Apple tree spraying

4wanderingeyes

5 year old buck +
My trees are mostly wildlife trees, but I eat some from time to time, and I love apple pie, and apple crisp, so now that I am moving to my hunting land, I am hoping my wife can take advantage of some of the trees we planted here, and turn them into yummy treats.

Anyhow, I have never sprayed any of my trees with anything as of yet, and I dont know what to spray them with, and when. I know there is pesticides, and fungicides, and combo stuff. I am not looking to make this a full time program of spraying every couple weeks, but is there a time, and spray that is more beneficial then any other? My trees are just breaking small green leaves now. I dont know any diseases, and what they look like. But so far I havent had much issues with them. I know a couple of the trees, some of the apples will get some light brown rash on the apples. And last year, one of the trees had some blackish stuff on some of the branches, but the blackish stuff was gone later in the year. Most of the trees are 5-8 years old, and most have either been producing for several years, or at least have produces some the last couple years.

I havent seen much for insects on them, not much for asian beetles. One year there were a big batch of caterpillars in a silky cocoon, but I sprayed them and never seen any back since.

I am just looking for some suggestions if you were to spray 2 times a year, what would you spray them with, and when?
 
Doesn't sound like you need to spray. What exactly did the light brown rash look like?
 
After looking at pictures online, it looks like apple scab, probably. I will pay closer attention to it this year, but should I spray something on them to prevent it, if that were it?
 
If I was only going to spray twice a year it would be once just before the blooms open with Imidan and once just after blossoms fall with the same. Plum circulio is what damages my apples most here in Mid-Michigan and that is when they strike. Japanese Beatles (especially if you have sandy soil) do a number in late June-July to the leaves, and a little to the fruit. Hope you don't get a bad infestation of apple maggot because they can ruin 80% of the harvest. But if you're just hoping to get some apples for eating the two sprays in late Spring should do you.
 
You can prevent scab with baking soda, I believe. I can Google it later after work.
 
Baking soda doesn't prevent scab, it kills the scab fungus that is currently present. Unfortunately, like other fungicides, it will kill the good fungus in your soil as well as the bad fungus on your leaves. The same is true of insecticides as well, they kill the good along with the bad.

In my opinion, the first step is to figure out what's damaging your trees and fruit, then make your tree healthy enough to fight it on it's own. It does sound like what you're dealing with is apple scab. The scab fungus feeds on the amino acid arginine. Most scab resistant trees use cobalt to process arginine into a complete protein, leaving none left in your leaves to feed scab, and the fungus starves. Scab susceptible varieties are usually inefficient at up-taking cobalt from the soil, cannot process the arginine they have, leaving a buffet in their leaves for the scab fungus.

So I purchased a 1 gallon jug of Rebound Cobalt from Advancing Eco Ag, https://www.advancingecoag.com/store/Rebound™-Cobalt-c20204166. I spray it just after petal fall, and again later if I see any evidence of scab beginning.

If you look through their YouTube channel, you can find the video discussing how they helped an orchard completely get rid of scab on their Gala apples.
 
If only they made a spray to prevent this damage. Because these take out a couple trees a year.
A34FE3AB-71C5-4654-92A2-64992F390F9F.png
 
They make spray for those pests, too.
But you're supposed to get reeeally close for it to be effective.
I prefer lead poisoning. This one got into my brother's old bee hives next door.

1620713837468.png
 
They kinda are dinks! Like why snap off an Apple tree in May?
 
Maybe the bears are looking for apples. Every day deer can be seen visiting the Turning Point apple tree even now when the last late hanging apples are long gone. We are surmising that since it had apples all winter that it is fresh on their mind and they keep checking it everyday. Maybe the bears are doing the same thing; when they small an apple tree assuming it has a unique odor they expect to maybe get apples there. They may have no clue that apple trees don't have apples until it matures nor that the trees have apples only during their apple season.
 
Well if they keep it up, there wont be any apple trees for them to break off. So far I have played their game, but soon I will be playing dirty if they dont smarten up.
 
Top