The Biggest Pest For Those Growing Peaches Plums Cherries & Other Stonefruits 

I loved how you turned this catastrophe in your own garden into an opportunity for us to learn how to save ours. Really impressive depth of knowledge.

I have all the respect in the world for you, and I promise I'm not trying to be "that guy" who goes around correcting people. 85% of what you said is true, but a little bit isn't and some we don't have enough information to know. So on behalf of you and others who see this, can I please make some minor points. I own a substantial peach orchard, btw. First, you say with great confidence that the problem is Oriental Fruit Moth. Its likely you are right, but there is one other peach insect that has ALMOST identical larvae, focuses on stone fruits like peaches, and has almost the same effect on trees and fruit. Its called Plum Curculio (it likes peaches as much as plums tho) You can be trained to tell teh difference but most lay people can't. Eventually you will have both insects. Fighting them is the same methods. Also, you mentioned that the OFM live, hide in the cracks in the tree and other places in the tree. There are some bugs that do that, but OFM doesn't (except in the branch tips but that is a different stage). In the OFM life cycle, the larvae "magot" bores into the fruit and then into the seed. That causes the oozing, gel and.or brown crust. Then they bore through the fruit and into the seed. They live in the seed while they feed on it and grow. Eventually this causes the fruit to drop (part of natures plan). Then the larvae bores back out of the seed and fruit and into the dirt. There it lives (not in the tree as you said) until the next spring when it comes back out as moth or PC adult that can fly, and flies back to the tips of branches or the small fruit and starts over again.

Appreciate you sharing any mistakes as an opportunity to learn. I planted several fruit trees this year so any bit of progress and information as yours are growing really helps as I am in your growing zone as well.

I moved into a house a few years ago with a large, mature peach tree beside it. It bears fruit, but this has been a problem every year. I'm thankful to your video that I know what to do about it now. Thanks. :)

Gardening is a process; a process of growing 100 things, and losing 50 of them. Soon as you accept that, enjoy the other 50 :)

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with my trees and this is exactly what I'm seeing with my fruit! Now to deal with it! Thank you!

Thank you so much. Very timely. I saw this issue back in May and had to cull more than 100 small fruits across 3 nectarine and peach trees. Was heart broken. Did not know about pruning. Will do that tomm.

Thanks for sharing! My aunt's always having problems with her peaches. She's is deciding to start over. This is one fruit I haven't grown yet, but will be trying it out for next year. I will also share the video with her. Thank you for the heads up!

Great video!! I am in my third or fourth year of growing a peach tree. I also have a beehive and was having difficulty sorting out what my problem was and what I could do that would not be harmful to my bees. your video has proved most helpful. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

Thank you so much for this! We're moving soon, so I'll forward this to the new buyers, but I'm intrigued with all trees. Sorry you had to go through it, but glad you shared!

Wow I absolutely admire Farmers now! Kudos to farmers, especially organic farmers.

"Honey, your box of bees just showed up." "Let them out, will you darling. And do it outside this time."

Nice job Luke! Great explanation! We will keep an eye out as we too have peach trees, cherry trees, plum trees, almond tree (yes, tree), nectarine, and the list goes on. Thanks for sharing!!

Thank You! This is the first time I have had this problem. So glad to know what the problem is and how to fix it on my young tree.

This was extremely helpful! I'm sure this is the problem we have on our peach trees! Thank you!

This was very very helpful. We have started a peach orchard in Texas. We have 40 trees planted already and will plant more.

This video is extremely informative and much appreciated. Thank you so much for sharing!

I'm glad you mad this video.I was actually considering asking you what the clear stuff was coming out of my Almond husks on my tree. now I know, and now I know I need to take some actions.

thank you! I'm having issues with our peach trees. do you mind sharing the recipe for the essential oils? I use young living and will try this.

This video is going to be very helpful for me in the future. I battle the vine borers in my pumpkins, but didn't know my peach trees were at risk too. I tried covering the scent of the pumpkins, but some moths were not fooled at all. Lost all my Hubbard vines, they were attached first. Now I'm concerned about my healthy peach trees. I will start aggressive treatment to prevent this next Spring, if the good Lord be willing that I have another Spring. Thank you so much for this video.

