Peach Scab Identification: Fruit Spots and Pre-Harvest Management

Confirming Peach Scab on Your Fruit

The spots on your peaches match peach scab (Cladosporium carpophilum)—a serious fungal disease requiring preventive management.

Peach Scab Characteristics

• Small, circular, olive-green to black velvety spots on fruit.
• Spots may coalesce; fruit cracks at lesion sites.
• Also affects twigs and leaves (less obvious).
• Overwinters on infected twigs.

This Season: Too Late to Spray

Near harvest, chemical applications violate pre-harvest intervals. Focus on:

• Harvest promptly at maturity.
• Peel affected fruit—flesh underneath is usually sound.
• Remove and destroy all mummified fruit and fallen leaves.

Next Year: Preventive Program (Critical)

1. Dormant spray: Lime sulfur or copper before bud swell.
2. Bloom to shuck split: Captan or sulfur every 7–10 days.
3. Cover sprays: Continue every 10–14 days until 3 weeks before harvest.
4. Pruning: Open canopy for air flow and spray penetration.
5. Sanitation: Remove all mummies, prune out twig lesions.

Resource

WVU Peach Scab Guide: Detailed control schedule with photos

Peach scab is manageable with a strict preventive schedule. Organic growers: sulfur + sanitation + resistant varieties ('Contender', 'Redhaven' have some tolerance).