Sorry if it would require registration. Anyway, here's the content of the first discussion:

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:53 pm Post subject: Fwd: Tea Tree Oil for Peach Curl?
Forwarded from email:

I was wondering if any one followed though with the testing of Tea Tree Oil, mixed into their late winter oil dormant spray again this year. I know that some of the Redwood Empire members tried it last year, but they said results was inconclusive, as it was not a wet spring last year.

Well this is the 3rd spring I have added 1/4 oz of Tea Tree Oil per gallon of mixed dormant oil spray at just barely pink stage or a little before. And again this season so far, no Peach Leaf Curl, and if any year could be called wet, it is this year.

Not sure how much I actually need to add, but started with the 1/4 oz to 1 gallon of mixed formula, and have not played around to see if less is as affective.

David Johnson

Chairman, San Joaquin Valley Chapter, CRFG
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USDA Zone 9b. Sunset Zone 17.
Berkeley, CA "Athens of the West"

spidra
Also forwarded from email:

To Julie Frink, chair OC Chapter

I sent out what I had discovered about using Tea Tree Oil before last spring and some tried it. Not sure if everyone who got the email this year got the message I sent to all Chapter Chairs last season, to see who in their chapters might want to give it a try. I tried it, wanting to find something better then more dangerous chemical sprays.

I use it on my body, it kills germs, fungus, bacteria and etc. It works so well, it was actually in Australian Military medical kits in WWII. I kill infections and fungus, and have even killed precancerous skin damaged spots on my skin, when added to aloe vera gel and applied daily or every time I shower.

I figured if it worked well for my body, why not plants. So I tried it 3 springs ago, and no Peach Leaf Curl. I have always had Leaf Curl on my peaches, especially the nectarines, no matter if it was as dry or wet spring, made no difference.

Not sure if it is actually just affecting external conditions, or actually penetrating and getting into the plants system. I use Jason Winters brand, as it seems really good and does not cost too much, it also seems to be somewhat finer then some. All of them seem to penetrate the skin very quickly, so maybe it penetrates the trees thin bark skin as well.

David
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douglasyo
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 2:35 pm Post subject: Dormant?

Should tee tree oil be used as a dormant spray only? I've got some curl that showed up and wonder if its too late to do anything about it. Also, what kind? It can be quite expensive in the health food stores.

PostPosted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:00 pm Post subject: Don't think it would have to be a winter dormant spray only

Not sure, but I see no reason why you cannot use the weaker formula for summer spraying and add the Tree Tea Oil to that. On most bottles of oil spray, they do usually list a summer formula with less oil, why wouldn't that work.

You could maybe just add the oil to the water and then some soap to dissolve it into the water, but the winter oil already has all of the components to do that, plus the oil should help it to soak in. Just some guesses, but why not. Not sure what other kinds of sprays you might be able to add it too. You could spray a limb first to test, in case it might cause buring, but should not.

Would not spray when it is going to be hot that day.

David
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Anther year of success with no peach leaf curl using Tea Tree Oil. I only had a few pea to dime size spots which never spread, I think I only found a 3 to 5 total.

This year I had no Fire Blight on my apples, not sure why, would be nice to think it was the Tea Tree Oil. We had a banner wet winter and spring, and I hear Fire Blight was worse then ever in Modesto, but I had not one sign of it. If it was the Tree Tea Oil, why did it not work last winter as well? If all of the rain did something to block the Fire Blight from happening here in Waterford, why didn't it do the same in Modesto and other locations.

I did have much more rusty scale stuff on my peaches and apricots though, but it is almost gone now as the fruits are growing and healing very rapidly.

David
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 6:58 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Handling Peach Leaf Curl naturally.

I add 1/4 to 1/2 ounces of Tea Tree oil to winter dormant oil spray, already mixed. I apply just before or just at the beginning of pink bud and normally it knocks the leaf curl 100%; I only get a few red bubbles here and there. On bad years, with more humidity, leaf curl might affect nectarines anyway, but not as bad, as they are more prone to leaf curl.

I used to use 1/4 ounce per gallon of winter spray, for dryer springs, but wetter springs need 1/2 ounce per gallon of winter oil spray to be totally effective. It is a bit expensive, the Tea Tree Oil that is, but probably no more then the chemical alternative and it is safe, that give me a peace of mind.

David
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:15 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post

David,

Where do you get tea tree oil?

