Carol.
I would suggest posting a few pictures. There are several people on this site that has the knowledge to assist. They have been helping me for the last two years. Good luck, Bill

Both blueberries and Peaches require good drainage. That includes internal drainage. If it is the typical black clay that is common for Southeast Texas, when it starts raining the soil becomes saturated. Even though the water drains off the surface, the clay will not let the roots breath. I lost a peach tree due to poor drainage this year. It did well until we started getting rains in the summer. Tree started losing leaves and dying back at the tips. Water never stood on the area around the tree but it stayed saturated.

That is the reason many people in the area grow their plants in raised beds. It allows the plants to have an area of well drained soils. The beds should be at least 8 inches high. The rest of my trees are on raised beds or containers.

It would also help to get a soil test. Blueberry plants need a pH between 4.5 and 5.5. Peach trees prefer a pH above 6.0.

Thanks, my soil is pretty good having added top mulch for years, but maybe the soil is holding too much water.
The black circle is on the trunk near the bottom of the peach tree. Someone said it could be water from the watering system hitting the tree - supposedly that is a no no. I'll post the pictures in the morning
When I looked up the blueberry issue, it seemed like stem
blight since part of the plant was dying each year.
Hope someone can help since this makes 2 fruit trees and now 2 blueberries. Maybe my soil need poking to get some air into the soil.
Thanks Carol

This is a picture of the trunk of my peach tree. I also have a bauhinia tree with the same trunk problem.
Should I spray the trunk with sulfur.
I have just cut off a long stem of my Highbush Blueberry.
Don't know what is going on with the blueberry as well.
Also I have continued to plant in the same hole where I lost my previous peach.
Is this going to be a problem ?
Thanks in advance,
Carol

I can't really see anything wrong. Just some mold it looks like. Probably from the mulch being way too close to the tree, it should be at least 2 feet away from the trunk.
On blueberry, the only treatment for stem blight I know of is to remove infected stems. I don't think any fungicide exists to treat it. Peach trees need a number of sprays a year to treat for peach leaf curl, insects, and brown rot.. Scab and other problems can develop too.

Thanks for the advise concerning the mulch too close to the tree. Tomorrow I will move it much further away.

I took pictures to a pseudo feed store that carries tons of different chemicals and organic solutions.
They recommended Captan - drenching the soil with 1 gallon water to 1 1/2 oz of captan.
I am hoping this solution will work even on the blueberries.

I am thinking that the mulch which has been too close to the bark may have caused the entire problem.

If anyone has more information on anything posted, I sure would like to hear.
I was also reading a strange article about using hydrogen peroxide for fungal problems.
Thanks, Carol

Hydrogen peroxide is great for oxygenating roots. 1/2 cup per gallon, mix and use. Use extra on other plants, it won't hurt them. Cannot store mixed, just becomes water shortly after. It can kill fungi, but that is a mixed blessing. Some fungi are beneficial, and you definitely want them.
I would still use it. When watering tree you should water deeply but not often. Let it get fairly dry between waterings.
Captan is not labeled for use as a soil drench on anything. It is sprayed on and for peaches is used to prevent
scab, brown rot(other products should be used too)
Blossom blight, shothole, and wilt.
Copper is sprayed on peaches to prevent peach leaf curl. This should be done every year. At least 2 sprays.
I use Monterey Fungi fighter for brown rot. I also spray my strawberries with Captan to prevent gray mold, and often spray peaches too. Best to use rainwater with Captan and not city water.Distilled water would be good.
I have never heard of any root fungal problems with peaches. Possible you could have root rot, and the hydrogen peroxide would be good to use. Mulch is good, it keeps soil moist but has to be away from trunk, of any plant.

The best info on peaches and bluberries is the many messages in this froum. You will learn a lot by reading them.

Carol,

I don't know how much rain you get, but it sounds like Gary Beaumont may have called it correctly. That is, ground is too wet.

I use wood chip mulch extensively, and while it does provide many useful benefits, it also increases the risk of water-logging in poorly drained soils. You also mention you are watering with a sprinkler system. I'd almost bet your last peach tree died as a result of the roots being too wet.

Most people don't realize just how little water a peach tree needs. I tell people they are almost a desert crop. They are one of the first trees to suffer from too much water, and one of the last to suffer from too little water.

As Gary alluded, I place all my peach trees in some type of raised planting to get the roots up out of the wet zone.

As Drew mentions, the guy at the feed store has no clue what he's talking about. Do not use Captan as a soil drench.

I really think your problems with peach trees will go away if you can make the soil a bit drier.

