I have had this Peach tree for about 9 years now. After 2 years it started with peach leaf curl which I still cannot fix with Bonide Copper Fungicide. I spray before and after the seasons. This year started with white fungus and spots on the leafs. I am about to cut this tree down but before I do will attempt one last time to get help.
The leafs are turning yellow and falling off. The peaches are about 40% of the size and seems early to be losing leafs. The spots and white fungus started this year. We have had a lot of rain north of Chicago.
Can someone guide me in rehabbing this tree? or is it to late?
Peach trees usually go into decline after about 12-15 years. In the South,
we have a disease called peach tree short life disease, and your tree is
exhibiting some signs of that. Being in Chicago, your tree has gone through a lot of harsh winters, and is showing it’s age. IMO, it’s time to replace it.
Get a tree that’s much more resistant to peach leaf curl, so the tree won’t work
you to death. I would recommend July Prince.
Very good point. I did not know they had a short lifespan. I assumed 40 years Being in Chicago probably does shorten the lifespan. I think getting a July Prince would be a great idea. Thanks for your input. I feel much better now.
I looked at the pics. Your tree probably gets a shot hole disease on top of peach leave curl. Copper spray to be used at dormant. Bonide may not be strong enough but timing of the spray is also important. You have only one peach tree, I am reluctant to recommend you by new copper spray. Buy your new peach tree with some peach leave curl resistance is a way to go.
When your plani a new peach tree, I would recommend against putting those landscape blocks next to the trunk of the tree like that. It looks nice but detrimental to the tree. Peach roots esp. feeder roots are shallow and spread far out beyond a drip line. You have those heavy blocks on top of feeder roots and allow grass to grow abundantly from there. Your tree roots have to work hard under those blocks and to compete with the grass all around. It is stressfully to your tree.
A fruit tree esp. peach should have a 4-5’ diameter around it free of grass.
As for ordering a new peach tree, you should check out Vaungh nursery or Cumberland Valley nursery in the fall. They have a lot of varieties and the price is reasonable.
I would try one of Paul Friday’s varieties for a replacement, even if you have to pay more for the tree as it was bred more for your conditions than something coming out of the Clemson program. Or try one of the older varieties known to perform well in the northern end of peach possibility- Madison and Redhaven come to mind. Veteran is a newer one that also is known to be hardy. PF28 is one Paul Friday says is particularly cold hardy and I like the taste of its peaches.
Most eastern varieties have some resistance to PLC and BLS, but not all, so you can look into that before picking a variety if you decide to try one of the newer ones.
From its description, July Prince does seem like a winner- just maybe not for your climate.
You guys are awesome. This really helps me in picking out a new tree. Do you recommend me planting far away from that spot due to the ground being full of disease? Not sure I have another good spot, but could try another area of yard.
Diseases are everywhere. Some are airborne, some are soil borne, some are both.
The good location should be in full sun esp. in a northern area like yours and mine and not on the low, wet part of the lawn. Some plant peach trees on berms/mounds, others on raised beds if the ground is not ideal.
In addition to diseases, a major enemy of the tree (not fruit, fruit have their own enemies) are peach tree borers. They like to bore holes into trees at soil line or a bit under soil line. They can kill trees esp. young ones. Leaving a base of a peach tree rather exposed will help you easily notice oozeing from borers’ attack.
@lopea, would you like to recommend cold hardy and PLC resistance variety to the OP. @alan, I like Madison and maybe, Contender for Chicago.
Bonide’s Copper is too weak for Peach Leaf Curl. It doesn’t have enough of the chemical in it.
On this forum,people have had success with Kocide 3000 and a sticker like Nufilm 17.
I’ve tried what Bonide lists as their best against PLC,Fung-onil,with Chlorothalonil,at more than twice the recommended dosage,with a sticker and it still didn’t work.
The latest attempt has been with Monterey’s Liqui-Cop with Hi-Yield’s spreader/sticker and the results were okay,not great.
There is a lot of rain here,Fall through Spring,which compounds the problem though.Brady
The smallest amount of Kocide comes in a 4 lb bag and the amount used is 2 tbsps per gal of water. The OP has one tree. That’s why I did not recommend it.
Whatever spot gives you the most eastern sun is what you want. You also need to prune peach trees nice and open to increase ventilation- also to assure peaches and there nearby leaves get adequate light as well as the new shoots that will carry fruit the next year. Peaches require a lot of nitrogen compared to apples and pears- they don’t die until they lose their vigor and N. helps them maintain vigor- as does the turf free circles already mentioned. I have a 25 year old Madison that is still as vigorous as a young tree and I manage what I believe to be a Cresthaven that must be 50 and still cranks out hundreds of pounds of absolutely delicious peaches. I’ve also had lots of younger peach trees die of old age.
A lot of good suggestions here imo. I like Redhaven, Madison, Contender, as mentioned.
