The right one is a peach I'd say. I don't believe that pomegranate will survive in New York; but I can't really tell what the left picture is, could be a crabapple?

MFNY,

The red one is a pear and the other one is a peach. Well, enjoy your finding sometime in August.

Tony

MFNY,

Please search old posts here about thinning. Pear and peach fruit need to be thinned out to allow the remaining fruit to size up well.

From your pictures, the smallest pear on that cluster needs to go. I see a lot of peaches on your tree, peach needs to be thin out aggressively.

Thinning is a very difficult thing for a new fruit grower to do.

Thank you for the advice!

Aside from thinning, which I hope to wrangle relatives to help with, is there anything else I should do? I've seen posts around the forum about spraying - is that necessary? I also heard from someone in my neighborhood that the prior owner of my home used to net the trees. Is that more or less effective, and if it is recommended, is it too late in the season to do that now?
Thanks again!!

You're in NY state, there is a possibility that you can grow pear with minimal or no spray. Just thin it this year and take note if there are insect attacking the fruit or if there are fungal/bacterial problems on leaves.

Peach is not as easy. There are two major bugs that can destroy all your peaches, Oriental Fruit Moth (OFM) and Plum Curcuilo (PC). There are many posts about them. If you see scar on your peaches, usually it's quite late re. spraying insecticide.

I'd spray them with Triazicide Once and Done (Spectracide is the company). There are other effective insecticide such as permethrin. I use Triazicide. If you don't spray, the chance to have peaches is rather slim.

As for a net, that's probably to prevent birds from pecking your ripe peaches. You won't have to worry about birds if all your peaches are damaged by OFM or PC. Once damaged, those fruit will not mature and will drop.

I don't want to sound pessimistic but those two are our arch enemies.

The smallest pear in the cluster is probably going to drop by itself, I doubt it matters much whether you remove it or not.

If the tree is laden, one of the other pears needs to go.

OK, so the pears seem to be doing OK. I need to do some thinning as you've all recommended, but they seem to be healthy. The peaches, however, don't look as good. Some seem grayish or like they have suffered some damage (see photo). Also, the third tree, appears to be apple, now that the fruits have grown slightly bigger - but those also look sickly.

Is this the result of the bugs you've mentioned or a fungus? I take it it's too late to save them this year?

Thanks again for all of your help! I'm a city girl getting used to life in the suburbs and hoping I can learn to care for the beautiful things growing in my yard. :)

That looks like a cherry tree to me...

@melikeeatplants - I think you're right. See - I need help! :)

I see two peach fruits. They look fine to me aside from the bird pecks or similar damage to the one in the foreground.

The 'sickly' looking cherries are from last year. If you leave the fruit on the tree and a bird doesn't get them then they often get these brown or yellow 'spores' all over the cherry and shrivel. I often see just a pit on a stem after that happens with enough time.

Anyway, I've found that if you pick the cherries as they get ripe or a day or two before you can avoid those 'spores' (in fact sometimes you will encounter a cherry like that in a pint you've bought from the store so spraying is a waste of money).

They are ripe when they are dark red, not bright red. If they are partially dark red then pick and let finish ripening in the house.

NY most be way behind Kentucky as I am picking cherries for 2 or 3 weeks now. Most cherry trees are too tall for someone like you or my to get them all and those that aren't eaten look like those 'bad' cherries on your trees.

I saw a woodpecker eating cherries today, didn't even know they liked them.

This post was edited by AgroCoders on Sat, Jun 14, 14 at 19:18

It looks like your cherries have brown rot. I attached the link from Penn State Extension for you. Brown rot could happen to your peaches and other stone fruit, too.

When possible, do not let rotten fruit hang on the tree or lay on the ground. Pick them up and throw them in the trash. It's a good sanitation practice.

I don't know what kind of cherry tree you have, sour or sweet cherry. Some varieties ripen when they turn dark red, some when they are bright red and others are not even red.

Lucky you that your yard is full of fruit trees. The unfortunate part is you have a crash course to learn. Don't worry. Learn what you can now. As time goes by, you'll be more comfortable managing your trees. It takes time.

I'd suggest that once you identify the tree variety i.e. cherry, pear, peach, etc. You should post a separate post of each fruit tree. You are likely to get more responses from those who grow those fruit. Hope this helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown rot in cherries

Thanks for the link to Penn State.

For myself I think as the cherry tree with the problem is extremely lust, 30' tall and in a shady area all I can do is rake up fallen cherries and pick the brown rot effected cherries as best I can.

I think I will also prune to be more 'airy' and 'shorter'.

I'll skip the spray as I get plenty of cherries before the brown rot sets in. I'll have to remember though to thoroughly wash cherries bought at the store now though.

We had peaches too and they never got brown rot but then they are further down the knob and in bright sunlight most of the day.

However, the two plums we had never bore a plum in 15 years. Only saw one plum forming once even, all the other times just a faint flush of flowers and that would be it. We took both of those down. They were in a shadier area then the cherry.

The OP should have an easy time of it as it looks all trees are in sunny and dry locations. She should definitely avoid watering. Watering is mostly for places like California and Arizona.

Crash course is right! I hope to be able to enjoy some fruit this year, but am just happy at least to be learning for next year and years to come.

Thank you @mamuang and @AgroCoders for the information about brown rot. I think a very tall ladder and pruning sheers and gloves are on my shopping list tomorrow.

In my area in southeastern NY-CT most cherries rotted this year even when protected with proper, rain proof fungicide because of cool wet weather at the worst time besides when they are almost ripe. Cherries are a crap shoot here and you can only expect crops about every other year- and that with netting from birds. Netting should be placed on cherry tree just as they start to show red and removed after harvest.

The netting used by previous owner, unfortunately, may also have been used for protection against coons and squirrels. Squirrels will often remove unripe peaches and pears and sometimes even apples. If they haven't removed fruit before they also like it ripe, but often don't remove as much as quickly at that point unless there are hordes.

If trees need spray the fruit will likely inform you rather quickly. It is already too late to protect it as the essential 2 sprays must be done at petal fall and again 10-14 days later. With fruit you often don't get to use a reactive strategy. I expect you will have to spray cherries and peaches to get fruit with both the right insecticide and fungicide. For stonefruit the fungicide needs to be applied about a month before harvest and, if weather is wet, maybe again 14 days later.

I manage scores of orchards in Westchester, Greenwich, Stamford, etc and have a pretty good handle, after doing this for many years, on what pests you are likely to encounter.

If you use netting, I suggest you stay away from the black monofilament type and use a woven 2 strand type instead. A decent sized tree requires at least a 30X30 foot piece. The woven does less damage to the tree (doesn't tangle as much) and is much easier to install and remove. It can last for up to 10 years if you remove promptly and do some repair. It is hard to get more than one season with monofilament unless you are very patient when removing it from the trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: source for woven netting

This is more direct.

Here is a link that might be useful: better link for bird netting