Lightningbug:

The branches in your photo are suffering from bacterial disease, often called bacterial canker. This is a very common condition of peach trees in the east and midwest, and it is not good news.

Branches affected by canker will eventually die back, although the process may take several years. In the meantime, fruit on these branches will become smaller, and often display black, scabby material on the surface of their skins, rendering them almost unusable. Leaves will often spot, then turn yellow and eventually drop during the growing season.

The more canker there is on a peach tree, the more it is likely to spread, so you should cut off and discard any affected branches as soon as they are identified. Disposal should be in the trash or by burning. Once you have removed all the sick branches, and if there are still any left, I would recommend several dormant sprays with a strong copper fungicide such as Kocide. This product seems to work on bacterial as well as fungal infections, and is the only product commonly available I know of that will help to control this disease. LIme/sulfur sprays, frequently used on stone fruit trees, will have little to no effect on this disease.

If the trees are very large and very old, and the disease is widespread on the trees, it may be a losing battle. The normal lifespan of a peach tree seldom exceeds about 25 years, and the most frequent reason for this is bacterial disease. However, if you still have some healthy branches, and you get to work pruning and spraying over the winter, you may be able to squeeze a few more years of productive life from these trees.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Speaking of yellow leaves the young peach trees I am growing have all had yellow leaves with holes that have fallen off, though I didn't have one yellow leaf on my mature trees this past summer. I've been giving one young tree lots of care, spraying it with a fruit spray my grandmother bought and watering it. The new leaves are green and healthy, but I'm not sure if I've solved the problem or just put a bandaid on it.

This is a little off subject, but I have very young pear and apple trees who both have problems. The pear leaves turn black and fall off and the apple leaves get a white power-like substance on them. My grandma says the white stuff is lice, and I can't remember what pear leaves have, burn something I believe.

Is there anything I can do to eliminate these problems?

Lightningbug:

Sure there are things you can do to control these problems, and perhaps even eliminate them, but you will have to clearly identify what the problems are, then target the proper insecticidal or fungicidal sprays to do it. The fruit tree spray your grandma brought home might not be the ticket to a cure. If it is one of the "combo" sprays that wants to be both insecticide and fungicide, it may be so weak that it is practically useless.

What's this about new leaves? You shouldn't be getting new leaves now in North Carolina. They should be falling. We are entering winter. Let's not confuse things here any more than we have to.

Pear leaves that turn black often are suffering from pear psylla, a small fly that reproduces on the trees, starting a life cycle that results in a sweet honeydew on the leaves, followed by a black mold. Control can be obtained by winter dormant sprays with oil. Google "pear psylla" and study up about it. Dormant oil smothers overwintering eggs of this pest.

White powder on apple leaves is most likely powdery mildew, which is hard to control but is usually treatable with sulfur sprays. I doubt that a white powdery substance is lice or other insect organism. Whiteflies are often called "lice" on fruit trees, but are more common on indoor than outdoor plants. I guess you could call aphids lice too.

You should dormant spray your young peaches with a strong copper solution, perhaps mixed with horticultural oil. First, buy a really good sprayer. Your peach trees may be developing bacterial spot, which can usually be controlled with a couple of thorough copper sprays in the dormant season. Some commercial growers also spray their trees with an antibiotic like streptomycin early in the growing season. There are some peach varieties, particularly the newer ones, that have some resistance to bacterial spot, but this disease is a problem for many of us on the east coast.

There is a lot to learn about pests and diseases to grow fruit on the east coast. You have a good start. Keep investigating and observing what happens on your trees. Use your computer to research pests and diseases. Don't rely on what a single person tells you, me or anybody else.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Ortho problem solver book at lowe are home depot garden centers good place to look at plant disorders these books cost are very high about 4 hundred dollars now mind cost me about 250 dollars edition number 2 with good camera this day time you take over 100 photo of pages and take back to computer to down load them.