PF 28-007 has not performed well for me at all. I have five trees which have only performed well one out of four years. This year they have less than a dozen fruit each, which was about the same last year. They are at the top of my list to be removed.
I know this variety has performed well for Alan, so it may perform well around the Great Lakes. However, in SC (a state known for consistent peach crops) it’s not done well. In Clemson’s evaluations (Musser Fruit research farm) it only performed well in 4 out of 8 years of evaluations in terms of fruit set.
Julyprince has also performed very well for me here near Kansas City. In the last couple years I’ve made several copies of Julyprince. This is only three years evaluation and one tree of Julyprince, but I’ve been so pleased, so far, that I’ve made several copies of Julyprince. It produces abundant, uniform sized, great tasting peaches.
Some other varieties which are consistent heavy producers good tasting peaches in KC area are:
Risingstar
Saturn- good tasting if you like white peaches
PF9a-007
TangOs
Challenger - not of a lot of experience with this one yet, but it looks promising
Allstar
Intrepid - see Challenger
Veteran
Scarlet Prince - see Challenger
Baby Crawford
Madison
Redskin - colors very poorly but otherwise good
Carolina Gold - This evaluation is just based on one tree. At first I didn’t think it was productive, but it just took a little longer to get past it’s juvenile stage. It’s turned out to be very productive.
Laurol - Good productivity and flavor, but is quite susc. to bac. spot
PF35-007
Victoria
I can’t speak for the rough winters or peach tree short life but 9 years is a very short life for a peach tree. We have one on my father farms that we are relatively certain is at least 30 years and is definitely older than 25. No it does not produce like a new tree, the bark looks like crap but it has roughly 75 peaches on it this year. For a commercial grower it should have been cut down long ago but for a homeowner it would still be a good tree. Kocide 3000 for Peach Leaf Curl should do the trick.
Not a homeowner with any limitation of space. However, you certainly are right that a homeowner generally should get more good years out of a peach tree than a commercial one. It is all about sustaining adequate vigor with peaches. This is a matter of variety, site and the skill and dedication of the grower.
Here is the Rutgers description of 28
Flamin Fury® PF 28-007
September 1, approximately 40 days after Redhaven. The flesh is firm to very firm with very good flavor. The tree is vigorous, and productive with low susceptibility to bacterial spot. This is an attractive late season variety with great size and color.
Their description of Messina, from their own program, rates it as “moderately” productive, instead of just “productive”. Most years, I like that moderate productivity because it means less thinning.
Chicago is a long ways from KS. Can you find any further north descriptions of this variety to suggest productivity is a big problem? I just tried and couldn’t.
I am convinced that I need to try July Prince here, It sounds like my kind of peach- does it require more pickings than other varieties ? That is generally a plus for home varieties but not for commercial production.
Here, July Prince requires a number of thinings and pickings, but the peaches
are quite large and according to Cumberland Valley, is their number one selling variety to commercial orchards.
Perhaps 28-007 only has problems further south. Messina doesn’t do well here either (also 4 years of observations) and removing that one also.
They are in the same row as Redskin and Encore which are loaded every year. PF 25 (same row) has been productive, but for some reason was a little low this year.
Here it seems like most of the peaches pick for about 10 days or so (from first to last pick). I know I’ve had peaches which have a bit shorter picking window and some a bit longer, but honestly I don’t pay a lot of attention to it. It’s not really an advantage to me to have a short picking window, like it is for larger commercial growers. We pick a little riper than large operations, so I’m sure that makes a difference.
Seems like when it’s really hot (like now) all the peaches have a pretty short picking window.
So far I’m really happy with Julyprince. It’s premature to make this declaration, but I’m wondering if this variety could end up having the same renown as Redhaven. So far, it’s every bit as productive, produces a spreading tree almost as good as Redhaven. My guess is it may not be as hardy as Redhaven, but certainly has been as productive in our marginal peach cropping conditions.
I have Red Haven, Contender & Reliance here in Maine. All 3 do well. Reliance seems most prone to PLC but produces tons of fruit. Contender is generally less vigorous but does very well in this climate & has nice big fruit. Red Haven is my favorite but might be most susceptible to late frost damage to fruit buds. RH is most resistant to PLC of the 3 varieties.
Here is a pic of about half of what we have thinned this season:
Two years ago, when we had a late freeze, July Prince was the only
variety I grow that still gave me a crop. I agree with everything Mark said.
The guys at Cumberland Valley raved about this peach so much, I decided
to try it, and I’m sure glad I did. This peach is a home run. It’s every bit as
good and maybe even better than Winblo.
Just saw your post was wondering which tree you ended up with planting. I am in Chicago as well. I had Saturn and blushing star. Saturn died after 3 years and blushing star only gave less than 20 fruits total over the years. Just planted a contender and while lady. Hoping to add another one.
Thanks
Being in Chicago probably does shorten the lifespan. I think getting a July Prince would be a great idea. Thanks for your input. I feel much better now.