This all makes sense - how do I dry the soil out. Can I poke a lot of holes in it to aerate.
I do think I will apply hydrogen peroxide. 1/2 cup per gallon.
How often should I apply this.
I was also thinking of putting some type of block in front of the peach tree so the water from the sprinkler system wouldn't hit it.
The man at the store said there was a problem with the soil when the other tree died and now I shouldn't plant in the same hole until this is fixed.
Thanks for all your help, Carol

Trying to aerate the soil will be tough. What happens is roots are so wet that cannot get enough oxygen and die. The Hydrogen peroxide will give them a shot of oxygen and help them recover, but don't use it till tree is dry. Use it maybe three times. Any soil born pathogens like say nematodes are there no matter what, and you cannot eliminate them. Often soil born fungi can attack raspberries, tomatoes, peppers and other plants but NOT trees! So I would not worry about that. Olpea is right, it's the excess water. They do not like a lot of water.
I have trees in my lawn, but I do not ever water the lawn where the trees are. Well if the trees need it I will water the lawn. Otherwise no. Here with the Kentucky bluegrass, it is very drought tolerant.

What you could do is when tree is dormant dig it up. Try and get native soil and make a mound as big as possible. maybe 3 feet higher. that way it will drain better. Also do not bury the tree deep. You want the root flares to show when older. Now if tree is older you cannot dig it up without killing a lot of roots. Yes, block sprinkler. Turning it off would be even better. Put in more drought tolerant grass.

Well, this is quite helpful. We could dig the tree once the leaves have dropped. Bring in Nature's Way soil. This is difficult due to age, but it can be done.
I had no idea these peach tree requires so little water.
I took a course on fruit trees. The lady teaching said she sprayed her peach tree when the peaches were fully ripe. I can't remember what she used, but when applying you cover the entire peach fruit with this spray.
I am not even sure the help this brings. I believe you are supposed to wash this off because it is some type of waxy coating, but she didn't wash the fruit. She would eat the peaches with this coating on it.
Do you know what she is protecting or what this spray is.
The reason I am asking is because I lost a peach tree. It just up and died after producing for 3 or so years.
This is the reason I am so concerned about the fungus in this hole.
Thanks for your help Carol

Carol,

It is amazing how little water peach trees require. 2012 was one of the driest summers on record in my locale. Even brand new peach trees (without an established root system) did fine without any water (and in some cases, without any mulch). I had to water newly planted apples and plums weekly, to keep them alive.

I can't think of any type of wax sprayed on peaches. It's possible the lady used horticultural oil on the peaches. Some products like Surround will produce a white film on the peaches.

There is really little reason to spray peaches when fully ripe with anything. Brown rot affects peaches in humid/rainy climates, as can occur here, but even then a spray a few weeks before the peaches ripen is generally sufficient to control it.

In terms of fungus which affect roots, I'm not that familiar with TX fungal pathogens. I understand you folks have Cotton Root rot, which we don't have here. Here peaches are susceptible to Phytophthora Root rot because our soils are poorly drained. But as I mentioned, drying the soil out (if using irrigation) or improving drainage takes care of Phytophthora.

Neither do we have pathogenic nematodes here because they prefer sandy well drained soils.

All that said, the symptoms you describe are exactly what happens to peach trees in poor drainage here. I lost lots of peach trees from too much water before I improved drainage/planted in raised plantings. I very rarely loose a peach tree since improving drainage (except last winter when it was unusually cold for my area and I pruned some young peach trees extremely hard during winter-I lost a few of those.)

Houston has an average rainfall of 50 inches per year. In Beaumont the average is even higher, at 55 inches.

I looked on web soil survey for soils in your zip code. They were clay soils. Some had a very high water table within 6 to 18 inches. One was moderately drained with water table lower than 4 ft. Hopefully this is the one you have. If you have craw fish mounds in the yard you have a high water table.

I don't see how applying Hydrogen peroxide would help. The main thing is to keep the area as dry as you can unless it gets really dry in the summer. I might water in July or August if it is really hot and dry. Poking holes will not help unless the soil has been compacted. From what you said before you soil seems to be in good shape, just too wet.

Blueberries grow good in containers. I am going to plant Peach trees in containers this winter. Blueberries can be planted in a mix of pine bark, peat moss, and perlite (I substitute expanded shale for perlite if you can find it.) They can be grown in 5 gallon buckets but the bigger the better. Do not over water them. I do not water at all in the winter that I can remember. I do check them every couple of weeks if it has not rained and has been warm.

Citrus is much more forgiving of heavy clay soils. The area you planted the peach tree in looked like a good place to plant a satsuma or Kishu mandarin. If you like figs they also tolerate wetter soils. Get the closed eye varieties. Urban Harvest has a fruit tree sale at Rice University on January 17th. Just search for Urban Harvest and look under support for fruit tree sale.

I do spray dormant oil mixed with copper fungicide when all the leaves fall off the peach tree to control scale. I applied fungicide for brown rot this summer. I didn't last summer and had only limited brown rot.

I have noticed they sell alot of peach trees around here but you don't see many producing trees. This is mainly because they cannot tolerate the wet soils. I did get get over 2 dozen peaches off a pair of trees I planted in 2013. So it can be done.