This year, it was really dry. I did not spray anything on my peaches and nectarines. Out of several hundred thousand leaves, I've only got less than ten that showed some infection. All of my peach trees suffered one breakage or another due to oversized fruits. I have been thinning aggressively, but went on 2 months vacation and when I came back, each tree has a breakage.

I would call it truly fantastic fruit sets on all stone fruits this year.

Joe

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:58 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Joe

You can find it at Health food stores or stores with Healthy food departments; now you can find it even in some pharmacies and etc in their cosmetic department.

I have preferred to use Tea Tea Oil by Jason's, a health food cosmetic company. Though am sure there are other brands which might do as good. I can sense such things and how well they will work in my own body and the bodies of other individuals. We do fine a much more expensive line of essential oils from Young Living, but that is good expensive and good for plant needs. Essential oils are processed in different ways, often the cheaper the oils are, the more chemically and unnaturally they are processed, where as the more expensive they, the more natural and viable they are. Jason's I guess is of good quality, but not too expensive. I used to buy it a Raley's, but now buy it at at Vitamin Shoppe online, or now they have a Vitamin Shoppe in Modesto CA, so their are a few stores in CA, in larger cities; their vitamins run 25 % or less in price then local health-food stores.

I have tried other Tea Tree oils from Health Food stores, but have settled on Jason's, I guess it is good quality, compared to many, and not too expensive and easy to obtain.

Sorry, when you ask me a question, I feel the need to tell you why and what for, I guess it is my nature to share and teach.

Interesting you considered it dry this spring and summer, on a year like this year, my trees would of been devastated by Peach Leaf Curl.

Last year was really bad, Peaches were ok, using the spray, but nectarines had a partial bad attach, but quickly recovered. Peaches only had a few pea size bubbles here and there.

Yes, a very good year for stone fruits, my trees had more fruit then I have ever seen, pollinating time was ideal, nice sunny weather and no rain most of the time.

Like you I kept thinning and thinning and still had too much fruit for the limbs to handle well. What got me was the last blooms. I thinned the peaches when the fruits were a bit smaller then golf balls and noticed a lot more the size of peas. Usually the smaller ones all drop off, when the large fruit is present, but apparently it didn't happen. I had to thin thin clear into June and early July on some varieties.

I thought I had my plum/pluot tree well thinned too and I was wrong here too. Massive amount of small fruits that didn't get sized up as it usually does, but the fruits were not much smaller then store size. I usually just thin a bit more and produce larger and less fruits.

I did notice that my plums and pluots were not quite as tasty as they usually are.

My early Granada Pomegranates are late this season, compared to the past, but that could be maybe because of the amount of fruit, not sure. I planted a Wonderful and its sibling Granada in one hole and as one plant, only a few years ago, so this is the first real decent size crop, with the tree being around 10 plus feet tall; I prune off the fast sucker growth from the top, so it stays more balanced and rounded, but let it grow taller. I am sure in following seasons the fruit may be larger and even more plentiful as the root systems gets larger.

I have not gotten a lot of fruit the last couple years, as it was young, but I have been eating the Granada's starting before now, more like the first of Sept. They are ripening, I tried one the other day, edible, but still lacking in prime sweetness and flavor; cool nights and especially frosty nights help to force flavor and sweetness.

When I was a kid growing up here in the Valley, we got cooler weather before now many times and always had killing frost to beans and squash and etc before Halloween. We pretty much years ago, could expect a pumpkin killing freeze a month to a couple weeks before Halloween, that was back in the 50s, 60s and early 70s.

David
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Living in Waterford CA, east side of Central Valley CA, USDA zone9b, on edge of Sunset Garden Book zone 14. Surviving, but wishing I was in a warmer zone. Love to experiment and push the limit on plants.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post
David,

Thanks for the info on Tea Tree Oil. i ordered mine from eBay. Will try it out this season. Will try to apply copper during the leaf fall, maybe lime sulfur during the dead winter, and Tea Tree oil during pink stage.

i just came back from my Canada trip and they have problem with the rains. The trick for them to have their plums and peaches set fruit is to drape over a breathable row cover during bloom to channel away the incessant rains. I will try to do that this year in case we have a very wet year.

I still have my Last Chance Peach loaded, and they should ripen very well towards the end of the month.

Joe

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:40 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Joe

I guess the row cloth might help, if you had bees under the row cloth to pollinate the blooms. If you go down near the ground with it, the bees will most likely not find their way in. The row cloth could help warm up the blooms, so the blooms could be pollinated, if the bees were around. Blooms will not pollinate below certain temps, but you may already know that. When it is cool and rainy, the trees will hold blooms longer.

