Peach Prunus persica (Rosaceae) Fast Facts: ‘Keres in Washington: 2,698 Percent U.S. Acreage: 2.6% Per Bearing Acre Value: $3,441 Washington production: 20,000 tons Number of Growers: 482 Value of Production in Washington: $8,873,000 Percent of Value of U.S. Production: 3% *Statistics Provided by the Washington Agriculture Statistics Service &ASs). P Peaches are the 38"* most valuable commodity in the state of Washington. Description of crop: Trees are propagated by either budding or grafting onto rootstocks. Rootstocks are used for resistance to disease and insect pests, but do not control size, Peach trees generally take at least five years to reach full commercial production, and trees remain in production for about 20 years, depending on the popularity of a variety and the disease/insect pressure. Trees are pruned winter and summer. Winter pruning directs growth in specific areas of the tree. Summer pruning removes unwanted growth, maintains good light distribution in the tree, ensures good fruit bud development and reduces tree size. Commercial practices include thinning by hand for increased fruit size, irrigation, fertilization and weed control. Midwinter freeze protection is practiced extensively in the Columbia Basin and lower Yakima Valley. Harvest is by hand in July, August and September. Key pests: Weeds in orchards ate a primary problem, especially for young trees, because they compete with the trees for water, sunlight and nutrients. Weeds cause three additional problems. They can block sprinkler heads, making irrigation difficult, or provide alternated host sites for harmful insects. They also encourage mice to populate the orchard, often necessitating chemical control of rodents. Common annual weed problems include mustards, pigweeds, lambsquarter and grasses. Common perennial weeds include quackgrass, field bindweed and dandelion. Powdery mildew is the primary disease of peach. Occasional disease problems include shothole, blight and cytospora canker however, copper applied as a prophylactic reduces this problem to negligible. The most severe insect pests are peach twigborer, green peach aphid, peachtree borer. Lesser problems are oriental fruit moth, peachtree borer, lygus and thrips. Key pesticides:Unlike pears and apples, stone fruits are intolerant of many residual herbicides. Thus, growers must apply herbicides such as Roundup and Gramoxone more frequently and diligently for effective weed control. Sinbar, Devrinol and Surflan can also be used for weed control. Matrix can be used pre-emergent. Powdery mildew is controlled with Adament, Indar, Pristine, Abound and Orbit. Shothole can be controlled with Bravo and Abound. Oriental fiuit moth, when it is a problem, is readily controlled with mating disruption, Delegate, Entrust or Success. Green peach aphid is controlled with Assail or Pristine. Organic growers work with a lime sulfur/oil mix or ladybugs to control green peach aphid. Peachtree borer is controlled with mating disruption, Lorsban or Thionex. Thrips are controlled with Success or with Carzol. Carzol usage is problematic due to a very long re-entry period for peaches. Lygus bugs and peach twig borer can be controlled with Thionex. The re-entry period for peach is longer than for nectarine due to the peach’s pubescence. Lygus tend to be only a local problem; occurring in areas that are up against sagebrush or similar vegetation. Critical pest control issues: Weed control is important in orchards, because bees can be attracted to weeds in bloom. If growers apply insecticides harmful to bees, even when the tree crop is not blooming, bees aitracted to blooming weeds can be harmed inadvertently. Applications that are potentially harmful to bees are generally curtailed but when unavoidable often are put on after night fall, with enough time to allow drying before morning and/or dewfall, while bees are inactive. Proper cultural practices, such as pruning to allow for air movement, in combination with pesticides generally provide adequate disease control. Twigborer control is a critical problem to growers, because the use of azinphos (Guthion) has been eliminated. Thiodan, Imidan and Success are all being used for summer applications but they are less effective. However, the intensive hand labor necessary for production makes farm worker safety an important issue. Thinning which is done by hand is a huge cost for the grower. Research is being done at the University of Idaho on chemical thinners for apricots in the form of Turgitol, an industrial wax remover. An effective chemical thinner would be a big boost to the industry. Expert contaets: Tim Smith (Weeds) Bob Parker (Weeds) WSU Cooperative Extension Gary Grove (Disease) 303 Palouse Street WSU IAREC Wenatchee, WA. 98801-2670 24106 N. Bunn Road 509 667 6540 Prosser, WA 99350-9687 509 786 2226 Elizabeth Beers (Insects) Mike Willet (IPM) WSU Wenatchee Northwest Horticultural 1100 North Western Avenue 128 N. 2nd Street, Rm.233 Wenatchee, WA 98801 Yakima, WA 98901-2631509 663 8181 309 453 3193 Jim McFerson Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission 1719 Springwater Avenue Wenatchee, WA 98801 509 665 8271 Mitch Weeks, G. S. Long, Field Consultant ‘Washington State Fruit Commission 105 S. 18" St. Suite 205 Yakima, WA 98901 509 453 4837 Location of production: Benton, Franklin, Chelan, Douglas, Walla Walla and Yakima counties.Peach Production in Washington State