Try using homemade moth traps that contain water, molasses, apple cider vinegar, dishwashing soap, and ammonia. I use Langer's fruit bottles and hang them in the trellis system that supports my trees and these trap hundreds of moths of various types per trap.

Thank you very much! I have been having this problem for years and wasn't sure what was going on. This year I purchased some peach tree spray and the recommended spraying was only three times in a season. I was very vigilant to spray when recommended but it was not effective against the moths. The damage is worse every year. Next year I will spray more frequently. Perhaps through spraying more frequently, the defoliation process and removing the bad fruit I will someday be able to eat my harvest!

Excellent and so helpful in such a concise manner. Thank you.

Thank you so Luke for this video. I just got peach trees for the first time this year and they are not doing well. What you described is what my trees look like only worse. I tried lasting g up on line what to do for them but couldn’t find anything. I’m afraid I’m to late now for my tree. What do I do next year. Thank you

Really helpful. We have a little dwarf peach tree. Mostly decorative, but my mom wanted the peaches off of it this year and I noticed that a lot of the fruit had the oozing in it. Will have to be a bit more proactive to try to reduce the pest problem since I want to grow regular peach trees too.

This was one of your very best videos. This spring I discovered peach borers in my young orchard & my neighbor had them even worse. We applied beneficial nematodes to fight that problem.

Excellent! I found two peach sprouting in my compost this spring… and I already use BT on my garden.

When I was much younger, my dad let me put a garden in the backyard of my parents' house. The garden wasn't big; but, I planted a lot of things that I knew I would eat, including okra. I intentionally planted more than I needed so that the bugs would have enough to munch on. When it came time to harvest, there was still plenty for me to harvest and preserve.

Drench the tree with Neem Oil using a hose end sprayer in the spring and also the ground around the tree. Broadcast Epsom salts into the grass and soil around the trees and I do almost my entire yard and gardens especially heavy on wet areas. Hydrogen peroxide in a hose end sprayer also helps. Spray massively and spray other trees around your yard and let rain wash the Neem Oil into the soil.

Thank you so much Luke!!! I have so much problems with the borers !!!!!

Great video ! I don't even have fruit trees at the moment,yet I will remember this for the future. BTW I love the results from your Trifecta+ . My brother and I have been doing all kinds of comparisons. I kinda feel bad because I am the one who has the Trifecta+ 😎

OMG- I was blaming Japanese beetles. I did have a horrible problem with them, but I didn't realize I was having issues with this, too! Thanks!

This may sound ridiculous but I am thinking of hanging marigolds in my peach trees in small containers to disguise the peach tree's odors and repel insects. They will also attract bees for pollination. Something new to try.. if you don't try you don't learn a thing!

I had the same issue with my peach trees (2 Red haven and 2 Contender). They were devastated from oriental moth for 4 years. Each tree used to have ton of peaches but all with the same oozing as in this video, and I actually caught many moth on the tree itself. I could not find any help on the internet or any advise on how to fight it efficiently, until, out of despair I sprayed Daconil and that was the end of this twig borer issue. I never heard of anyone or even read anywhere about using Daconil for peach borer, but it worked in my case. I also recently started planting sunflower and Oregano around the trees to attract predatory wasp that feed on moth.

This could be the reason why most of my peaches fell on the ground!! They all looked like yours did, I thought the bugs got in once the peaches landed on the ground, this was great knowledge, I'll be looking out for this, this year! Thanks

You ain’t lyin. They get me every year. Full of blooms in March, hard time setting in April and what fruit did form gets the worms by May and they all drop.

Yay! Essential Oil masks.....that is excellent. Thank you.

Great information, Luke! Thanks! Can you do a video on how to sun-dry the orange roussollinis?

Enjoyed the info. Just planted Peach/ Plum/ Pear trees. Waiting with sprayer in hand.

I am so glad to see this video now as I have 2 cherry trees and 2 plum trees.

