2026 Peach Disease Update – And Is the Future Now?

David Ritchie, NCSU Plant Pathology

Update for the four major

fruit diseases in North Carolina

Non-fumigant “nematicides”

Robot picking apples

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Review of the Four Common Peach Fruit Diseases in North Carolina

Anywhere in North Carolina

More Localized in North Carolina

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Optimal Infection Times for Peach Diseases and Applications of Fungicides

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PEACH SCAB

First fruit susceptible growth stage

Conditions for Infections:

Rain or heavy dew can splash or wash

the fungal spores onto the small fruit

starting at shuck-split stage.

Requires 4-6 weeks for lesions to

develop and become visible.

CONTROL – based on protection.

Fungicide must be present before

infection occurs

SUGGESTED FUNGICIDES:

-- azoxystrobin (Abound)*

-- chlorothalonil (Bravo, Equus, Echo)

-- captan

-- Miravis Duo*

-- sulfur

*If used for scab control, do not use for

preharvest brown rot – resistance management.

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Brown Rot – the Major Fruit Disease of Peaches

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Suggested Fungicide Options for Brown Rot

21 days preharvest --

Captan [M4] (Captan 50WP 5.0 lb/acre, Captec 4L F-G

2.5 qt/acre, Captan 80WDG 3.25 lb/acre) ---

0 day PHI and 24 h REI

OR

azoxystrobin [11] (Abound 2.08F,10.0 fl oz/acre) G

PLUS

thiophanate methyl [1] (Topsin M 70WSP

1.0 lb/acre, thiophanate Methyl 85WDG

0.75 lb/acre) --- 1 day PHI and 48 h REI

14 to 10 days preharvest – VERY IMPORTANT

pyraclostrobin [11] + boscalid [7] (Pristine 38WG G-E

12 to 14 fl oz/acre) --- 0 day PHI and 12 h REI,

OR

pyraclostrobin [11] + fluxapyroxad [7] E

(Merivon 500SC 6.0 fl oz) --- 0 day PHI

and 12 hr REI

OR

trifloxystrobin [11] + fluropyram [7] G-E

(Luna Sensation 4.2SC 6.0 fl oz) --- 1 day

PHI and 12 hr REI

7-1 day preharvest –

​

pyraclostrobin [11] + fluxapyroxad [7] E

(Merivon 500SC 6.0 fl oz) --- 0 day PHI

and 12 hr REI

OR

fenbuconazole [3] (Indar 2F, 6.0 fl oz/acre) G

--- 0 day PHI and 12 h REI,

OR

mefentrifluconazole [3] (Ceya 3.34F, 5.0 fl oz/acre) G

--- 0 day PHI and 12 h REI

OR

propiconazole [3] (Tilt 3.6EC, PropiMax 3.6EC, F-G

Bumper 41.8EC, 4.0 fl oz/acre) --- 0 day PHI

and 12 h REI

OR

pydiflumetofen+[7] difenoconazole [3] (Miravis Duo

13.6 fl oz) --- 0 PHI and 12 h REI G-E

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Anthracnose

Large amounts of

spores (inoculum)

produced

Concentration of spores

in microscope field of

view at 160X

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Fungicide Management for Anthracnose

Some Fungicide Choices

Fungicide Group Rating

​

Captan multi-site +++ Fair-Good

​

Abound QoI (11) ++++ Good

Gem QoI (11) ++++ Good

​

Merivon QoI (11) + SDHI (7) ++++ Good

Luna Sensation QoI (11) + SDHI (7) ++++ Good

Pristine QoI (11) + SDHI (7) ++++ Good

​

Quadris Top QoI (11) + DMI (3) +++ Fair-Good

​

​

Ziram multi-site ??

Management Suggestions

-- Focus -- Orchards that have had problems past years

-- Cultural practices and pruning of “dead wood”

-- Not allowing fruit to become over ripe before harvest

-- Starting fungicide program early at

Shucks off – pit hardening (mid-May)

Captan 4L 2.5-3.0 qt/acre

include Abound 4L 12 fl oz/acre

or Gem 500 3.5 fl oz/acre

in 2 covers spray as

TANK MIX

until 3 weeks before harvest

higher rate when conditions wet

spray coverage is very important

-- 2 applications of Merivon OR Pristine starting3-4 weeks

before harvest

-- Humid, wet, warm (hot) conditions starting late July

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FUNGICIDE REVIEW

Examples: Thiophanate-methyl, Topsin M

Examples: Rovral

Examples: Tilt, PropiMax, Bumper, Indar, Ceyva

Example: Fontelis, Miravis

Example: Vangard

Gem 500SC, Abound 2.08F

Pre-mixture examples: Pristine (11 & 7), Luna (11 & 7), Merivon (11 & 7), Miravis Duo (7 & 3)

