It's spring, and you start noticing a clear, gummy ooze coming from your newly formed peaches. The likely cause of this is peach fruit gummosis. Gummosis appears on fruit surface following feeding from several insects, such as the tarnished plant bug or stink bugs. You might also see that the flesh beneath the ooze is slightly sunken in and has a dark discoloration. If this occurs on ripe fruit, you can simply cut off the ooze and the affected tissue. Gummosis does not affect the edibility of a peach.

However, an infestation of these insects can also lead to other problems, like early fruit drop, fruit distortion, and catfacing damage. Both insects are attracted to blooms of winter annual weeds, so one of the best things you can do is to control the weeds. You can also scout for these critters in early spring before the pink flower buds open to full bloom or try encouraging natural predators, like crab spiders. Treat with insecticides as needed for large infestations, and continue to scout for these and other insects throughout the season.