Chunxian Chen
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In roundtable peach meetings in recent years, southeastern growers often highlight that bacterial spot remains a leading yield-limiting disease. Spray management is ineffective, and the disease has become more endemic frequently and causes significant losses even in some so-called tolerant/resistant cultivars. The increasing disease incidence emphasize more attention to the epidemiology of the disease on…
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Peach production is different every year. Byron peaches in 2025 were somewhat different, too, due to environmental conditions and unexpected reduced sprays. A few observations are summarized in this article. This summer it was hot and rainy. Pesticide sprays in Byron were partially carried out due to unexpected reduction of the farm management crew. As…
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Chill hours (CH) are a sum of hours below 7.2 ℃ (45 ℉) between Oct 1st to next Feb 15th, often used to estimate if the chilling requirement of a peach cultivar is satisfied and ready for timely budbreak in regions (e.g., mid GA) where the spring begins to warm by late February. CH were…
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The USDA at Byron, GA has released a trio of “Joy” peach cultivars named ‘Crimson Joy’ (early mid-season), ‘Liberty Joy’ (mid-season), and ‘Rich Joy’ (late season). The three main-season cultivars all have self-fertile showy pink flowers, produce large, firm, melting and freestone fruit with high blush, yellow flesh, normal acidity and pleasant eating quality, and…
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