Greetings, we hope all is well with you and your family.
We wanted to give you a heads up to be prepared to defoliate your peach trees either in the last week of November or the first week of December. A common peach tree defoliation method uses a tank mixed spray of Zinc sulfate with a concentration of up to 15 percent (15lb of Zinc sulfate per 100gal of water).
Using a zinc spray will also help correct a common issue of zinc deficiency in peach trees growing in sandier soils. Using an air blast sprayer is a very effective delivery system, especially for larger orchards. On a small scale of just a few trees in a backyard, defoliation by hand would also be very effective.
For more information about peach production in FL, you can visit the following links:
https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/stonefruit/
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_a-sarkhosha
Please let us know if you need any further information. Let’s hope for a great season for Florida peaches!
Operation Peaches in Florida 