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bahram03

Black spots on peaches and small white worms inside

8 years ago

My peach tree has sap that seeps on the trunk. The peaches develop black spots. Last year when I opened them there were a bunch of small white worms inside most of the peaches. There was also something affecting the leaves but don't remember what it was right now. Temperatures around 40's right now. What should i do to treat the peach tree to avoid the same thing happening this year?

Comments (7)

  • 8 years ago

    The white "worms" are either Oriental fruit moth larvae or possibly plum curculio larvae. Oriental fruit moth also causes "flagging" of the tips of new growth where the leaves wilt. Controlling these will require insecticide sprays. Your local agriculture extension service should have information regarding timing for your area as well as suggested insecticides (e.g. malathion, carbaryl, etc.). Sap seeping from the trunk is common and occurs with all kinds of injury so it's hard to know if it represents something serious or minor without more information. Not sure what the black spots are. Black or brown? Large or small? Many or a few per peach? More than skin deep? Small hole in the middle of the spots or not?

  • 8 years ago

    I grow some peaches. The black spots on the skin sound like they are bacterial spot. I only had it once so I cannot tell you how to prevent it. The worms sound like they might be plum curculio larvae. To prevent, you must spray the fruit during curculio season with an insecticide that works on curculios. In SE WI the curculio season runs from petal fall to around June 15th on average. I do not know when the curculios are active in your area. The female curculio will cut a slit on the peach and insert an egg just under the skin. Normally when my peaches are the size of an olive I watch for this as I can see the cut marks on the peach.

    You mention something affecting the leaves? Would it be peach leaf curl? I will attach a photo of curl. If this is what you get, you MUST spray with a preventative fungicide (copper, chlorothalonil ect) while the tree is still dormant in late winter/early spring before your tree even leafs out. No spraying once the leaves are out will help. Curl is caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans. It will overwinter on the bark,branches ect and enters the meristem once the bud scales crack.


  • 8 years ago

    I think some leaves curl and others have spots. Whats the best spray to use? Is there a broad spectrum spray I could use?

    Its been cold and I don't think ive seen leaves start to develop on my tree.

  • 8 years ago

    I normally spray for curl in March. One year I did it late February. I have good luck with chlorothalonil. This is the active ingredient in many of the fungicide products used by many for spraying tomatoes for early blight prevention. Luckily I never spray my tomatoes and they are fine. Bonide , Ortho and many others have a fungicide product that contains this active ingredient. All seem to have different names on them so be sure to check the label for the active ingredients. The rate to spray to prevent peach leaf curl varies with the different manufacturers too. Mine has 12.6% chlorothalonil E.C.

    I have copper too but I never use it. I hear it works to prevent curl too if sprayed on the tree while dormant. Copper is sold as a liquid form but comes in different types. Since I have no experience with it, not sure what brand/form to suggest to you.

  • 8 years ago

    The worms looked similar to this, but smaller.

  • 8 years ago

    I have a bottle of Ortho Garden Disease Control.

    It says it stops and prevents over 130 diseases.


    Active Ingredients:

    Chlorothalonil - 29.6%

    Other ingridients 70.4%

  • 8 years ago

    Ariel:

    Your Ortho product should work for your peach tree to prevent peach leaf curl. You have the correct active ingredient. I presume the label on your product lists it for use on peach trees and gives you the correct rate of application?

    I would suggest when purchasing Chlorothalonil that you label the bottle with the date purchased. I only use mine for peach leaf curl so the bottle takes years for me to use up. I learned the hard way that the product worked great for 7 years but when I used it in year 8 I got terrible results. The following year I disposed of it and bought a new bottle and had good results. It seems it does not keep forever.