Is it possible to grow no spray peaches on the east coast (z7a Asheville for me)? I’m open to spraying copper or other completely organic compounds, but I’d really like to avoid anything else. Haven’t seen curculio here yet, but I’m sure it’s around.
There are a bunch of new varieties that tout high resistance to curl and canker but it’s hard to get a pulse on just how resistant they are, or which varieties are best suited for nearly no sprays. I’m currently eyeing Indian free to replace my disease ridden Indian Blood. Even my contender got hit hard with curl and a bit of canker, so out it goes for a more resistant variety.
Would love to hear people’s thoughts and experiences.
Further north it’s possible to harvest peaches without spray, at least on some seasons at some sites, but when brown rot becomes an issue, and it’s probably even more likely to become an issue where you are, there aren’t even any very useful organically accepted fungicides to control it. When it shows up in the orchards I manage, a single late spring and single summer fungicide spray with Indar mixed with Captan almost always does the trick at orchards I manage- even for plums and nectarines.
I doubt you will have much luck growing any common tree fruits where you are without spray at all and if you don’t want to do any spraying you may be better served with focusing on the limited number of species that are either native where you are, like paw paws and persimmons or are just particularly resistant to insects and disease, like jujubes (if they grow where you are, they are a fruit I’ve never grown). .
Pick a variety that is listed as a showy flower because that is the only good thing about a no spray peach tree in the southeast. Cat facing insects, scab and brown rot will do them in before you get a tree ripened fruit.
I grew commercial peaches for many years. Lots of neighbors would ask me about planting a tree in their yard or advice during the growing season. I can’t think of one that had much luck even with a home orchard spray. Brown rot finally did them in. Especially ones that left the mummies on the tree.
We have also lost many of the varieties that were commonly grown back then, even as recently as the early 1900s. Once commerical operations started, characteristics like long shelf or storage life was prioritized over any significant disease resisitance. Just look at all the modern breeding programs and tell me what they are looking for. Resisitance to some diseases might be there, but the everyday consumer wants a pretty piece of fruit, and they dont care one bit about how hard it is to get that piece of blemish free fruit.
Im going to say that it will be near impossible to grow your peaches spray free or “organically”. Even in the northern peach growing region that im in, brown rot and curl are bad. I have to spray a minimum of copper, and immunox/draconil mixed with captan. Thats a minimum, more in high pressure seasons.
You are probably right. I think back in the old says they sprayed whale oil , kerosene, and soap and water.
Thomas Jefferson grew thousands of peach trees in Virginia. He only had 38 cultivars though.
But that was in the late 1700s. And the orchard is still going with many of the same cultivars.
’ Peach orchards also thrived, partly because introduced insects and diseases had not spread enough to be a problem. Peaches were so prolific they were fed to the hogs.’
The Pomaria Nursery in South Carolina listed over 600 varieties of peach trees for sale just prior to the Civil War. Actually it thrived during the war until 1865 when the Union destroyed the nursery and greenhouses. It never fully recovered after the war and finally closed by 1880. In addition they had 400 apple varieties and hundreds of roses. Several heirloom watermelons like Odell’s White, and Ravenscroft originated on farms owned by the nursery.
I would not wanted to be an orchardist in the 1900’s when lead arsenic was the chemical of choice to use on fruit trees. It continued in use until the 1940’s. Millions of acres were sprayed to control the codling moth in apples. Some kind of acid was used to remove the residue from the apples!
Photo from Washington State Dept. of Ecology.
I would not want to be an average citizen that doesnt read the warning labels that need to be read with a magnifying glass in modern times.
The USDA is going to crack down on this i think…
Here is a warning label that is readable for Bonide
This is my favorite line: Do not apply to plants to be used for food or feed.
CAUTION: Harmful if swallowed. Causes moderate eye irritation. Avoid contact with eyes or clothing.
Prolonged or frequently repeated skin contact may cause allergic reactions in some individuals. When
handling this product, wear safety glasses, chemical resistant gloves (including barrier laminate, butyl,
nitrile or neoprene rubber, polyvinyl chloride or Viton), long pants, socks, shoes, and long-sleeved shirt.
When using outdoors, spray with the wind to your back and do not use when wind speeds are 10 mph or
more. Wash the outside of the gloves with soap and water before removing. Wash hands before eating,
drinking, chewing gum, using tobacco, or using the toilet. Remove contaminated clothing and wash
clothing before reuse.
This pesticide is toxic to birds. Do not apply directly to water. Do
not contaminate water when disposing of equipment washwaters or rinsate. To protect the environment,
do not allow pesticide to enter or run off into storm drains, drainage ditches, gutters or surface waters.
Applying this product in calm weather when rain is not predicted for the next 24 hours will help to ensure
that wind or rain does not blow or wash pesticide off the treatment area. Rinsing application equipment
over the treated area will help avoid run off to water bodies or drainage systems.
Cover or soil-incorporate spills. This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or
residues on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product, or allow it to drift to blooming crops or
weeds if bees are visiting treatment area
I’m confident that the safety of any product sold under the Bonide brand is much safer than the Lead/Arsenic that was the standard for pest control at one time.
Thousands of acres of abandoned Apple orchards were so contaminated with Lead and Arsenic that they became EPA Superfund Sites. Virginia was a big producer of Apples at the time which produced quite a few Superfund sites. Some highly contaminated sites mixed the chemicals on site and sprayed them through sprinklers. Growers switched to DDT after the mixture of lead and arsenic (L/A) became less effective.
Interesting article from Virginia Tech discusses the history and includes a typical spray schedule from 1915. Looks like about 5 sprays with 2 pounds of L/A in 50 gallons of water each time. The article does not describe the volume that was applied per acre, but I’m guessing 50 GPA or probably more which would be around 10 pounds of L/A for each acre.
Almost every product even when i was a kid says ‘keep out of reach of children’ They still do.
Every product has warnings to wear eye protection, skin protection, gloves etc.
I never see anyone wearing any of that when they are picking fruit.
Kids and adults often eat fresh fruit that has been sprayed.
When i was a kid we went to the beach every year and brought home big bushels of peaches from the Carolinas. Theres no way any of that fruit got washed. We just ate it.
Why do you need all that protection to spray but none to eat it? Does it just disappear?
Or is that something that we just dont need to think about?
Ive never seen any warning labels on roadside fruit stands. Ever.
I don’t understand the toxicology but I know the EPA and other organizations have measurable allowable levels for chemicals in produce. Don’t know what the levels are and I’m not 100% confident that the levels are perfectly safe. I do know that routine inspections take place to check that the max levels are not exceeded and no unregistered chemicals were used.
I’m not an advocate for chemicals applied to food. I use as few as possible and would prefer to use zero if I could produce sellable fruit without chemicals.
Given the choice between Bonide and Lead Arsenic or DDT I would choose Bonide without hesitation.
Thats a good summary … it can work for awhile. I got five years in myself before brown rot wiped me out and the curculio and moths got well-established. Historically the bugs and diseases took quite awhile to adapt to peaches so it was in fact easy for quite a while. But by the later 1800’s it was lead and arsenic to the rescue for any commercial peach grower, plus many pounds of sulfur to tamp down the rot as much as possible.
Fludioxonil was found on 76% of all peaches in one study. It is used as a postharvest dip to control rot in storage. Switch fungicide that contains it plus Cyprodinil is labeled for blueberries and strawberries day of harvest spray. Between those fruit and berries the average consumer is getting a dose of whatever residue remains. Interestingly its also labeled for watermelon 1 day PHI. Guess its ok to eat berries with it on it right after spraying but not to pick up a watermelon sprayed the same day.
