What is that Goo on my Peaches!

My peaches are coming out and I noticed a clear goo and brown spots on the fruit. I had to find out what was going on. The goo is pectin and the cause of the problem is the oriental fruit moth. They lay their eggs at night and the insects burrow their way into the fruit killing it from the inside out.

I’ll have to start spraying with Imidan or Permethrin immediately. The brown spots are only on the fruit and not the leaves so that is probably scab. The fungus overwinters in the tree and will come back year after year. I’ll need to spray with Kocide to get rid of that. Now I have been spraying the trees with a compound that contains Pyrethrins and Canola Oil and another that uses Pyrethrins and Sulfur but that obviously didn’t do the trick. I bagged all the fruit that I saw with ooze and brown spots and will hope for the best with the rest. I didn’t prune this year which would have helped because it got so warm so fast I didn’t get a chance to - so the branches are dense and the air flow is limited. I had no idea that fruit trees took so much care. My Dad had beautiful fruit trees and we had tons of fruit each year. I guess I should have paid closer attention to what he sprayed on the trees. I’m learning.

I do have some good news. The lettuce I planted is doing great and is just enough for the two of us. You don’t have to plant rows and rows of anything! Just plant what you need or want to give away. It’s fun and it’s okay to start small.