Fruit spray help

[Jordan Selsor]

Hey guys
I have a bumper crop on many of my apples, pears, peaches and plums this year. Much of my fruit is getting annihilated by bugs. I'm not interested in doing a full spray regimen but I would like to selectively spray some fruit to get a nice representation of different varieties. Would neem oil be my best option to spray clusters of fruit that appear to be in good shape? I prefer to keep it organic in nature. Or am I to late for this season and just hope for a good clean apple here an there etc... Pears look much better at this point.

I appreciate some direction with this gents

Jordan

 

[SwampCat]

I have not used organic sprays that have been effective on peaches or plums. Maybe on apples?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Hey guys
I have a bumper crop on many of my apples, pears, peaches and plums this year. Much of my fruit is getting annihilated by bugs. I'm not interested in doing a full spray regimen but I would like to selectively spray some fruit to get a nice representation of different varieties. Would neem oil be my best option to spray clusters of fruit that appear to be in good shape? I prefer to keep it organic in nature. Or am I to late for this season and just hope for a good clean apple here an there etc... Pears look much better at this point.

I appreciate some direction with this gents

Jordan

I think kaolin clay is used by orchards to keep fruit edible. It puts a thin film of clay (dry powder, I believe) to deter bugs from wanting to chew into fruit. I don't know the trade names of products that are basically kaolin clay-based. I've read it's used by commercial orchards because it's non-toxic. Kaolin clay is what's in Kaopectate you take for the trots. Try looking up kaolin clay sprays. Hope this helps.

 

[goatman]

Glad you brought this up Jordan. Was just thinking the same thing. Only I don't care if it's organic or not. Just wanting to see some fruit this fall without damage. Not only for insects but is there a general spray that should be done for golf ball size fruit?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide

ag.purdue.edu

Jordan and all others. This is a great publication and for the money it is a steal. Carbaryl (formerly knows as "Seven") is typically the go to when I feel the need. It is not organic. You do need to be careful though as it can thin apples if sprayed to early.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide

ag.purdue.edu

Jordan and all others. This is a great publication and for the money it is a steal. Carbaryl (formerly knows as "Seven") is typically the go to when I feel the need. It is not organic. You do need to be careful though as it can thin apples if sprayed to early.

Thanks Chris
I was hoping you would respond!

 

[SwampCat]

The old Bonide fruit tree spray worked great for me - but they changed the formulation and I have not has as good of luck with them. I am in SW AR and we deal with hot humid weather and a fungicide in addition to a pesticide is a must. Right now I am spraying a combination of malathion, spectricide immunox, and captan. I have thought about cutting out the immunox next year - but my first picking of peaches was the cleanest peaches I have ever grown. I tried to grow peaches for years with no spray and never - ever - produced a single mature peach. He first year I started to spray it was like magic

Apples are not as difficult as stone fruits - but down here - they still have their problems in the heat, humidity, and rain. Brown rot will take out every apple you have some years. I own 400 acres along with a lease. I plant food plots for doves, ducks, deer, and turkeys. I have open fields to maintain and miles of trails. Water level maintenance - and more. I spend more time in my orchard than maybe all the rest of that combined. Mowing, pruning, predator control, watering, fencing, etc - after all that work - an hour spraying every two or three weeks seems like a pretty small chore to insure clean fruit.

 

[Barndog56]

I like how you spray it with 3 different poisons every couple of weeks, but then call it 'clean fruit'.

Jordan, the link TC gave you lists all possible sprays for everything that goes wrong. Your first goal should be to determine what insects and diseases your trees actually battle, and then address those. You don't want to use things that aren't needed.

In my opinion you then should weigh the good that comes from those sprays against the damage they do. For instance, I could spray a fungicide to battle apple scab, but how much of the good fungus in my soil is that going to kill? Why not fertilize my tree with cobalt to prevent scab instead?

Or why spray for sooty blotch and fly speck when it washes off the apple, or gets removed when my wife peels them to make applesauce or pies?

Should I spray for coddling months if they only damage 25% of my harvest, when that same spray will kill countless numbers of beneficial insects that I've attracted with my wildflower patch?

How did my parents get away with completely ignoring the couple of apple trees in our yard, but still get tons of apples every year?? Wish those trees were still there to get scions from!