Sandra:

Sorry but it's too late to do any good spraying. Maybe PLC won't be bad this year because of dry weather. I think the rule of thumb may be Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Super Bowl. This year the Super Bowl may have been too late. The last spray needs to be just as the buds start to swell.

Hi fruitnut,

I think I might have read that in some post but they also talked about spraying in March so I was hoping that might have been the case. I've read that it won't kill the trees but it shortens their life span. I feel bad but will be more diligent about it next year. Thanks the reply.

Sandra

I've been battling PLC for a few years. Now I'm grafting over my peach with a couple varieties of plums and pluots. I'm also on the look out for peaches that are said to be resistant to PLC like.....

-John Muir
-Oregon Curl Free
-Avalon Pride
-Autumn Rose
-Indian Free
-Q-1-8
-Charlotte
-Kreibich Nectarine

Hope this is helpful.

Nope, March is way too late for us to spray for PLC. Fruitnut is closer to the mark. We refer to it as the "holiday" spraying for PLC: Thanksgiving (you'll still have leaves on your trees no doubt), Christmas and Valentine's Day. But this year, it was too late to do a February 14th spray since we had a bit of a warm up and generally mild winter, so I only got two sprayings in this year. But, we've had a much, much drier winter this year than the last 3 years, so I think we'll be okay. I just had one of our local orchard specialists over today, and he was in the same boat as me. So, don't feel so badly :-)

Patty S.

Thanks Little John and Patty,

I guess I should have done better research on my peaches before selecting them. The worst infected are the Earligrande and Tropic Snow but I've read somewhere that Flordaprince is a magnet for PLC. Last year all these plus the Red Barons and Babcock got it bad until I figured out what it was. I'm setting a reminder for those days for next year's spray. Thanks!

Sandra

A copper spray up to the buds showing color will get good control, unfortunately you are well past that point. Do what you can to support the tree having to replace the foliage, two years in a row weakens the tree. Al

Sandra,

Based on the first photo, you'll need to thin the fruit more. This is especially true when a tree has peach leaf curl. A good portion of your foliage will be lost, so it won't have near enough foliage to support all that fruit.

Your peach tree has too much fruit even for a healthy tree.

For us here in "PLC Country", just about no peach or related variety can escape PLC, Sandra. It's just our bugaboo. We have this unique environmental combination in the late winter/early spring of mild humidity from the ocean or winter rains, with just the correct cooler temps that promote PLC. Same reason why we struggle here with rose fungal issues - mildew, rust and black spot. Just the perfect storm of humidity, air temps, and the fungal spores that are impossible to kill. Could be worse things to deal with, though!!

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: UC IPM: Peach Leaf Curl

Yes, I still need to thin the fruits. Everything just happened so fast this year, from the flowers to the fruit... Last year I did thin them about 60 to 70%, twice and still had over 30lbs of fruit. I just need to catch up. Next year I'll be prepared!

Thanks everyone. I always appreciate the help and guidance from this forum. Have a great day!

Sandra