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Sat, Sep 20, 14 at 17:59
| What do I spray & when? I have Honeycrisp, Macintosh & Golden Delicious apple trees & Montmorency cherry tree so far. Will probably be adding either plum or pear soon. Not sure if it's an appropriate time to plant (our nursery has everything at 50% off now so I'm quite tempted) or wait till spring. My Reliance Peach tree didn't make it in our rough season. I think we mightve had frost after we planted it in late spring. We normally have late frosts & still have snow in April. Right now my apple trees are diseased with apple scab so I'd love to prevent that next season. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by Ferroplasm 7b (My Page) on Sat, Sep 20, 14 at 21:16
| See page 27 of the pdf I'm linking. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Managing Pests in Home Fruit Plantings
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- Posted by Ferroplasm 7b (My Page) on Sat, Sep 20, 14 at 21:18
| Here's a guide that is exclusively for organic management. |
Here is a link that might be useful: DISEASE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR ORGANIC APPLE PRODUCTION
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- Posted by Orchard_Clueless 5 (My Page) on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 11:27
| Thank you so much! That's exactly the info I needed. That pdf has other very useful info like about pruning, & certain terms I was clueless about like bud swell, bud break, etc and has pics. And has schedules of not just apples but others also. Not quite sure if the schedule is organic sprays or not though (I'm new to all this). |
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 11:27
| Orchard...if you are dead-set on an organic approach, definitely include sulfur as your fungicide. Other organic stuff is available and to be honest I've not used any of them, but I am very doubtful that any will perform adequately. Sulfur works very, very well. I spray anything and a lot of it and I still like sulfur very much and include it in just about every spray mix. It is easily the cheapest option, mixes so easily (in fact, no agitation is really needed), never clogs the sprayer, never leaves tank residue, and lasts through some rain. For some time it was the only fungicide I ever used. New disease pressure forced me to look at and use other things and while they are more effective for some diseases sulfur remains a very effective and cost efficient broad spectrum fungicide. It is THE most effective fungicide for powdery mildew and is also effective for CAR and scab. This is primarily apples, but I spray everything with it. Myclobutanil did dramatically improve the quality of my peaches though. |
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- Posted by Orchard_Clueless 5 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 12:05
| To be honest, I'm not quite sure if I'd be able to prevent fungus diseases organically in my area. I'm in a woody area and my little orchard is right by the woods & it would probably be very difficult to prevent diseases here. I really wanted not to spray chemicals since I have little kids (& make my own baby food). I'm wondering maybe I should attempt to grow them organically for a year & if it doesn't work, maybe switch... Not sure what to do. Is there a specific time of year you spray the sulfur or it won't cause harm? Also does it matter what brand of sulfur I use? I've also heard good things about Neem oil. Anyone try it? |
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- Posted by Appleseed70 6 MD (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 14 at 17:34
| Neem oil is an insecticide and I don't believe has any fungicidal properties. It is also quite expensive. I have never used it, and have no doubt is has some efficacy, but I suspect it isn't all that much. I would guess neem oil is rather effective at controlling mites, scale etc, but so is sulfur...it has the unique benefit of being a miticide as well as a fungicide. I very much doubt neem oil will do much for plum curculio...even most OTC insecticides are marginal at best in this regard. Orchard...the varieties you have growing are not very conducive to organic growing, save for the Montmorency. IMO, if organic growing was my aim I'd have chosen all DR varieties, but that's just me...others may disagree. I spray synthetics and even then all things being equal, I'll choose a DR variety any day...in fact, I'm willing to compromise on some things for DR. As far as brands go...no it doesn't matter. The only real issue with Sulfur is applying in temps over 80 degrees F, injury can result, but this is overblown as I've applied it many times in temps nearing 100 F with no issues. Also, there are a few apple varieties that supposedly can be injured by sulfur, but they are not the ones you have...I think Jonathan may be one of them. Concord grapes is listed too, but I've sprayed mine a million times with it and have seen no damage whatsoever. You can spray it anytime, but refer to the links others have provided for proper timing for maximum effectiveness. I'm fairly sure all organic spray programs will likely include or at least mention sulfur. Copper is another good option for fungicidal control and I've used it, but it's a bit less user friendly than sulfur, though more effective for some things. I wouldn't have the slightest recommendation for organic insecticides. Any of them that work at all usually have the same environmental issues as synthetics. You may already know this, but in case you don't: just because something is said to be "natural", does not mean it's safe. Arsenic is a naturally occurring compound, as is lead, cadmium and a whole host of dangerous stuff. |
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| Yes use sulfur it is essential for us too! So ingesting any is actually a good thing! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Sulfur: What is it and Who needs it?
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