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chrissycosis

inherited small orchard & vineyard

Chrissycosis
9 years ago

Hi there.. I really need some help and advice....... my husband and I acquired an acre near the river in Fair Oaks, California. There are 7 living olive trees, at least 4 apple, 2 pear, 2 persimmon, one fig, one plum, and about 6 or 7 pomegranates...... there are quite a few volunteers, and there is a relatively young tree that I believe will be peach.

This property was not watered at all last year until it came to us in August. The majority of the trees range from in their 20s to the olives which are at least in the 60 to 70 year range, and may be older.

I have always had veggie gardens, but, I am feeling in a panic and overwhelmed right now.

The property was so over-grown, thousands and thousands of privet saplings, etc. Additionally, there is irrigation pipe on top of the ground, everywhere... like, you couldn't walk five feet in any direction without stepping on or over some kind of piping....

We focused heavily on eliminating leaks in this time of drought..... picking up the piping, and then cleaning up enough underneath the fruit trees that I could get in and do some thinning......

We have had amazing blooms, and the plum and fig trees will have nice crops........ oh, I also had 30 yards of mulch delivered, and once I've cleared an area, I've mulched about 3 to 5 inches deep, keeping a space clear near the trunk of trees or the base of any plants I want to keep.

I was feeling very good. I set up soaker hoses in circles around the fruit trees, tested them, then buried the lines underneath the mulch.

That was Sunday. I noticed on Sunday that one pear tree in particular was having issues. I've researched, and it's fire blight. There is also some peach leaf curl on the small tree that I believe is a peach tree.

I did not spray anything, as I was not able to get to the trees until recently.

At this point, what can I do? I hope to not lose any of these trees....... the other pear tree did not bear any fruit last year. It's looking awful, basically, blackened throughout..... I could stand to lose that one, and the nearer of the two persimmon trees, as I don't love the placement.

Can I treat these trees with anything helpful at this time? I will begin cutting away (6 to 12" below the damaged parts) the fire blight this weekend.

Can you please suggest any other effective treatments that I could do now?

If I lose the fruiting for this year, but, am able to sustain and heal the trees for future years, that is more acceptable than losing the trees themselves.

I cannot tell how depressed I was to find that damage and learn what it was..... my big deal plan was to begin putting in my veggie garden this weekend...... now, I will be back working on the trees.........

Thank you for any assistance. (PS: I will have my bleach solution available when I'm cutting this weekend, and will take what I remove straight to my utility trailer for a trip to the dump)

Comments (11)

  • Chrissycosis
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    My big hope is that once I've cut away all the areas of fire blight, and peach leaf curl, things will be alright until the fall and winter, and at that time, I will be able to prune them well, and spray, and develop my IPM calendar so that I know when to treat with what.........

    I did not mention above that I have never had the fortune to have fruit trees prior to this, I work full-time, run two small cottage businesses from home, and that I now live less than 3 miles from my ailing mother.

    I have been terribly depressed about the trees since noting the blight this last Sunday. This property exceeds the best that I had ever hoped to dream of for myself.........

    There are thousands of irises, daffodils, and other bulb or rhizome flowers on the property....... the climbing roses on the back fence are approximately 30' high and deep, along about 300' of fence line. There are approximately 8 citrus trees, and 5 lines of grapes that are about 30' long.

    It is paradise, and I've been so happy, but, am now feeling so overwhelmed. I appreciate any help or encouragement.

    Thank you.

  • Tony
    9 years ago

    Chrissy,

    You are doing the right thing with the fire blight infected tree. The peach leaf curl is too late to treat this year. You can spray copper during dormant season for next season. I usually use Spectracide Once and Done for fruits tree right after petals fall and follow direction as directed on the label. I usually re-spray after rainfall. Good luck.

    Tony

  • Chrissycosis
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you Tony. Is it too late now to use the once & done on the pear and apple trees affected by the fire blight? They have small fruit all over.........

    Thanks very much!

  • Tony
    9 years ago

    Chrissy,

    If you removed all the fire blight affected limbs and the rest of the limbs look healthy. You can use the Once and Done every 14 days and re-spray after each rainny day. I would stop spraying 30 days prior to harvest.

