Is it a wet year for you?
My McIntosh are cracking, which is one problem I see on yours. Bug bites and/or scab is also cracking which is another problem. And I can't tell if it's the same as your first picture but I have a similar disease on a lot of my apples.

It's not a good year for apples here. There are plenty of them and they're sizing up nice but disease is being a major issue. McIntosh earned its nickname, ScabIntosh.

Those products will help but I wouldn't expect perfection.

Those apples are perfectly fine for sauce and cider.

ksfarm girl,

Regarding safety, you've asked a question that really no one can answer but yourself. Whether or not synthetic chemicals are safe is an ongoing debate on practically any fruit/gardening forum in existence. On these forums it boils down to a belief system, or philosophy, more than anything else. Things like - do you trust the EPA's current safety guidelines regarding pesticides, or what level of risk do you take in different areas of your life (and everything has risk - even eating at a restaurant) are factors people generally answer philosophically.

My personal standpoint is that I trust the EPA (even though there have been mistakes in the past). Testing and technology have improved significantly, so I have no problem using a pesticide as labeled.

The same scientific methodology that says it's safe for the public to eat a given amount of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables is the same that says it's safe to coat your children with the pesticide Deet (for mosquitoes), which is the same that says it's safe to enter a sprayed area after the re-entry interval (I think the re-entry interval for Triazicide is 12 hrs., but check the label.)

I'm sorry this isn't much help, but it's a question you'll have to answer yourself.

Well, I'll vouch for those products. I found out about the Once and Done last year, and picked up Immunox this year due to discussions on this forum and added them to my spray program.

I've got the cleanest, most awesome looking apples, pears, peaches, and quinces this year.

I still used Imidan early on for plum curculio, and I think that's a MUST in my region.

Once and Done should also work well for PC if you get tired of mixing that terrible powder. My concern with it is its alleged affect on beneficials but no one on this site has mentioned any problems from their experience.

I've seen Sevin and even Mancozeb apparently cause mite outbreaks so when Cornell actually rejects the use of pyrethoids in commercial production (because it damages beneficials) it does concern me as they don't reject the use of the afore mentioned compounds.

Myk1: I'd say it was an average year. Most the rains kind of got dumped on us in a couple of days though. They weren't spaced out evenly.

We also have plenty of nice-sized apples, but too many worms/bugs for many of them to have been worth saving.

Re safety: I just want something that isn't going to make anyone sick. My cat is pretty much constantly underfoot, as is the toddler, so I want something I don't have to worry about unless they were to...I dunno...try and drink out of the jug or something. Obviously they wouldn't do that, but I don't want anything that even a minimum exposure would hurt them.

I'm no expert about diseases and sprays but for bugs you could bag some of the apples. There have been some good threads on this site about bagging apples and the success it brings. Sanitation around your tree (cleaning up leaves and fallen fruit) may help but that all depends on what else is growing around your neighborhood and various other factors. In any case - good luck for next year!

~Cindy

The cat will be fine. I spray a similar product and this season some robins nested in one of the trees. I sprayed that tree same as the others and it didn't seem to phase the birds, despite getting direct sprays. Birds are generally more sensitive to pesticides than mammals.

Regarding your toddler, that's definitely something you'll have to decide for yourself. I can only offer that as a class pyrethroids (Triazicide is a pyrethroid) are considered one of the safer insecticides. They are commonly used in homes for insect control as a liquid spray (Bifenthrin) or in home foggers (permethrin, cypermethrin, etc.)

Regardless of the pesticide, you'll want to keep your toddler out of the area until the re-entry interval has lapsed.

And I agree that bagging has worked well for many on this forum. You may want to take a serious look at that.

Bagging is impractical and time consuming. I bagged about 2 dozens of Figs to protect them from the wasps and squirrels who were adamant to eat them. GOD knows how long it took me to do it. But any one tell a timely reasonable manner to bag bears on 60 foot tree. This tree produces almost 100 bushels of bears. How can I do that?
I use Triazicide and Sevin. My trees are a good 50 feet away from the house and no children are allowed in the tree area. As for cats I don't think this stuff is dangerous for cats. Evidence: I spray and lots of rabbits run in the area. They are very healthy and their numbers are multiplying. Evidence: they snack on my vegetables all day.
I am really amazed that we are worried about sprays which were tested and proved reasonably harmless if the label is followed. In the mean time we go to the Grocery store, buy and eat vegetables and fruit produced in Mexico. Mexico does not have environmental laws to even mention compared to us. Only GOD knows what do they spray on their Fruits and vegetables.

I meant that the Children are not allowed in the tree area.

Olpea, are you using triazide? Imidan probably doesn't kill the birds but they abandon their nests in sprayed trees for sure. I'm glad that there are never hatched birds at spray time here.

Hman,

I don't use Triazicide, but use Mustang Max (Zeta Cypermethrin) as a pyrethroid. Obviously homeowners don't have access to Mustang Max, so I recommend something they have access to.

Regular homeowner permethrin has the funky label that it can't be used after petal fall on apples. Triazicide doesn't have that restriction, so I recommend that.

I remember you mentioning before, birds will abandon their nests in the face of Imidan, but the same doesn't appear to be true for Mustang Max. I showed no mercy when spraying the tree with birds. And they seemed to be fat, dumb and happy every time I sprayed. Organophosphates are generally more toxic to birds than pyrethroids. That's my guess why they abandon their nests w/ Imidan.

Foolishpleasure,

I won't doubt the difficulty in bagging bears. It must be especially troublesome in a 60 ft. tree. I can't imagine how you get the bags over their nose.