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dohertyc9

Spray & chore schedule for new backyard dwarf fruit trees?

dohertyc9
10 years ago

I need advice on when / what to spray for my fruit trees. I have a mix - apples, pears, peach, plum, cherry. They were bareroot whips last year, all I did was mulch last year, and they seem healthy so far. The peach had about four blossoms on it a week ago, that's it so far.

1. Is there a spray and chore program I could follow? I have Lewis Hill's "Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden" and I'm googling like crazy but feel like I need more hand-holding. Something more tree-specific and area-specific (I live in Chicago.) Is there a good online resource for these sprays?

2. Japanese beetles were a HUGE problem last year, they ate every leaf off my plum and cherry. I used some kinda organic potassium spray that killed on contact but couldn't keep up with them.

3. Last year late in the summer the pear trees developed mostly brown curled leaves - but not at all what I see if I google images of fireblight. No damage to branches. The leaves this year are gorgeous green. What should I do to prevent this again?

4. I did not use dormant spray yet. Is it too late? It's mid-May and there's plenty of foliage. Sometimes we're still dipping to 40 degrees at night.

5. If I'm not worrying about blossoms or fruit sets this year, should I even bother spraying this year?

This post was edited by dohertyc9 on Sat, May 18, 13 at 23:12

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