Common Diseases In Peaches And Nectarine

You must note the first point that it is very difficult to grow top quality peaches and nectarine plants without the use of effective pest control. You have to spray these trees throughout the growing season. The most damaging pests of the peach orchards are scab, rhizopus rot, leaf curl, bacterial spot, nematodes, peach phony, oak root rot and powdery mildew.

We are going to discuss about the diseases which affect the peach and nectarine plants.

Brown rot:

Brown rot affects the flowers, shoots and the fruits. Diseased flower wilts and turn brown so this disease is known by this name. If this organism affects the shoots then the shoots will elongate and form gummy cankers. These cankers provide the inoculum for the fruit rot. It is the most common disease. The fruit which will become infected by this disease will become a mummified. Control measures include sanitation and a rigid spray program should be maintained.

Peach scab:

This disease shows the symptoms as small black velvety spots on the fruits. Sometimes large black areas appear when the disease has been progressed rapidly. This disease can be easily controlled by chemical sprays when it has started. Peel the fruits if you want to remove all the traces of the disease.

Rhizopus rot: This disease affects the nearly ripe fruits. The infected peaches turn brown. The areas which have rotten become soft and get covered with coarse black fungal growth this disease is very common in the peaches which are stored at room temperature after harvesting. Chemical sprays just before the harvests are a good solution to this disease.

Peach leaf curl:

The disease attacks the peach leaves and sometimes the unripe green fruits, the leaves which are infected become thick and distortion occurs in them due to twisting. Spaying is a good option.

Bacterial spot:

In this disease the infected fruit and leaves develop small reddish spots often with white centre. These spots fall out and then leaf becomes tattered or spotted. The leaves turn yellow and then they fall.

Root-Knot nematode:

It is a soil worm that attacks the roots of the trees the infected roots show swellings and knots.

To prevent this never plant peach plant in an old vegetable garden since there is an increased probability of the soil having these nematodes. Other diseases are peach pony and powdery mildew which can be controlled by the similar methods as explained above.

These are the common diseases which are found in the peach and nectarine plants from this you can make out that the diseases for both are common and their symptoms are also common in both.

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