FINALLY a real answer! Thank you so much! Blessings

I've been planning on having some peach trees in my yard for years, since I first bought this house. I have been doing research and prepping. I have helped a friend with a little care on their family peach tree. I watched this video a few years ago. Luckily, my friends peach tree has never had this issue. I planted some peach pits from that tree, and this year, they finally sprouted! My neighbor has had a peach tree in their yard since before I moved in, but it isn't very old. I would guess between 7-9 years. Sadly, every single one of my peach saplings has been attacked by this wretched oriental fruit moth. I've checked on those lil babies pretty much every day since they sprouted. I started noticing the flagging just a few days ago. Today, the worst of that fear came true. I remembered watching this a while back, so here I am, re-learning and prepping for damage control. Thank you so much for sharing. Hopefully the neighbor will take steps to help kill the pests as well.

You can make some bat nests in order to ecologically control various insects, including fruit flies / moths. A large percent of bats do prey on them, so insects naturally avoid them. There's a plethora of DIY guides to create bat houses and nests and how to attract them.

Thank you so much! I had no idea what was wrong with my tree.

We have an infestation, too. Too late this year, but going to try to recover the trees for next year. Thanks for the info, we’re going to try all of these methods.

Hi Luke please do a video on essential oil mixtures for vine borers, etc thankyou!

I needed this video, thanks for info. This happened to my fruit trees

this was so great - i went out there and really looked and identified some sagging and sure enough found some maggots up IN the branches i trimmed. Its because my peach tree does not get enough nutrients and water and so ill take these branches off spray, fertilize and water better

excellent video..just could not find the direct simply explain information oh how to handle these issues..much appreciation blessings

I used beneficial nematodes in the spring and it really helped with fruit moths and Japanese beetles.

Thanks; My first year with peaches. Very informative and helpful. Birds my problem this year, netting helped. Peaches were small but very good. Would DT spray be a benefit? Thanks again, Dr. D

Thank you. You have given me so much information in just one video☺️

When the peach tree getting borers, I started watering heavily, and all borers go away. But the fruits have been already filled out by maggots - west Sydney.

5:00 - #Oozing 10:20 - #BT (baccilus something) 11:20 - #EssentialOils #chemicalMasks

I think this was what i have been after for ages. hopefully will work next season

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve had that problem but I didn’t know what it was! I’ll try all what you suggested. Any link where to buy the essential oil? 👍

You are wonderful when planting lots of trees.

Thank. I just saw sonne of that clear slime on my little peaches. Omg i saw this on three of my trees. Thanks

Awesomeness! Glad to find your channel.

I'm implementing several of your ideas & in desperation I've planted lavender under each plum & peach tree ( Moths are supposedly repelled by the aroma of lavender ) Spinosad def. worked last year

I recently moved into a new house and it's been a great adventure. I have a tree that I took pictures of a few months ago because it had some amazing flowers all over it. I cut the grass this morning and noticed something hanging all over it. I think it's a peach tree. I think I seen a dry seed hanging up there which is probably a bad thing.

Very informative. You seem smart approachable, kind and handsome. It's nice to see a clean-cut attractive man able to speak and talk about gardening. You must enjoy public speaking. I hope I'm not being too forward, but I enjoy your videos. Thanks!

Thanks for all those tips! Do you know if the borers affect these fruits equally across growing zones? I'm in Zone 8b, and just planted 2 young trees last spring. I removed all fruit to let the trees grow in size this year, but noticed one of them still struggled a lot with lots of loss of leaves ... until the chamomile planted underneath started to bloom. Maybe it served as a mask. I didn't spray them with anything, but I do have a little Bt.

Great tips, thank you.

Luke, Does this same type of protocol apply equally to all stone fruit trees? or is there any differences? I just realized this video is two years old. Did your methods work and are there any changes you may have made as a followup? Did you rid your orchard of these moths?

Thank you so much my peach tree had a lot flores but no peach and I see the same issues you just shown me thank you I will terminated these bugs for 2021 tks

If bagging your fruit, a paper lunch bag closed with a reusable twist tie will put slightly less plastic into the waste stream. A zip tie can only be used once. Thanks for the information.

