OK, so I’ve got a peach tree planted and then about 20 feet away a Spice Zee planted. The Spice Zee is 3 years old now. I’m in North Florida and the peach tree bloomed in early February. The Spice Zee has been blooming (well sort of) for about two weeks now.
The spice zee blooms are pink (as they ought to be), however the flowers are not unfolding properly and opening up. Most of them will stay pink and balled up for the most part and then they die. So far I can’t see a single peach growing. Has anyone else ever experienced this type of problem on a stone fruit tree before. The flowers are there they just aren’t opening up.
Also the peach tree I have not to far away is loaded with peaches. But so far we’ve never had one mature. It is always the same thing. They grow to a certain size, stop growing, start to turn red, and then abort. I have a bad feeling that tree was grown from seed cause I can’t find the graph line which means jI think I have a bad variety that won’t grow fruit. But it is also otherwise healthy, and blooms great.
I’ll try to take a picture tomorrow and follow up this thread with the photo of the typical flower. On the spice zee I might have had one nectaplum start but it died out. Not sure if it was a nectaplum it never grew just thought I might have had the start of one.
OK, so here are some pictures. I think I might have found the problem. I was attempting to try to collect some pollen and so I held out my hand and tapped on some of the flowers (starting with some dead ones). And these super tiny bugs fell out onto my hand. They look like fleas almost the same size as pollen only I noticed they were moving crawling around. Some sort of skip or hop some times. Does anyone have an idea what these are?
The following shows a typical flower which is not unfolding and opening up.
I have had good luck using Spinosad when I have been presented with thrips. Captain jacks dead bug is a brand you can find easily in a spray bottle. If you need more the quart bottles from Monterey gardening are what I use to refill my jacks bottle. It is the go to for indoor cannabis growers.
Also, many growers I know alternate between Spinosad and an alcohol spray. They claim the alcohol desicates the small thrips. The reports are great success on the combo on the cannabis forums. I have never used the alcohol on thrips, but I have before on spider mites to great success. So in 1000ml spray bottle one ounce (about half a shot glass) of isopropyl or ethyl (80proof or up) alcohol diluted into the spray bottle. Add a few drops of dish soap or horticulture soap so it sticks and coats them.
Good luck outdoors, I really feel for you.
Outdoors if they are entrenched in your neighborhood you just may need a systemic. But since it’s just one tree I would be firing up the Spinosad first myself. Happy growing
Thanks for the help everyone. Yes that was what I was afraid of. Man it must be hard being a farmer or an orchard person. Every year I learn something new the hard way. I usually don’t spray insecticides on my trees. The only time is when I see a problem and this qualifies for sure. Next year I’ll hit this tree when my other peach tree is blooming (it blooms earlier) and squash them before they can kill my flowers. I’ll also spray some oils during the winter and what not.
For now I’ve decided that this is only going to get worse so I have to eradicate them. I’ve already sprayed a bottle of Captain DeadBug (Spinosad) last night. Bought some Monteray today so I can use my sprayer. I’ve also heard neem oil can knock them down a little bit. I think I’m going to coat the ground below with both a neem oil soak and the spinosad as well. I’ve also heard dish soap can work. I’m just going to hit the tree every day for the next few weeks with a rotation of stuff.
It was really strange cause there wasn’t ever any bees on the tree and the bees, wasps, etc… It is like the bees already figured out the good stuff was gone. I guess these thrips have a short fast life cycle so its a bit like cancer. You have to rotate and hit them very hard repeatedly or they will just keep coming back.
I don’t know. I’ve been wary about systemics for a food crop and haven’t looked into them, also there are some, I understand, labeled for use with fruit trees. This one claims to be:
Not to steal from my other forum, but a lot of growers like to use a several inch layer of Neem meal. The idea it systemically releases into the soil roots and sap of the tree. Like low dose uptake VS a nuclear bomb of Neem oil extract soil drench. As it slowly breaks down as a top mulch.
It would be slower, and be a long term pest management thing. May not be fast enough for this years crop.
You’re right to feel iffy about it. However, some systemics are a lot less nasty than contact insecticide residues. Definitely shouldn’t use a neonic insecticide on a blooming tree. I’m always amazed that the harsher neonics are available for homeowner use. Using them on crops 30 days before bloom is iffy for pollinator safety. Spinosad does have translaminar properties in leaves, but I don’t know if it would reach the ovule of a flower for the thrips. It is the recommended treatment for thrips in nectarines, but make sure you use it in the evening after bees are gone. Spinosad will harm bees if it comes in contact with them but is supposed to be safer after drying.