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Fungicides as Pre-Mixtures

Fungicide Pre-Mixtures and Their Different MOA (Mode of Action) Group Number:

​

Pristine (pyraclostrobin + boscalid) BASF 3.046 lb ai/gal REI = 12 h PHI = 0 day 10.5-14.5 fl oz/acre MOA GROUP 11 & 7

​

Luna Sensation (trifloxystrobin + fluropyram) BAYER 4.20 lb ai/gal REI = 12 h PHI = 1 day 5.0-7.6 fl oz/acre MOA GROUP 11 & 7

​

Merivon (pyraclostrobin + fluxaproxad) BASF 4.0 lb ai/gal REI 12 PHI 0 day 4-6.7 fl oz/acre MOA GROUP 11 & 7

​

Quadris Top (azoxystrobin + difenoconazole) SYNGENTA 2.72 lb ai/ gal REI = 12 h PHI = 0 days 12-14 floz/acre MOA GROUP 3 & 11

​

Topguard EQ (azoxystrobin + flutriafol) 4.33 lb ai/gal FMC REI = 12 h, PHI = 7 days MOA GROUPS 11 & 3

​

Miravis Duo (difenoconazole + pydiflumetofen) SYNGENTA 1.67 lb ai/gal REI = 12 h PHI = 0 day 13.6 fl oz/acre MOA GROUP 3 & 7

​

Inspire Super (difenoconazole + cyprodinil) SYNGENTA 2.82 lb ai/gal REI = 12 h PHI = 2 days 16-20 fl oz/acre MOA GROUP 3 & 9

​

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Fungicides for Peach Disease Control – page 10 of the NC Peach Disease and Pest Management Guide

Can be used to select an appropriate fungicide

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Summary for Disease Management

1. Know what diseases occur or may occur in your orchard

2. Know the different peach tree and fruit growth stages

3. Know when infection and the diseases are most likely to occur

4. Know what conditions are necessary for each disease

(infection & development).

5. Know methods for preventing or reducing infections and

ultimately the disease

6. Know how to apply the sprays

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Nonfumigant “Nematicides”

Non-bearing

Non-bearing

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On-farm Evaluations of Nonfumigant Nematicides on Nematode Communities of Peach

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What Is a New Day Bringing for Peach Disease Management?

Have You Seen This or Heard of AgriPhage And Wondered What Is It?

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Electron Micrographs of Bacteriophages

Different Shapes and Sizes

Spherical Phages

Tailed Phages

Long Thread-like Filamentous

Bacteriophages (phage) are ubiquitous viruses existing wherever bacteria

occur that infect and reproduce (replicate) in bacteria. Bacteriophage means

“bacteria devouring”. They generally range in size from 75-200 nm.

​

Phages are very specific to bacteria and usually to a specific strain of bacteria.

​

They only infect bacteria and thus are considered very safe.

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What Is a Nanometer (nm)? – It is Very, Very Small!

There are 25,400,000 nm in 1.0 Inch

The Amazing Smallness of Our World

• Your fingernails grow at the rate of about 1 nanometer per second.
• A single water molecule is about 1.5 nanometers.
• A strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter.
• A single hemoglobin molecule is 5 nanometers across.
• A single bacterium is about 1,000 nanometers long.
• A strand of hair is about 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide.
• A sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick.
• An ant is 5 million nanometers long.
• The human hand is 100 million nanometers long.
• A 7-foot-tall basketball player is 2 billion nanometers tall.

CITATION: Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Examples of Nanoscale Objects." ThoughtCo, Jun. 25, 2024, thoughtco.com/examples-of-nanoscale-608575.

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Tree with bacterial spot diseased fruit and leaves

Phages can be isolated

from the diseased fruit

and leaves.

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Example of phages from different locations and reaction on 4 different bacterial strains

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Example Where Bacteriophages have “devoured” Their Bacterial Hosts (Clear area in the bacterial lawn)

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Bacteriophage: “Duraznoxanthovirus arenicola”

Example of a Bacteriophage Isolated from the Sandhills Research Station

& Orchards in the Region

durazno = Spanish for peach

xantho = Xanthomonas, bacterium that causes bacterial spot

and is the host for the phage

​

arenicola = Latin for sand-dweller, referencing North Carolina’s

Sandhills peach region

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So, What is AgriPhage?

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Label as of February 2026

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Label as of February 2026 - 2

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Label as of February 2026 – 3

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AgriPhage for Nut and Stone Fruit, a biological control for bacterial diseases, typically costs around $35 per quart or about $300 per 2.5 gal. Prices vary by supplier. 

Source: Web -- February 2026

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How Will These and Other Technologies Affect Peaches?

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Sensors

​

Monitor environmental,

crop and Pest/Disease

conditions