Im going to spray milk on mine for brown rot.
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ive heard of that from old folks around here. not only protects the fruit but also gives a boost of calcium., always thought of it as a old wives tale but thereās science behind it. my father also used to use cayenne pepper steeped in hot water for a day. strained thru a old t shirt . a few drops of dish detergent. then sprayed on his fruit trees/ bushes. seemed to work as he never had bug damage or fungal problem with his fruits. going to try it this summer.
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Its been awhile since i read the threadsā¦but there was a big long discussion on milk spraysā¦ people were using it on everything from tomatoes to grapes to berriesā¦fruit trees etc. I think the consensus was to spray it on a hot sunny dayā¦ and the leaves got greener and the plant got stronger etc and fought off all combatants.
If you watch the permaculture orchard guy he sprays his whole orchard with wheyā¦ which in essence is the thing in milk that works.
In the thread i mentioned above, people experimented with milk, powdered milk, 2% etc etcā¦ I think the consensus was that it didnt matterā¦ it was the whey that competed with the bacterias and fungi and helped the plant fight better.
Im gonna try it for sure.
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good to know as i make my own yogurt and get a qt. of whey per batch after straining.i try to bake with it but many times the dogs get it. now i have a real use for it.
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What about the asian/american plum crosses like Toka and BlackIce - they are supposed to be more resistant - anybody have better luck with them?
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Toka gets rot. Itās not bad rot, but still needs sprayed.
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We have 280 peach trees and do minimal spraying here in 5A Maine. The one spray that we try to do in fall and spring is Kocide 3000 (copper) for peach leaf curl. We usually only do one application due to weather conditions. Brown rot as been minimal and not a problem.
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What varieties do you grow? How long have you had this orchard?
I believe brown rot pressure decreases as you get further north, but I would think that eventually a season will be particularly warm and humid and will bring brown rot up with it. Once brown rot gets into the wood it tends to become more difficult to control.
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Contender, Red Haven and Reliance (transitioning out of Reliance for commercial purposesā¦fruit is easily bruised with short shelf lifeā¦great backyard fruit for Northern zones though). Also planting some Messina this seasonā¦UMaine Cooperative extension has had some early success with this variety.
We are in our 11th season of growing peachesā¦our low temp this winter has been around -10.
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your sucess has motivated me to try peaches here. i have a Reliance coming this spring with some Contender scions also to graft onto it. if i can get them to survive the winter in a microclimate i think they will do well. we dont have the summer humidity as bad as central and S. ME. never heard of Messina. where was bred out of?
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One thing I would caution you about ā¦we had problems early on with canker near the graft union of the scion and rootstock. The trees with any nicks, scrapes or damage in this area did not fair well longterm. Some people think that they can abuse peach trees like apple trees when planting themā¦nope. The more pristine they areā¦the better they will fair in this climate.
Messina peachesā¦introduced by New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/peach/growing-messina-peaches.htm
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I grow Messina- big peaches, but how cold-hardy is it? In my nursery Iāve opted for PF28, partially because itās is reputedly very cold hardy. Peaches are just as good but not quite as big.
Here, in Z6, canker has never been a problem with peaches at all. How vigorous are your trees in your soil? Vigorous trees have better resistance to canker but may be more susceptible to brown rot.
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thanks for the tip.
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Messina are reportedly Zone 4 hardy.
Our trees are fairly vigorousā¦funny you mention that because our younger trees are VERY vigorousā¦and show much less signs of canker. Weāve babied them more as well and have been watering for the past 2 summers.
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Wow, I wonder why Adams doesnāt promote it as a cold hardy peach. I may go back to it, but 28 may get a tad sweeter. Hard to say for sure because I only grow Messina on one part of my property- a single tree and conditions vary a great deal on my little 3 acres. .
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Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the report on peaches in Maine.
Iāve had some issues with canker here. Supposedly painting the cankers with Topsin M does a good job killing the fungus, since itās systemic, according to a publications I read.
Iāve grown Messina. It wasnāt productive here, but of course we are in vastly different climates. Iād be interested how Messina works for you.
Iāve really looked hard for something in that window. Honestly Encore is super tough for the window, but I canāt seem to get the sugar up in that variety.
Iām trying the new peach Tiana, but have no idea how it will perform. Carolina Gold is 4 days earlier here, but it seems to want to deliver something in cold winters. It got down to -17 here in Feb. 2021 and still produced something.
PF35-007 is a few days after Messina and tends to be productive here as well.
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Selena was the sweetest peach that set on my nursery trees last year, which is in Messinaās season here. Encore is a bit later and is amazingly consistent, but Autumn Star is a better peach. But you already know about it and have praised it. Why not run with it?
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Iāve noticed ripening times are different for New England vs. KS/MO.
Autumnstar ripens pretty late here (+43). Encore ripens +33, Messina +32.
Autumnstar is a very good late peach, but it blooms very early and tends to get hammered by late frosts here.
I get away with nothing but 1-2 brown rot sprays on my peaches in NJ. That means even on a good year I lose half the crop to brown rot, many of the remaining fruits are damaged here and there by spots and little creatures and the branches are riddled with injuriesā¦but that still usually leaves enough perfect peaches for us to eat all we want every day for a month, freeze a few gallons of slices, and make several cobblers from the bad ones.
Two mature trees and three immature tree for referenceā¦
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