More common the fruit, the more bugs that have a taste for it and usually has the most problems. You can't really blame "organics" for that.

I grow in a northern climate apricots and peaches . Even potted peaches leads will speckled up on me when tree is to moist. And the apricots have in past when very moist warm conditions happen will ooze also. I think the grape issue maybe unrelated. I sprayed copper on my trees in fall and spring after leafs fall and right before buds start to crack. It's easy to get. There is other stuff for growing season I bought also can't spray copper on trees now it will seriously damage the leafs. It apparently works good on peach plum and apricot trees. I never used it yet I bought it last year. I will look tomorrow.

Just sounds like you have all the signs of humid climate. Or perhaps to much water ?

Haven't had any rain in a month. In the forecast for today though. So happy about it! Though I guess for the fruit trees it means things will get worse. No rain but very very humid.

using copper products is not recommended for organic gardens right?

can you recommend any organic products that might help with what I have? Or at least prevent next year's problems?

also, is black spot the same as black rot?

So copper is no longer organic? When did that happen? Unreal!

That's not what I meant. Copper based products often have other stuff in it that makes the manufacturer unable to market it as organic. See this one for ex. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000UGQ4MW/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1467123314&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fruit+tree+spray&dpPl=1&dpID=51u8b0DOjFL&ref=plSrch

Is there any product that will work well and has OMRI approved seal on it? What do you organic fruit growers use?

Hours many hours of sun does the tree get where it is turning black?

• Many copper sprays have OMRI approval, My comment was tongue in cheek!
• I think it is all extremely funny. Copper is as organic as lead. Being organic even OMRI approved tells you nothing at all. What a joke!

I'm near you in Chester county, I have had the same problems, sounds pretty typical for this area. For home scale fruit growing, I have had the best success with bagging my apples, peaches, and grapes. Ziplock bags for the tree fruits, paper bags for the grapes. Timing is everything, apples and peaches by May 25 and grapes about June 18 to exclude the usual insects and disease. I also spray the grapes a few times through May and June with an organic fungicide to keep the black rot under control. In my yard, blueberries, wineberries, elderberries and gooseberries are basically free from insects or disease and bear heavily with little effort.

I've been gardening for 5 years and know very little about gardening and fruit growing. Even less about doing it organically. I look for OMRI seal because that's the only way I can tell for sure if something is organic. I'd like to grow fruit without using too much chemicals. I'm not trying to get into a debate about what's organic and what's not. I simply don't know enough about the subject. Just trying to find out what other people do and then do research on it and see if it works for me.

Tim: the site gets about 5 hours of sun.

Sandy: what's the name of the fungicide you use? Do you bag the fruit to keep it away from the squirrels or do you do so because it keeps the disease away?

In your original comment you stated you don't see the point of going non organic when you are growing fruits for your family. The problem is you have been growing organically for five years and have not grown any fruit for your family. Poisons are poisons whether they are organic or not. It is much harder to grow many types of fruits organically.

The best option may be to grow only the fruits that lend themselves to organic gardening such as blueberries, wineberries, and gooseberries. It is difficult to grow peaches and grapes in areas with high humidity even if you use non organic methods. I use as little chemicals as I can but would rather use some chemicals and grown my own than to see 5 years of growing go to waste.

The gummy liquid coming out of the fruit is probably caused by worms, either plum curculio or oriental fruit moths. They can be controlled by spraying with surround kaolin clay. It is one of the organic products that seems to actually work. Others bag their fruit to keep the moths and beetles larva out of the fruit.

Who knew? Anyone who's grown fruit in the eastern US for any length of time, that's who. Weather conditions here are more supportive of all manner of diseases and pests than in the arid west, and since European colonization - with the importation of all the fruits most of us attempt to grow - and their pests - occurred 400 years ago, the pests/diseases have had plenty of time to become established and disseminated.

If you feel you must do organic, it can be done, but you'd better count on a lower level of productivity and a greater likelihood of 'less than perfect' fruit. I'd probably qualify as an 'organic' orchard... but in reality, I just don't have time (or inclination, any more) to fertilize or spray; if I did, I would, and would have not a second's concern about any 'chemical fertilizer or pesticide' I'd used. As it is, I just eat a lot of imperfect fruits... and have abandoned or removed ones that just can't produce without even a minimal level of care - or have replaced them with things like pears/persimmons/mulberrieis that do not require anything other than an occasional corrective snip with the pruners.