BioAdvanced Fruit, Citrus & Vegetable Insect Control, Concentrate. I know insecticides are not popular with the Organic crowd, but this product protects my Peach Trees better than anything else mentioned and I have tried them all. I now have worm free peaches with just one application which I apply late February but no later than March first every year here in Southeast Va.. It's well worth it to those that don't have hours every day to tend to fruit trees. I have grape vines and an apple tree and just keeping them pruned is a job during the summer. Rose bushes are another beautiful plant that requires a lot of work to keep them beautiful.

I have looked continuously and couldn't figure out what was wrong with my peaches. Ty so much. It sounds like I have a job on my hands.

The birds and squirrels here in Maryland are trying to throw me off by recommending this video to me.

We had that problem, until we eventually had to just cut the tree down and burn it. In fact, there was also some kind of fungus that was a problem, too. The tree was on the east side of the house, and I think it didn't get enough air flow. I didn't want to spray, but I sure didn't know what to do except to cut, burn and start over.

Great vid, thanku for sharing. I saw this vid and finally realized I too shared this problem and I turned to beneficial nematodes, and have had great results, I would recommend.

Great advices ... my issue is my plum tree leaves have bunch of holes on them during late spring/early summer and start falling off. Do you have any methods of treating this?

thank you luke ! i was wondering about the sap on the fruit.

So helpful. We get an amazing amount of fruit and it all falls off with all these things by the time the fruit is a half dollar in size.

Thanks, I have been getting problem with my nectarine tree.

Great Outstanding Job!!! They say it is a BORE which eats throughthe bark...

I'd love to see a video on chemical masks, I've had problems with squash vine borers for years and have been looking for a reasonable way to control them.

Great video! Are your tree's dwarfs or normal peach trees? I am glad to see what truly healthy tree's look like. I was afraid that I had a fungus infection (Curly leaf) on my new dwarf peach and I have been spraying it with a Funginol I got online, mostly because I only know what it looks like once it takes hold of the plant. So how old are your trees? And can you give us a link for finding the essential oils you mentioned? Thanks again!

Thanks Luke!

What is the predatory wasp for stone fruits? What is the essential oil mask that you can make?

This was so helpful!!!’ My peach tree has these 😔... can we still eat these fruits ?

Fantastic pics............

Luke Is their a way of netting the trees for safety against pests? Please do a early pest management video for us future orchard enthusiasts.👍🏻 Thank you for the info Linda from Ct

I prevent all this by putting mothballs in water and let it sit over night then spray.

Just saw your video here on fruit trees. I would like to try to make the chemical masks you speak of using essential oils. How do you make this special recipe. Thank you for passing it on.

Thank you! Every year I never get 1 single peach! We had 2 last year and they had those maggots, they were so small and had gooey stuff all over the place. My trees also get attacked by black ants.

Great info!

Thanks for the great info🙏

Great video!

My problem is plum curculio in my plums and perhaps it might doing something to the peaches. But techniques that you mention might also work for the weevil type of Beatle.

That is a different but similar pest from the cherry fruit fly. Use GF120 (organic) and sulfur, copper zinc and a fungicide on cherries. And calcium.

And, in stone fruit trees, can this be so prolific that it keeps the fruit from even sprouting or maturing before falling off? Or are my trees still too young to fully fruit (3-5 years)?

Luke, can I make my own infused olive oil with all the extra mint I have and use some of that along with my spray of BT instead of using essential peppermint oil. I think the essential oil is much stronger but I have so much mint I thought maybe I could use that instead but I didn't know if it would harm my plants.

You said that these pests are also attracted to almond trees, wouldn't using a spray with almond oil as an ingredient act as an attractant as opposed to a deterrent?

Excellent information.

Yeah past that over winter and come back to attack your host plant regularly is a big problem, as I had every variety of asparagus beetle attack my asparagus hedge this year...

Thank you I didn't know

A lot of good information.

Very helpful. Cheers mate