ripening times of yours. I only say this because it has been the only variety of ours which is practically bullet proof in terms of production, which matches the literature. And it’s growth pattern is very vertical, which matches another commercial grower’s experience, whom I’m friends with. Lastly, it fits the published ripening window.
Either way, your tree sounds like a winner, whether it’s Contender or not, since you are getting some nice peaches.
You could be correct olpea, I remember my dismay years ago when I discovered on this site that many peach trees that were sold commercially are mislabeled. Now, a couple of conditions to consider, this tree was purchased from stark bros, don’t know if that makes a difference…, this tree is heavily shaded to the east by tall oak trees, only gets light after noon, and it has been very dry here until today, it does have a very vertical growth habit, I didn’t prune it shorter because it was so shaded it was week looking and the healthy growth was all “up” , that being said it could be another variety. Its blossoms did survive this winter when red skin and Madison did not. Any thoughts on what it might be are welcome, @Olpea , who knows someone might want scion and I wouldn’t want to mislead.
That is so awesome! You are very fortunate! I am happy for you and a bit envious
That’s a tough one to identify. Heavy shade does reduce red color in peaches. Interestingly, a shaded peach tree generally ripens a tad later than one unshaded. Also a severe drought tends to delay ripening.
I could only guess what the variety is. If I had to guess, perhaps Reliance? I assume the flowers are non-showy?
I am in WV abt 1ish hr from the KY border in the south.
My neighbor has never sprayed anything and doesnt know anything about any kinds of sprays or when to… the old phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ and perhaps ‘dont worry be happy’ is the kind of fellow he his. For his peaches they make pocket knives to cut out what doesnt look good…and you eat the rest. Fairly simple.
I do not spray any of my berries either… but a nice soak in lemon juice water on a good late July or August picking will make you wonder how many bugs and eggs you have eaten in your lifetime… again ignorance is bliss.
If you set a piece of fruit or vegetable from a grocery store in a sealed environment i think u will see the eggs that hatch…the molds and fungus that were living on that thing that you picked out because it looked pretty…but it is rife with life too.
I guess you could sterilize everything before you eat it… I have lived this long without any kind of health issues eating lots of bugs, eggs, molds, fungus and pesticides and herbicides… ive drank unpasteurized milk and eaten many root vegetables that werent washed that well. Ive eaten countless things without washing my hands as well.
I have noticed that liquid Sevin is making a big wave on social medias… seems that is everyones cure all for everything now… im ignorant to that kind of thinking…which is kind of bliss.
I believe they are non showy but I don’t recall for sure
I like to eat Carmine Jewel and Montmorency cherries straight from the tree. I am sure there are worms in some of them, because I find some when I pit them. But I like to pretend that the ones I eat straight from the tree are all worm-free. It makes me happier that way.
I am surprised there isn’t more insect damage with no-spray in WV. Most places are challenging to grow fruit, some more than others. I am happy for all of the folks that can get by with no spraying. That is a blessing. I chose to live here (KS) and choose to try grow fruit. So I am making choices that make my life more challenging. So far it is worth the effort to me. Maybe one day I will move somewhere with less insect and disease pressure than Kansas. Growing apples and raspberries in MN was SO easy compared to here. But we couldn’t grow pears or peaches, and the Univ of Saskatchewan prairie cherries weren’t developed/released yet when I lived there.
I have seen that Trichoderma fungus, such as T. harzianum, as a beneficial microbe has good potential as a foliar spray to fight brown rot.
“Trichoderma Species: Our Best Fungal Allies in the Biocontrol of Plant Diseases” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9921048/