Stone Fruit at the University of Florida

02/27/2023

Hello! It's that time of the year again for fruit thinning on peach trees and we wanted to provide some information on peach fruit thinning practices, which can help to increase the fruit size of Florida peaches at harvest time!

Here is the link to the EDIS article on “Thinning Florida Peaches for Larger Fruit”:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS132400.pdf
Here is also a link to our YouTube video on fruit thinning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaRA_o-lJg

Thinning fruit is an important management practice in peach production in Florida. Learn why it is important and how to do it.Link to EDIS publication: http:...

11/21/2022

🍑Hello all!🍑

We hope this message finds you well.

This is just a reminder about defoliating peach orchards, starting from the third week of November, and it can be done until the first week of December. Defoliating peach trees in late Fall helps in the process of chill accumulation, which is required for enhanced flowering and fruit production.

A common peach tree defoliation method uses a tank mixed spray of Zinc Sulfate.

For more information about peach production in FL, visit the following links below:

https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/stonefruit/

Below are links to YouTube clips demonstrating winter pruning:

Pruning a young peach tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShNGGuO1x4E

Pruning a mature peach tree: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u42z2WuC4Nw

Both scale (white and San Jose) and Peach Tree Borers can be seen now in peach orchards in Florida. For management and spraying application, you can visit page 8 by clicking on the link below. On the same link, you could also read the information on pages 2 to 8 about other peach orchard practices during this time (dormant).

Peach, Nectarine and Plum Spray Guide for the Southeastern U.S.:
https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/media/hosifasufledu/stone-fruit/documents/production/2022-Peach-Nectarine-and-Plum-Spray-Guide-for-the-Southeastern-US.pdf

To see Scales:https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/IN/IN23300.pdf

To see Peach Tree Borers:https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/IN/IN48900.pdf

For more information: https://vscnews.com/protecting-peaches-from-scale-and-borers/

Please let us know if you need more information!

🍑Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 🍑

04/19/2022

It's the final countdown! Just one more week until our Stone Fruit Field Day! There's still time to sign up for this free event, hope to see you there!

Come to our 2022 Stone Fruit Field Day to learn about the latest varieties and management practices for growing peaches in Florida!

04/05/2022

It's a bird! It's a plane! No...it's our Stone Fruit Field Day fast approaching! Register soon for our free event, hope to see you there!

Come to our 2022 Stone Fruit Field Day to learn about the latest varieties and management practices for growing peaches in Florida!

03/16/2022

02/23/2022

Greetings! We hope your trees and orchards are coming along well so far this season. We wanted to provide some information on peach fruit thinning practices, which can help to increase the fruit size at harvest time!

Our EDIS publication:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS132400.pdf

Our YouTube video showing the steps (like and subscribe😀)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaRA_o-lJg

Also, we want to announce our STONE FRUIT FIELD DAY 2022!, taking place in-person this year on April 26th, at the Plant Science Research and Education Unit, Citra, FL. More details will follow soon with a flier and registration link!🍑

01/31/2022

Any guesses where this photo was taken? That's right, the great white North...Florida! Thanks to some temps in the low 20's and overhead irrigation for freeze protection we get to see this winter wonderland once again in our orchard, if only for a few hours.

11/10/2021

Greetings, Winter is just around the corner and it's time to help peach trees take advantage of the chill hours we do receive in the sunshine state.
We wanted to give you a heads up to be prepared to defoliate your peach trees either in the last week of November or the first week of December. A tree in a defoliated state can more readily benefit from chilling temperatures.
A common peach tree defoliation method uses a tank mixed spray of Zinc sulfate with a concentration of up to 15 percent (15lb of Zinc sulfate per 100gal of water).
Using a zinc spray will also help correct a common issue of zinc deficiency in peach trees growing in sandier soils. Using an air blast sprayer is a very effective delivery system, especially for larger orchards. On a small scale of just a few trees in a backyard, defoliation by hand would also be very effective.
For more information about peach production in FL, you can visit the following links:
https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/stonefruit/
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_a-sarkhosha
Please let us know if you need any further information.
🍑Best wishes for a great upcoming season for Florida peaches!🍑

05/19/2021

Greetings, we hope the harvest season has been abundant for everyone. We wanted to share some resources and information on summer peach tree management practices, which can help prepare the orchard for another productive season next year.

- Summer pruning: This practice helps restructure the canopy, direct the tree’s resources into fruit production, and improve fieldwork efficiency, by controlling tree height. Without summer pruning, peach orchards in subtropical regions will continue to grow vigorously through the year. Here is the link to our YouTube channel with a video on summer pruning: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCal2Z8bRu_g7XgCQqxR-CAQ



- Fungicide applications: Controlling peach rust is important, as it causes early defoliation and significantly impacts the tree performance for the following season, read our EDIS publication on the subject at:https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/HS/HS126300.pdf



-Postharvest tree pests: For information on borers and scale (white scale and Jan Jose) visit page 41 to 44 here:https://secure.caes.uga.edu/extension/publications/files/pdf/B%201171_14.PDF

03/30/2021

🍑REMINDER🍑- Our virtual Stone Fruit Field Day 2021 is coming up soon! This is a FREE event that will take place on Zoom, on April 28th from 9:00am-3:30pm. Join us and learn about the latest research on stone fruit in our region. Hope to see you then!
For an outline of the event, and instructions on how to attend and register, please see the following links:
https://tinyurl.com/y5cx2e8r
https://tinyurl.com/yyebnz2v