Hydrogen peroxide is actually great. I have never thought about using it for peaches, I must admit. But root damaged house plants respond well. It's like putting an oxygen mask on them. I always keep some around. it also kills fungus gnats and their larvae. It's use is well documented.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hydrogen-peroxide-for-plants.html

http://www.gardenguides.com/95793-use-peroxide-plant-food.html

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/cure-sick-houseplants-peroxide-77821.html

Here's some info on it's use.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrogen peroxide uses

This post was edited by Drew51 on Wed, Dec 10, 14 at 23:08

Great information !! The waxy stuff sprayed on peaches is Surround. For some reason she sprayed with it. I tried to find Surround, but they want you to buy too much making it too expensive.
Really none of my soil is clay, but you guys are right - too much water. Nothing I can do other than dig it up to help this water problem.
I have 3 mangos in pots that just don't do well. I am even using Dynamite which was recommended by the Citrus King in this area, John Panzanella. I am going to put them
in the ground trying to tent them in the winter.
I personally find that nothing I have does well in pots. We had a class at a local nursery, Buchanan's, taught on tomatoes in pots. Well, I thought I would try once again. Hardly the produce from the tomatoes in the ground. Hope it does well for you. I have a new grapefruit in a pot that produced 2 grapefruit quite undersized.
Also, isn't perlite the same as Styrofoam. I have a cattle
trough 1/2 full of Styrofoam with growing dirt on the top for lettuce, etc. A friend told me about it so I've tried it. Keeps the holey trough from falling through with the heavy dirt.

If the hydrogen peroxide gives oxygen to the plant, then I don't see why this wouldn't help, but the best advice(Thanks to all) is to lift the peach tree and replace with perlite and new soil (higher).

I did go once to the Urban Harvest sale. Very, very long lines. Everything good goes in 10 min. Just a hard place to buy.

Is it true that once a fruit tree dies, that the soil is defiled for another in the same place?
Anymore advice is appreciated.

Carol in Houston

Is it true that once a fruit tree dies, that the soil is defiled for another in the same place?

It is possible but unlikely. When a plant is not in top shape opportunists take advantage of a weak plant. And they can only take advantage of one that is compromised in some way. So putting a new healthy plant in, it should be fine.
Some possible diseases do stay in soil but are quite rare with fruit trees. They are mentioned by others in this thread. Now with other plants, it's a different story. Raspberries often succumb to viral infections and the virus does stay in the soil for years. It can go to spore form and survive a long time, like 3 years or more. And beans, melons, tomatoes, and peppers should be rotated because they often attract soil born pathogens. Again it is rare in trees, I have never seen it, except maybe bacterial and fungal cankers.(you don't have this) I have seen soil pathogens for the other plants., I always rotate my crops to avoid buildup. A soil fungus that attack say bean plants, will not attack a tomato plant. So rotation works. The fungi and bacteria are plant specific with some exceptions.
So no, I would not hesitate to put in another tree in the same spot. I have never seen a soil born tree pathogen, besides cankers which are species specific. Trees can grow thousands of years in the same spot. Of course most only last decades but some trees are very long lived. I have 200 plus old trees on my property. If such a common soil born pathogen existed, the trees would all be dead. Some do exist, super rare very unusual. If you had one you may want to call the local university as they would want to study it, they are that rare. In your case you have fungi there because of dead roots rotting. They are eating the dead roots. Stop the roots from rotting and the fungi will be gone. The fungi are not causing the problem. They are a symptom of a watering problem.

Sorry to hear about problems with potted plants. I have the opposite problems with tomatoes. I get much better production with pots. I use 15 to 20 gallon pots per plant and cage them up. The pots are lick tubs I get from cattle raisers for free. I have used the dreaded MG potting mix. I do apply a tablespoon of fertilizer every week or two. Plants grew over 8 foot tall. I now use the pine bark/peat moss blend and have had good success. I also have to water every day in the summer. I would not use anything that has the words garden soil in pots. They contain mineral soil that causes compaction.

I planted a Kishu mandarin in January and put it in a 5 gallon pot. I got about 15 to 20 fruits off of it. (I know, not suppose to crop the first year) I had a satsuma that did the same thing. I am going to plant in a 10 inch raised bed this spring.

I have been told by one of the Becnel brothers of Saxon Becnel Nursery that citrus can take soils with poor drainage. I probably do not need to plant the citrus on raised beds but it is easier to maintain weeds.

If your peach tree has not died back from the tips it may be able to make it in the current location. Dying back from the tips shows root damage from the wet soils. Tree is dying back since its root cannot maintain the top growth. Just cut the water back.

The surround is used to inhibit the plum curculio, the worm that you find in the peaches and plums. I bought a bag but have not used it. Since no one has peaches around me, the moths have not found me yet. I did find a couple of fruits with worm holes but I discarded them. It is probably just a matter of time.