In need of Peach Tree help!

[cesmith17]

Hey there! I have a peach tree in my yard that was here when we purchased our house 5 years ago. Last summer was the first time it ever produced fruit, and it produced a lot of peaches! This year, we’ve gotten a few new peaches, but it’s nowhere near the amount we got last year. We noticed that a lot of the leaves are turning yellow and starting to fall, and upon further inspection, I noticed a slimy substance at the base of our tree. Any ideas on what’s going on and how to fix it? Thanks!

 

[Chuck]

Hey there! I have a peach tree in my yard that was here when we purchased our house 5 years ago. Last summer was the first time it ever produced fruit, and it produced a lot of peaches! This year, we’ve gotten a few new peaches, but it’s nowhere near the amount we got last year. We noticed that a lot of the leaves are turning yellow and starting to fall, and upon further inspection, I noticed a slimy substance at the base of our tree. Any ideas on what’s going on and how to fix it? Thanks!

This could be a big problem or not a big problem. Peach trees will exude sap for numerous reasons. The most common reasons are physical injuries from the weather in the form of hail or wind damage, even lawnmowers. Also damage from insects can be a factor. None of these are of big concern. Then there is sap being exuded from the damage that a caterpillar called the Lesser Peach Tree Borer causes. This can be fatal to any stone fruit tree. The control of this caterpillar is rather complicated and I believe you will be better off to do a Google search of "lesser peach tree borer control" than me trying to explain on this forum.

Now about the spots on the leaves causing the yellowing and leaf drop. This is a fungal leaf spot infection, the exact name I don't know. The best cure is with a copper fungicide spray. Your tree is in a weakened condition because of all that ground cover and it was either never pruned or pruned improperly. To cure the weakened condition remove all that ground cover from around the base of the tree out to about a 2 foot radius. That stuff is stealing all the nutrients that the tree needs to stay healthy and it is NOT healthy. Fertilize the tree with an organic fertilizer. Then this winter remove the top 2 1/2 - 3 feet of the of the top of the tree and about 1 foot of the remaining long limbs. Try to straighten the tree GRADUALLY so it is upright. You can start this process now by using stakes and heavy duty twine. There are numerous utube videos showing different ways to do this.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Some trees also bear a lot of fruit alternate years, if you find that when happens when the tree is healthy again it is worth thinning them on the heavy fruiting years and you will get better fruit that year and more the next year.