nectarine fruit scarred – Xtremehorticulture

Independence Nectarine Fruit Damaged

Q. I have a Independence Nectarine tree which I have been nurturing for two years now. This is the first year I have had fruit! Of the nectarines I kept I am seeing something on them that looks like dried droplets of sap. It is not sticky to the touch but I have 2 nectarines that do not have it. Are you able to determine if I have some sort of blight with the fruit? Will I just need to take this plant out? A. This type of sap, with all the scarring you see on the fruit as well, is caused by small puncture wounds to the skin of the fruit. When the skin is punctured on immature fruit, the sap oozes out of the hole and dries. Sometimes this dried sap looks like little squigglies coming from the skin. The holes in the skin are caused by insects called thrips. These insects feed on the sap by pushing their long skinny mouth part, called a stylet, through the skin and rupturing it. In wetter climates these punctures wounds can cause the fruit to rot due to infections. Here in our hot, dry climate the rotting doesn’t occur as often. To keep your nectarine fruit tree from blemishes and scarring, you must apply protective sprays to the fruit early in the season. The most effective organic spray contains Spinosad. You don’t want to spray Spinosad or any chemical over and over again or you can end up with some problems. You want to use two or three different sprays in rotation with Spinosad. Other organic sprays you could use in rotation with Spinosad include Neem oil, pyrethrum and insecticidal soap. Remember that organic sprays do not last very long and may not cure a really bad problem that is underway. These chemicals are more effective when they are used to protect fruits when you see small numbers of pests.

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March and April Fruit Tree Todo List

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Orchard Todo List: March and April. Each of these below will be talked about more in depth in the coming weeks. Irrigate deeply every 7 days if you have mulched your fruit trees Thin fruit when fruit reaches thumbnail size: peaches, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, Asian pears, plums and plum relatives. Needing no thinning are figs, pomegranates, persimmons all nut trees. Class coming! Begin spraying nectarine fruit with spinosad immediately AFTER flowers drop for control of Western flower thrips (ugly and sappy nectarines) Thrips damage to nectarine fruit. Foliar iron fertilizers can be applied (sprays) if you missed your soil application of iron. This may take multiple applications while the temperatures are cool. This is a good time to put in limb spreaders on apples, pears and Asian pears to 45 degree angle. The branches will bend easily now on limbs one or two years old. Limb spreaders are placed into trees to force limbs into a 45 degree angle from horizontal. Pears and plums are notorious for having growth that is very upright. To be productive this growth should be pushed to about 45 degrees. Ground squirrels become active in late March and early April. Bait traps with no poison. Switch to poison bait when squirrels are eating the bait. Look for tomato hornworms to be active in April. They attack grapes as well as tomatoes. Make sure you have Bt or Spinosad on hand. Grape fleabeetles may appear in mid-April and eat holes in the leaves of grape leaves. Do not panic. They do little damage. Set pheremone traps. One and set more when you see the first flight. Watch for early damage to peaches and nectarine new shoots (flagging) by peach twig borer. Treat with Bt or spinosad. Weed control is very important right now since they are harboring insects like aphids, thrips, and others. A hoe and walk the old and newer orchard areas will be a big help.

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