sap on tips of peach tree branches - Page 2

 

Those glands on the leaf bases are normal, and yes ants do feed from them.  Not
to
worry.

The branch tips have some insect pest inside.  Your third photo shows little
black
pellets in the exudate.  Those pellets are frass (fancy term for insect shit).
Cut off every tip that shows signs of trouble, back to just above the nearest
leaf
or bud, and seal the tips in a bag or container and send it off to the landfill.

As this is the exact variety you wanted, I would keep it.  Let this be a lesson
to
you not to buy plants from big box stores.

    Una

 

Ohioguy wrote:

I had this exact same thing in my nectarine tree a couple years ago. Once I
blocked the ants at the trunk base with some Tanglefoot, then a bunch of
ladybugs appeared and within weeks I had new growth without the new-shoot
dieback symptom. Now I always block the ants and each spring a large
population of ladybugs returns to the tree. Obviously they are feeding on
some kind of insect and I was finally able to see some very small critters
with a magnifying glass. Whatever they are, they are much smaller than any
aphids I've seen. Anyway, I'd suggest blocking the ants and see if some
beneficial predator bugs appear to clean up the pests.