Help please. Seems to be attacking my nectarines. Hoping my peaches aren’t next.
Cutting one open
One hole went all the way to the pit. It even had a hole in it.
That is plum curculio. Nectarines are much more susceptible than peaches due to lack of fuzz. I lost a good chunk of my crop this year on some nectarines.
The oozing crescent bites are egg lays, its where the worm path starts. The round indents are feeding bites. If thats all there is the fruit it OK, otherwise remove it as it will breed another curculio which will lay hundreds more.
Wonderful.
One of my nectarines is just about totaled. Found around 15-20 fruit laying around my trees. What else can i do? I am using a Surround/Spinosad/Serenade combo around once a week. Do i need to be out there more often? In afraid of i don’t act soon my crop will be a goner.
Sad to say, it’s probably too late - those larvae are pretty mature, have been in there for a while, the damage is done
The fruits that are still OK are probably safe as far as curc goes, they are about done for this spring.
I also had a pretty bad year on my nectarines due to curculio. Some trees did OK but several I lost nearly all the fruit on. Its one reason why nectarines are harder than peaches. My peaches I still have a full crop on, and the few curc-infested fruits are ones needing thinning anyway (I saved thinning work to leave some to thin later).
In terms of what you can do next year, spray the Surround not by the week but based on rains and growth. If it rains a lot (1/2" to 1") spray right after the rain, even if you sprayed a day or two before. Also make sure to spray up as well, put the wand under and in the trees. You need to hit as many fruits / shoots from all sides that you can. If there is one Surround-free path to a part of a fruit the curc will find it.
This year was a really bad curc year for me, about the worst ever. I’m not sure what made it so bad. I recently put down some nematodes in the hope it may help next year, and I am also being more diligent about picking up all dropped fruits I can find and also picking any fruit in the tree that looks like it may be getting ready to drop due to a worm.
Now that the curc is done the oriental fruit moth is the next scourge. Make sure to prune out any flagged tips, and aim at the tips with your spray to get the spinosad on them. Hopefully your OFM will not be as bad as the curc was.
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If you still have unblemished fruitlets left, you need to spray to protect them. While PC has about 1-2 generations, Oriental Fruit Moths can have up to 5 generation. They seem to be abe to find peaches almost the same time PC does.
If organic does not work, you may want to look into chemicals.
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Sean, my friend, you really bring back some memories. When I started growing fruit just 4 short years ago, I too was absolutely devastated and confused when all my first fruits got those crescent shaped holes with tunnels to the pits and little white maggot-looking worms. So I came to a site like this and got help from the same people that are helping you. I tell you this to tell you not to get too frustrated or overwhelmed. In the beginning you are seeing so many difficulties and hearing about all kinds of problems you are going to face (like when Scott said Oriental Fruit Moth will start attacking your fruit next, which is true). And when you start reading articles and posts here and else where, it gets very confusing and seems overwhelming and you start to think maybe its going to be too hard or take too long or cost too much and so you might consider giving up. DON’T. No one, not anyone, knew less than me when I started. I had questions almost exactly like some I’ve seen you ask. But you really do figure out the important things faster than you think. I’m not about to tell you that I’m any kind of an expert at all. I still know less than most people here. But that is all the more reason you should not despair. I started with no knowledge what soever, I still feel lost in many discussions and have a lot to learn, but I also have been able to grow almost flawless sweet cherries, sour cherries, peaches, figs, berries, pears, apples, grapes, and more and I have many other fruits on the tree or in the pipeline for the future. My point is NOT to say that I’m doing great. My point is to say that I’ve been able to figure out enough to bring in some fruit and have lots and lots of fun. You can too.
Also, I wanted to second what @mamuang said about considering some non-organic sprays. PLEASE don’t misunderstand. I have the utmost respect for those who have the time, knowledge, and ability to grow fruit organically and I concede that doing so is probably better for ourselves and our families. So if you are determined to grow only organically, then as long as you know its going to be more difficult I say I wish you the best. But if you are least open to the idea of using some chemicals (according to the manufacturers guidelines and government approval) then you will probably find it much easier to fight things like PC and OFM. Especially as a beginner, trying to do it organically will be much more challenging. Just keep that in mind, and of course you should do whatever you are comfortable with.
Good luck, and have fun!!
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