It doesn't HAVE to be hard.

"In CA we are very lucky I don't spray anything, organic or not."

That sums it up. I wouldn't even know what to spray or when to spray it on my fruit trees. I harvest/grow fruit and veg year round but do have to spray tomato plants with neem oil (spider mites) and once in a while BT on kale (cabbage moths).

If your plant spent one millisecond under an artificial light it's no longer organic this year. If you keep a non organic plant organic for a year it becomes organic.

fyi I'm sure what they put in tap water isn't organic either.

Organic is a scam, has no real meaning, so do what you have to do just be sure you know everything about what your using.

I regret asking. All I wanted to know was what other people use and is safe and effective.

Susu, you mustn't regret asking... how are you gonna learn, otherwise?

True 'organic' is tough to do - especially if you want 'perfect' fruits. If you don't mind misshapen, ugly stuff that you have to sometimes peel or eat around damaged spots... well, you're good to go.

But... in the eastern US - and particularly areas with warm humid summers and moderate winters... 'organic' is gonna be hard to pull off without a lot of work and some significant losses. But if you want to do it, give it a go; if I were a serious orchardist anymore, I would not. I'd be more inclined to try an IPM approach - I'm not totally eschewing all 'chemical' management tools at my disposal.

In the meantime, investigate things like Surround kaolin spray or bagging your fruit.

As a pretty new fruit gardener in southern CA this thread has been a real education for me- I did not know east coasters have it so hard! I guess it is a lesson that it's important to look for information that's specific to the region you're growing in.

You have probably already encountered this but just in case, since nobody else has mentioned it university extensions are supposed to have good understanding of what is effective for your local area. Here is what I found: PSU home fruit growing guide It seems to have some specific advice regarding pesticides and IPM.

The advice to find things that do well when left to their own devices in your climate is really the best advice you have received in this thread. For every commonly cultivated fruit that struggles in the northeast, there are two or three less common ones that do fine. Think wine berries, pawpaw, persimmon, mulberries, blueberries, huckleberries, blackberries, hardy kiwi, goumi, che, etc. In general, fruits native to that part of the country or to eastern Asia will do very well.

Susu, hang in there, and do what you think is best for you. I don't use any kinds of sprays, chemicals, fertilizers, etc. I don't get that much of a return in my garden, but I'm o.k. with that knowing that what I do get is way better than what most stores offer. This year, I grew some great, organic Anna apples, unfortunately the squirrels got them all. So next year, I will try some sort of netting.

Building on nmfruit's recommendation of 'less common' fruits that will likely do very well without the need for 'non-organic' inputs... don't for get about PEARS and serviceberries... and, I find that many early-season apples and edible crabs will produce pretty decent fruit without an awful lot of insect or disease damage.

Peaches and grapes... I gave up on them a LONG time ago...

"I regret asking. All I wanted to know was what other people use and is safe and effective."

Organic discussions tend to become scorched earth topics over time. Insults and rudeness are a major part of the playbook.

My approach is pretty simple, with the exceptions I noted earlier, if I can't grow something without spraying, then it isn't worth growing. Organic produce is affordable and available everywhere in my locale. As more and more people vote with their dollars, non-organic chemical laden foods will eventually be the exception.

Check your state or county agriculture dept. website for their suggested integrated pest management (IPM) info. Here in California we have a great IPM resource: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/crops-agriculture.html 

Everything is a chemical or made from chemicals. Even water is a chemical.

Cyanide is natural many of us grow it and don't know.

ricin is natural I'm about to start growing that just because I like the plant.

"chemicals" are not bad, you have to look into each one and decide. FYI using a grow light to start seeds isn't organic. Pooping on your plants is.

Household ammonia is organic along with other chemicals you wouldn't think are like almost all chemical fertilizers under certain circumstances.

i highly suggest you read omri so you know how silly the regulations are.

Organic is a terrible misnomer that will always be ripe for ignorant flaming from both sides of the issue. It all comes down to three areas:

1. Pesticides - legal maximum allowed, less, safer, or none

2. Fertilizer - synthetic or organic

3. Patent and royalties - encumbered or free (i.e. monsanto's terrible business practices and patenting life)

From the home gardener, it's really just #1 and #2. If the home gardener picks better suited crops/fruit, it really is just #2.

Many of things grown in the garden don't need pollinators:

http://www.hortmag.com/plants/fruits-veggies/vegetable-crops-that-do-not-need-pollinators