Apple spray question

Banjoman

Yearling... With promise
Looking for an insecticide that i can spray along with Captan & some sticker too.Since i only have a couple of trees and tight budget i am not going to buy 5lbs of Imidan.Waay more than i will ever need.Will malathion work as good?? Why or why not.Would there be a better choice that i can buy locally at Agway??Sevin(preblossom),pyrmethim,triazide??Went with Home orchard spray the last couple years(too weak).Also had a couple of frosts screw me up and never had a apple that i could eat yet!! Any advice would be appreciated! thanks
 
Try the bonide fruit tree spray. It's supposed to be a catch all for the home fruit tree guy
 
I used it the last 2 years but suspect i need something stronger.A couple of responses ive read on forums say it is like pissing into the wind with that stuff(too weak).I have a couple of huge old diseased wild trees within a 100ydsof my little orchard that are giving me problems.I wonder if you double or triple up on the dosage of the bonide if it would be better??? If it ever stops raining im gunna spray with a mix of Malathion/Captan with sticker.Really want some apple from my trees.If it doesnt produce this year im taking the fence down and ignoring them
 
don't double or triple bonide, use as label says or you can burn your trees.
 
What insect are you spraying for? When did you spray last year? Timing is as important. You don't need a sticker for captan.
 
Think i had plum cucurlio and some sort of Bot flies and i think some scab.Really wanted to spray the last couple of days but the rains stopped me>First thing tommorow im spraying with Malathion& captan with a little sticker. some of my trees are at pink bud stage and some are earlier.I plan on spraying religeously this season.weather permitting
 
Again...no need for sticker. Never used Malathion for PC, so I'm not sure of its effectiveness on them. Read the label.

When and how often did you spray last year? Why did you suspect Bonide was to weak? What did your apples themselves look like? How old are the trees?
 
Did not spray much more than a couple times in the last few years.Was busy with health problems(cancer).I have a couple of Macs, galas, that are 12-15 ft with bases as thick as my forearm.I also have one newly planted Keiffer pear and another apple planted cant remember the name.All box store semi dwarf.The few apples ive had on my trees never got much bigger than a ping pong ball and fell off.Brown spots marks and squiggly lines on the apples.Seen leaves also with brownish red spots and sometimes deformed lookin leaves.I have no cedars nearby. Have noticed small looking fly like bugs on my trees in summer.Maya ive spoken to you before over on the other forum,my name is Wardy.I have been off that site for a while and just came back and noticed a difference over there.found this site and have been getting good responses here.
thanks all
 
Rains finally stopped and i got to spray today.My trees are pink with a few blossoms opening.Hope the Captan and malathion does the trick.Probably wont get to spray again till petal fall.I noticed that my biggest tree has only a few blossoms(maybe 6 or so).My other trees are loaded.Not sure why
 
Oh, sorry to hear that. Hope all is well now!

Ok, that explains a lot. First off your main problem is scab. Captan will take care of it for the most part. However ther is way more to it than I have time to get into. Just do this. Don't put any malithion now, just the captan, than again at petal fall. and at 10 -14 day intervals through June. Scab spores are going to be released over a 6-7 week period starting a week or two ago for most of us. ( what state are you in) You also should apply Before rains as the trigger for the release of spores is rain!

You need to read the label on malithion, I really do not know if 1, it is going to take care of PC, and 2, if it is compatible with captan....! Some things can not be sprayed together, so please read the label.

The flies, I'm not sure what they were. Depending what rootstock you have the trees on, they may just be starting to fruit, and they won't have many the first 2-3 years. Macs and Gala are very susceptible to scab! How well trained are the branches?

Take and post some pics and feel free to pm me, we'll get you going right this year!
 
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Here in Vermont, you're not growing apples if you're not growing Macs! All the old timers won't eat anything else. I think somewhere around 50-60% of the state is planted in Macs. I'd grow 1 or two for pies if I were growing them for myself, but I think about 25% of my orchards are mac. People hear love them. I do sell more HC's though to younger people.

For deer apples I would not recommend as they have no resistance to scab.
 
Maya,i have one of my biggest macs that only has a few blossoms(6total).It has some branches with really poor crotch angles.since fruit doesnt seem to be coming can i take out a few more branches now?? i will take picture and post
 
No don't do it now, but poor training could be one of the problems. Also how have you pruned them and how old are they?
 
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