The drought is significant and the heat unbearable but the peaches this year were the best I’ve ever had. I always think of reliance peaches as being sour but this year they would have passed for the best Georgia peaches! Reliance have always been very reliable for me here in Kansas. As @Olpea Mark has mentioned the peaches in general are extremely small this year due to a variety of weather conditions. Contender (1tree) and Flat wonderful (1 tree) had complete crop failures but the majority of what I grow (3 trees) is reliance and it’s because they always have a crop.
I just looked and stand corrected contender does have a few peaches on it. They are a long way from ripe.
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Your fruit looked clean. What is your spraying schedule?
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Did not spray these at all this year because with no water i don’t get fungal diseases.
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Obviously, no OFM, PC or coddling moths, either.
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Very few this year. Pc is normally awful but few are still alive. When it’s this hot and dry Japanese beetles are the only pest. They are in record numbers! The Kansas sun is even cooking them and I’m finding many dead. Peaches are not their first love but rather apples and grapes are.
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Japanese beetles haven’t learned to eat apple leaves here at my house. They are wildly crazy about plums and cherries and peaches.
Drad. And I was hoping to grow apples w/o much beetle attention. I have heard they eat apple leaves.
Dax
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A friend was telling me about lure traps that destroy the Japanese beetles made of trashcans. This is the basic concept // Missouri Environment and Garden News Article // Integrated Pest Management, University of Missouri. Since they feed in groups you can attract them into trash cans the same way. I bet that’s some rich compost! https://www.amazon.com/Tanglefoot-Japanese-Beetle-Xpando-Trap/dp/B077XLPN3J?keywords=tanglefoot+japanese+beetle+trap&qid=1532305143&sr=8-1-fkmrnull-spons&ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1_sspa&psc=1
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I know a friend that composts them in incredible amounts.
Clark, that’s a great link. I really appreciate it. I’m now on the website http://www.greatlakesipm.com/ looking for their fluted trap to stuff into the garbage can. It looks to me like building yer own with a funnel and local pieces is the same but I thought I’d take a look.
Really great stuff.
Dax
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I like that expando trap also…
Dax
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@Barkslip
Dax,
The Trashcan trap is necessary because the beetles quickly overwhelm these standard traps. The beetles make great fish food I’m told so I also considered making a floating trap in my pond that would feed the fish as they were lured in and drowned away from my orchard. Here is a great video describing the beetles https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f69mr5TJ90I. This type of expandable trap would fill up to quickly but it’s a great design https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvw8Yo2Aq9E
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Japanese Beetles were discussed here: Japanese Beetles are finally gone I hope
I like Rescue brand traps because the lure works for both Japanese Beetles and Oriental Beetles.
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I’ve never been a big Peach fan and SoCal isn’t know for its peaches, but the one on-time Mid Pride Peach we got this year was fantastic. Hopefully more to come in future years.
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RE: Japanese beetles - I have a variety of fruit in my Japanese beetle haven
They preferentially eat my grape leaves, then next in preference the leaves of pluot, Japanese plums, peach and Euro plums about equal, then barely touch the apples and never bother the pears or figs.
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I’m glad to know others had similar peach experience this year. The flavor surprised me since it was so good this year. Sorry to hear Japanese beetles were a similar problem for others. I bought a friend down the road a couple of miles some reliance peach trees 5 or so years ago and he called me yesterday and said what I told him was very accurate for him and he never had a better peach.
I’ve heard that but doubt it. I put out a trap and only got a few beetles. I moved it about 80 ft and within 15 minutes there were hundreds swarming around the trap. Last year beetles where eating flowers in the garden. I set up a trap about 40 ft away and the damage decreased. It was mostly Oriental beetles with a few Japanese mixed in.
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You don’t want to set the trap and lure them to you but rather a part of the property where you can lure them away from your orchard.
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I liked the trash can idea that can hold up to 40,000 JBs.
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Yes, lure them away. And back to peaches. My Redhaven are looking good but are also small this year. Hope they taste as good as they look. If nothing gets them in the next week they should be ripe to pick.
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Is anyone else growing a peach from the Rutgers program sold by Adams Co Nursery called July Rose?
I planted one a few years ago and got my first peaches from it this year. The critters, bugs and brown rot got more of the fruit than I did despite trapping and removing 4 raccoons and 7 groundhogs and a squirrel, and despite a regular spraying program for the fungus and the bugs.
It was a very hi quality white peach, smaller than I would like (maybe since it is young, maybe I should have thinned even more). It reminded me in quality of the Raritan Rose I had some years ago, which was from the same breeding program years past. I am looking forward to more of them next year. Anyone else with experience with it?
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