Thanks for all the responses. After looking at my trees it appears the thrips are on everything in mass except for my apple trees which I believe probably have a pretty healthy ecosystem. Because of a very cold freeze (severely damaged my satsumas, killed my meyer lemon), the youngness of most of my trees (almost everything else), and a rather warm winter overall (sorry no cherries this year) the only trees with fruit are my apples. Basically blooming is now done (except for that one nectaplum).
I have plum, cherry, pear, apricot, peach and nectorines. All with thrips. So I went ahead and sprayed Spinosad at night on the trees (all but apple) and I’ve also given them the BioAdvanced systemic (not the apple). I figure the systemic is good for this year since none of these trees are going to produce fruit. From what I’ve read the systemic will help protect leaves but not flowers. But the flowers are all but gone now anyways. There is a possibility that I have ONE nectaplum maybe forming up. We’ll see. None of the other flowers appear to have been pollinated because I think they were mostly killed before they could be.
So my goal this years is just as a caretaker at this point. I’m going to make sure they are protected from the funguses and I guess this year do battle with these thrips.
I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I do have a huge peach tree (with lots of fruit) beside the nectaplum. It also seems to have thrips though maybe not at the same density. This tree has never yielded me any mature fruit. Every year it has been the same thing. It flowers, I thin, they start to grow and get to the size they are now and then they just stop growing. I suspect I was sold a tree grown from seed because I can’t see the graft. So I think I have a tree that genectically won’t produce finished fruit. But this whole thrips saga has me wondering if there is a small possibility the thrips were the problem. I doubt it. I really think its just a bad tree. One that we are going to cut down this winter if the fruit all drop again. Its such a nice tree too. But I don’t want to have to deal with the time it takes to keep a peach tree healthy if it isn’t going to produce.
Anyways thanks for all your help. I’ll give you guys and gals an update in a few weeks to just let you know how it goes.
From what I read it appears you try to control thrips. Doesn’t appear to be a think you can ever get rid of completely. I’ve read that you should use one mode of action to kill them for three to four weeks and then switch to another to avoid having them become immune to the mode of action that kills them.
Actually what I think I’m going to try to do is keep spraying the spinosad every 10 days or so apart fo the next two or three sprays. And then I’m going to purchase a bunch of lady bugs and release them onto all my trees and see if that will do the buggers in. Sort of use lady bugs to mop them up once I stop the spinosad spraying.
So I sprayed I think Spinosad two times on most of the trees. And with the exception of the apple and a peach tree that had fruit I put on the BioAdvanced systemic and that seems to have done the job. No sign of the bugs on any of the trees now.
Next year in early spring or late winter I might try spraying a few rounds of spinosad as a preventative. I do have five Nectaplums on my tree. Ugly little things. They are growing slow and don’t look particulary healthy. I might have to do something about the ants marching around all over the tree now. But they do seem to be growing.
Hoping a few of them make it to harvest so I can taste them for the first time.
I want to thank everyone here for the help. It was definitely thrips. I learn something new every year it seems. Also learned this year that I need to thin apple trees some as well.
The nursery above sells an apple tree she calls the “Elsa Sweet”. According to her and the website it is just a clone of a good tasting apple tree someone found growing out back of someone’s house. This is our second year with apples. And if you keep them on the tree till there is very little green left on them they taste really good. The bees love the tree for sure. And I do think it is self pollinating though I do have an Anna Apple nearby. But if you are in the mood to try a different type of low chill apple I can recommend this one. I live near gainesville, Florida for those wondering where it can grow.
@johngonole when it was apparent all my plums and peaches where going to drop last year I used the same BioAdvanced systemic on them as an extra FU the the PC larva. If your not going to get fruit from your tree this year you might as well murder the next generation.,
So this year the tree is healthy. About half the tree has bloomed with more to come. Pollination has gone well, even if the bees love my apple trees a lot better. I’ve got plenty of baby spice zees emerging. I checked about once a week for thrips. Found my first sign of thrips and hit them at night time with the spinosad. Looked fine again today.
