The primary fungicide ingredient in the Bonide spray is Captan. You can use Captan alone or switch to a more updated produce like Immunox.

Immunox is rated for peach fruit rots but not for apples.

It was my plan on peaches to alternate cover sprays between the Bonide and the Immunox so I am covered there.

I know I could will use Captan but I sure like the convenience of a pesticide mixed in.

What pesticide are you mixing with the Captan after petal fall?

Here is a link that might be useful: Georgia Home Orchard

I'm not sure what apple rots you're referring to. Someone more familiar with your region may advise. Here, the primary apple disease problems are scab and CAR, and Immunox is recommended.

Hi Randy-

Immunox is certainly rated for apples, and I consider it my number 1 weapon of choice for apples here at my home orchard.

I've posted the text below many times in the past. (Hopefully others will forgive me for being repetitive). When starting out, I lost a good amount of time and money do to that stuff (to the detriment of my trees) and I hate to see other people fall for it like I did.
Best regards,
-Glenn

Many people on this forum (and I can now add myself to this list) are not big fans of Bonide Fruit tree spray (and other manufacture's all-in-one fruit tree sprays). The reasons are:

1.) The quantity of some of the ingredients is often insufficient to actually accomplish the task. Take for example the quantity of Captan in there. Many people here have argued that it is not nearly the strength required to be effective. Compare the quantity in there with that on the plain Captan container.

2.) In the all-in-one spray, you are often spraying chemicals that you do not need, for pests and diseases you do not have.

3.) The all-in-one says it controls things that it does not. It says it controls Cedar Apple Rust, but with it's only active fungicide being Captan, it can not, as Captan does not control CAR.

What's the alternative you ask? Identify your pest and your diseases and treat them individually. If you know those, let people know what they are. In some cases, you can even use things that are considered organic (Copper is often considered organic) to fight a very nasty diseases. Bagging your apples is another option to protect your fruit from insects. Finally, if all that fails, there are the effective sprays, but they're not the Bonide (or other mfgr) combined fruit tree sprays.
-Glenn

Suppressing fruit rots are not the strength of myclobutanyl (Immunox) not even for peaches. For brown rot on stone fruit, Moneterey Fungus Fighter is much better and so is Captan, although it washes off in rain, unlike MFF. Captan is probably your best ticket for apple rots, although you may be able to find a fungicide with Mancozeb in it which supposedly works better.

Your success with Bonide is not usually obtained by most reports on this forum and elsewhere. Maybe you are really soaking your trees with it to get your results or mixing hot batches that exceed the label. The ingredients are too dilute to get reliable control in many situations.

For an insecticide your best bet is probably Triazide by Ortho ("Once and Done").

It takes more time to make a custom mix but it is generally more affective and in the long term you are better off tayloring you mix to the specific needs of the moment. Excessive spraying can lead to unwanted consequences over time.

Can Triazide be mixed with the Captan if needed?

As soon as I run out of the Bonide, I will switch to the custom batch as you suggest.

No I don't make a hot mix on the Bonide FTS and I go 14 days between sprays. I follow the labels and try to measure carefully.

It could be the lack of rain in the last couple of years has helped it last longer.

Randy

Combination fungicide/insecticide sprays are being discouraged as a lot of unnecessary insecticide is killing off the beneficial insect predators that help control the damaging pests. It is better to identify the target and use the right weapon for control, at the right time. Al

I believe Captan and Triazide are compatible- I'm always reluctant to act too certain about such issues but the only common problem with Captan is it isn't safe with oil.

Michigan lists Captan is compatible with pyrethroids in the wettable powder form only. I assume the caution against using captan with emulsifiable concentrates is that the oil base in the emulsifiable concentrates could potentially be phytotoxic with captan, but that's just speculation on my part.

That said, I've used Captan with the pyrethroid Mustang Max (Emulisifiable concentrate) for several years and not seen any issues with phytotoxicity, so I wouldn't be afraid to tank mix Triazicide with Captan.

"I have had really good luck with Bonide's Fruit Tree Spray. Might be the difference in the weather."

Randy,

I agree w/ Hman your success with Bonide is probably not due to any inherent potency of the ingredients. In most general fruit sprays, the insecticide component is carbaryl. While carbaryl is effective against a wide range of insect pests, it has a very short half life on the fruit only giving you control for about 3 days. Pyrethroids like Triazicide are also effective against a wide range of pests and have lethal residues on the fruit for 7 days or more (assuming no rain) based on university trials.

Carbaryl is generally considered too weak for commercial use although it is used occasionally because of it's short pre-harvest interval.

Malathion is the other insecticide sometimes used in general purpose sprays. It also has a very short half-life and is generally not even as effective as carbaryl.

Interestingly, both malathion and carbaryl are older technologies and while they break down very rapidly, are considered more risky to applicators (verses something like Traizicide). Although I use it, Captan would also fall in that category (older more risky).

Of course, carbaryl is still widely used as part of apple thinning regimens by commercial apple growers.

In a home orchard setting I find that Sevin, (carbaryl) is fairly affective in a 7-day cycle. The pyrethroids such as Triazide can be used in a 10 to 14 day. Commercial orchards are under more pressure both from the insects themselves and the need for pristine fruit.

I forgot that Triazide came as an EC. You can whip up a very small batch and test a branch with Captan mixed with it. Any phytotoxic consequence should be evident in a few days.

Thanks you both for the good advice. When I finish up with my Bonide FTS, I will switch over.

I noticed Virginia Tech suggest for the home orchard going with this for the second cover after petal fall.
1.0 tbsp Immunox 1.55%EC
plus
2.0 tbsp Captan 50W
plus
2.5 fl oz M-Pede