I know I want to add polycarbonate extensions to my house, where I have like guavas. They need more winter protection and when they have really ripe fruits in fall, the rains make them split, even if the ground does not really get wet. I guess like Cherries, the rain on the fruit causes them to swell and split.

David
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Interesting....

I was actually planning on trying out mixing Neem oil with my dormant spraying this winter (prob in Feb).

Joe, have you tried it (neem) already?

~Chills

Chills,

Neem doesn't work against PLC and other diseases. It works minimally on aphids though. What works the best for aphids is a jet spray of water from the hose. Of course i do it during the hot dry months so the extra water doesn't encourage other diseases.

Chills:

Having heard of the miraculous properties of neem oil, I bought a gallon of pure, cold pressed neem about 10 years ago, and used it as a cover spray (with a surfactant) in the entire orchard for a complete growing season. It was pretty expensive, and I still have about 1/4 gallon left. The pure oil tends to congeal in cooler weather, so I always used warm water when mixing it.

As far as I could tell, its effect on the insects and fungal diseases that are troublesome in the orchard was zero. However, it left quite a smell on the trees, and destroyed the rubber parts of my sprayer. So much for that experiment. I would expect it to be even less effective (minus zero) when used as a dormant spray. For dormant spraying, I use a regular paraffin based oil, combined with the copper compound Kocide. That does work for me.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Kocide worked partially for me. It has zero effect on PLC when it was humid and drizzly almost the entire winter of 2004-2005. Kocide is not organically approve here, AFAIK, and is a lot more hazardous than copper sulfate. I can lick the tree sprayed with copper sulfate but not Kocide.

Here's the safety issues you need to be aware when applying Kocide. This is the same issue also with using Lime Sulfur, but not so for Tea Tree Oil and Copper sulfate. It seems like you have to dress up with clumsily Star-Trooper or Darth Vader attire when applying Kocide:

Swallowed : Slightly toxic by oral exposure. Acute oral LD50 = 1346 mg/kg. This material may produce toxicity if ingested in large quantities. Symptoms of over-exposure to copper salts may include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and central nervous system depression, which if severe enough, may lead to death.

Eye : Dusts or powdered granules will cause severe irritation with possible reversible corneal opacification.

Skin Irritation : Non-irritant. Excessive exposure, especially if prolonged, may produce skin irritation, itching and eczema and on rare occasions asensitising reaction. Repeated exposure may cause allergic contact dermatitis.

Skin Absorption : Low dermal toxicity. Acute dermal LD50 > 5000 mg/kg.

Inhaled : Slightly toxic by inhalation. Excessive exposure may cause cough,
mucous production, shortness of breath, reflecting metal fume fever.
May cause irritation of the mucous membranes. Acute inhalation of dust or powdered granules LC50 = 1.311mg/L (rat 4 hour).

Chronic : Low chronic toxicity unless excessive exposure is encountered. Excessive exposure to copper by inhalation may result in irritation of the upper respiratory tract which, if severe, may lead to perforation of the nasal septum after long periods of exposure. Repeated ingestion of copper salts may result in anemia, liver, and kidney damage. Chronic inhalation exposure may cause a metallic taste in the mouth, irritation of the upper respiratory tract such as the nasal mucosa that may progress to perforation of the nasal septum. Chronic cough may also occur.

Special Health Effects : Copper-intolerant individuals should not be exposed to this material. No additional information is available on whether over-exposure to this material would aggravate other existing special medical conditions.

Kocide has a product that is registered organic in California. Kocide is actually a fairly safe product if used properly and label directions are followed.

Which formulation of Kocide was registered? Mine doesn't state it anywhere in the label.

the powder is truly eye irritant, even the spray drifts. I have neighbors and this can be a big issue, organic or not.

I am still skeptical about the Tea Tree Oil, so that's why the test first and the continued hunt for controls that don't bother the neighbors and my health. The Tea Tree Oil is healthy for humans and you can apply it on your trees with all your skins exposed (aka, naked).

Kocide 3000 is on the OMRI list for Organic growing.

Thanks, will try to look for it next time!

Hi Joereal,
Here in Australia we are very familiar with tee tree oil but have never thought about using it as a treatment for Leaf Curl. This year I was away from home at the end of winter so my Multi grafted fruit tree didnt get sprayed for Leaf Curl. Now it looks simply awful, leaf curl on the peach and nectarine grafts. Is it too late to treat for leaf curl? We are in spring now. Can you tell me how to apply the tee tree oil; I dont exactly understand what you mix it with.