Lisa, Thinning refers to removing fruit, not pruning. It can be confusing because there is a term called, "thinning cuts", which refer to a type of pruning. However, when the word thinning is used in the context of fruit, it simply means removing some of the fruit and has nothing to do with pruning. Removing some of the fruit is beneficial because it allows the fruit remaining to become much bigger. It prevents broken branches because too many fruits will weigh branches down and break them. It also keeps trees healthier because it prevents over-cropping. So Jellyman was telling you to "thin-off" all the oozing peaches first (since they will be no good anyway). Then make sure there is a minimum of 6" or more of branch space between the remaining fruits. If there is not a minimum of 6-8" of branch space, then keep removing fruit until you've met that criteria. It's not unusual to remove 80% or more of the fruit from a peach tree. If you still have some good fruits left on the tree, it would be advisable to protect those with an insecticide. Triazicide Once and Done is a good choice and available at Walmart. You asked if it is OK to prune now. There may be no need to prune now, but if you feel a need, it is OK to prune now. Just understand when you prune off wood, you may be pruning off some fruit too. Naturally, any wood that is pruned, also removes the fruit attached to it. For leaf curl, you can spray either in the fall or spring (under heavy pressure) or just in the spring. For a fall spray, spray after the trees loose their leaves. Not every single leaf has to be gone, but the tree needs to be pretty bare when you spray it. Being a long way from MA, I have no idea what month this would occur. For the leaf curl spring spray, spray sometime before the buds start to swell. The idea is you want the peach trees still fully dormant when you apply the spring spray. Once the trees start waking up in the spring, it's too late to protect them against leaf curl. My guess is as soon as your winter snow melts would be a good time to get out there and spray for leaf curl. One side effect is your neighbors will think you're crazy spraying bare trees. For entertainment, you can encourage this perception by watering your trees while it's snowing. Do this while wearing a nightgown.

this is peach leaf curl. You can treat the trees with a fungicide at leaf-break and again before they fall. For now, you don't want to have to spray so you can pick off as many distorted leaves as you can and dispose of them (not compost, burn). There is no way of avoiding this unless you can actually cover your trees with some fleece or grow under cover. You can use Bordeaux mixture or a basic copper based fungicide.

You said it yourself, scale. And maybe another thing or two. But the black scales are scale. Treat with all seasons horticultural oil and/or an insecticide. The leaves curling up are more like a psyllid, maybe Asian citrus psyllid. That's just a guess. The sticky stuff coating things is honeydew secreted by aphids, scale, and psyllid.

Hi Daniel, That is what I was thinking. It seems like the infected bag of soil would be the most likely thing to have brought this bacteria in- however with that being said, when I think about it- the plants that started to show these symptoms before some of the others (such as the 4th picture from the top of all images I posted (green plant w/ very red bumps)) were not in arrangements and had not yet been removed from their containers I bought them in. This leads me to think that one of the plants I had purchased must have had this bacteria and as I had a fan going to circulate the air, the scene was set for this bacteria to thrive. Especially onto the plants that I had removed leaves from (cuttings). I guess I will never know how the disease was actually contracted since it sounds like there are so many different ways this bacteria can survive even without showing symptoms. I have noticed that once a plant is infected- even if it's only showing signs at the bottom of the plant (so the top of the plant still looks completely unharmed and healthy) the entire plant is actually infected; and if you de-head the succulent and try and grow just the top, you are actually just spreading the bacteria into whatever soil you place it onto. This subsequently not only infects that soil but then infects whatever other baby plants you have sharing that same soil. This is what I am most concerned with now, as I have been propagating succulents since last April and I know I brought leaves from the infected plants (prior to symptoms) up to be with other leaves. Based off everything I have read on this disease so far, I am worried I need to dispose of all of the babies I have been propagating for 10 months in order to ensure there is no trace of this bacteria any longer... Here is a picture of all the little guys I have been trying to grow for wedding favors (my wedding is in July) and although they probably wouldn't have been big enough by then, it still hurts to have to toss these!! Man, talk about a bad Monday! :( Oh well..