    Tony

  • Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
    9 years ago

    We are in the same boat, so I've subscribed to this thread. Don't want to miss answers.

    Suzi

  • ltilton
    9 years ago

    Triazicide is an insecticide. It has nothing to do with fire blight and peach leaf curl. Nothing more to be done about those problems now. Don't prune for peach leaf curl, but treat in the early spring with copper, as stated above.

    Since you say you have citrus, I assume you're in the south or southwest somewhere. Listing your zone in your registration information will help people here help you. Conditions are very different in different locations.

  • Kevin Reilly
    9 years ago

    "I assume you're in the south or southwest somewhere"

    She said in first post Fair Oaks, CA.

    I found some Fire blight on my Seckel Pear this spring. Caught it early, easy to do I have such a small yard. Good luck with the property, it can seem overwhelming but it's a problem a lot of us would like to have! Give me an acre in San Jose I will be very happy :)

  • Chrissycosis
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, citrus, olives, grapes, fig, apples, pears, pomegranates, plum, peach, pecan, and I plan to plant a couple each, walnut, almond, cherry, apricot, more peach and plum, and establish asparagus and strawberry beds.

    This land also has wild blackberry, planted raspberry, and blueberry bushes. My husband would like to plant at least 20 more blue berry bushes......

    Right now, we are struggling to figure out the crazy irrigation system, mostly by removing it, and just using hoses until we get things figured out. We are removing thousands and thousands of saplings, mostly privet, by hand ourselves.....

    I had hired a guy to help initially, but, found that he was taking out things I would have kept, and leaving things I did not want, so we decided to take our time and just do it all ourselves, by hand, without poisons.

    I have never felt so blessed in my entire life. I am so grateful to have this land and home.

    I just have to hope that the best I can do this year will be good enough while I clear and clean and open spaces, and learn as much as I can as fast as I can so that I have a good IPM program by this fall........

    oh yeah, and roses........ the roses are just phenomenal. The folks who developed this land were amazing, and I am doing everything in my power to bring this place back to its glory..........

    meantime, there are so many pipes on top of the ground, and holes and trenches just everywhere, it's not safe to even have folks' over to help. (the crazy irrigation system was developed by the brother of the woman who with her husband built the home and developed the orchard and gardens, they all lived well into their late 80s and early 90s..... the irrigation on top of the ground came about as leaks in the underground pipes started happening, and it was too hard for him to find where the leaks were, so he by-passed that, and put the pvc pipes on top of the ground to make finding the leaks easier....... so says the neighbors!)

    Thanks so much for your shared wisdom!

  • Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
    9 years ago

    This sounds so familiar. An hour ago, I noticed a tree not getting enough water, and we tested the ground with a soil sleuth. Sure enough! Dry! So, he turned on the water, and tried to open the pipe wider. It broke. Now the tree is flooded, and a trip to HD is in order to get a new dripper pipe. Daily here!

    Plus, we thought we thinned the peaches. Not nearly enough. They are getting a lot of color now, and birds are starting to peck above, and low critters are taking bites below, but they are hard as rocks still and not ripe. After lurking here, I learned you should thin 8 - 10 inches apart. We did a fist apart. Lesson learned.

    We have 12 stations, and still have no idea which irrigation is on which station. Something new every day.

    Good luck!

    Suzi

  • scotjute Z8
    9 years ago

    I have in the past severely pruned pear trees where blight infection was gaining on the tree. Each of the pears have come back stronger than ever. First one I did was 40 yrs ago and it is still alive and well. That pear tree must be at least 80 yrs old. My grandfather planted it.

  • peachymomo
    9 years ago

    It sounds like you've got yourself a little slice of heaven, you'll have your very own cornucopia pretty soon ;o)

    You've come to the right place for advice, there are some very knowledgeable members on this forum. My suggestion is to do your best to not get overwhelmed, instead of looking at everything that needs to be done focus on one project at a time and just check things off as you go. Fruit trees are pretty tough, I see abandoned orchards around here all the time that are filled with fruit in the late summer and fall. As long as you keep things watered I doubt any of your trees will suddenly die on you. If you have questions about a particular tree posting pictures can be useful for the people giving answers.

    Most of all, be sure to enjoy your new property and trees!