A friend of mine wanted to plant 12-15 trees ( disease resistant variety ) he said. Of course they still get diseases as we know. They would be strictly for wildlife purpose only. I have about 45 trees and I told him if he was going to purchase some then he should spray them every so often throughout the season. I told him roughly about 12x a year. He went on to say I’m nuts and they will just be for deer. I planted my trees 6 years ago and still got the cages up. My question is, have anyone ever just planted, cage and never done anything else and the tree goes on to be a good producer say around year 7? I use the basic Imidan, Captan mix that’s on the site and always worked well. I just hate for my friend to purchase the trees if he is going to neglect them and they won’t turn out to be much. Maybe I’m wrong by telling him this. What are people’s experiences?
Spraying vs not spraying
- Thread starter BobinCt
- Start date
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I've never sprayed a tree. So far so good.
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J B
5 year old buck +
Same here. I’ve yet to spray anything besides maybe some roundup around the bases on a bunch of 1-10 year old trees. I’ve been happy with the production the last few years. I’ve thought about dormant oil a couple times, but always get too busy with other projects. Prune to a central leader, keep competition at bay and let them go.
Prof.Kent
5 year old buck +
Insecticide sprays are mostly for good fruit for us humans. As long as his trees aren't hit bad by CAR or fireblight or tent worms they'll usually survive if they are vigorous growers and get fertilized and have plenty of sunlight. And are protected from rabbits, voles, mice, and deer, of course. Otherwise they are toast.
Apple Junkie
5 year old buck +
I cage only, protect trunk from rodents, nothing else. My trees are 2 to 20 years old and all are thriving. I get excellent yields of delicious apples, but they might not be as pretty as those in the produce section of your grocery store. In my opinion, spraying is optional for wildlife purposes.
silver_yummies
5 year old buck +
I’m with you and also spray the Capatan and Imidan mixture. I’ve only had trees for 3 years and intend to keep doing it for a few more years. Then I might just spray the really good eaters for myself and leave the others. I only spray 4 times a year though. I always read to spray and baby the first 5 years of the trees life to get it off to a great start.
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
Interesting post.
never sprayed a tree beyond gly around the base for weed maintenance. Some varieties definitely do better than others. Liberty, enterprise and Arkansas Black seem to be my most thriving varieties
never sprayed a tree beyond gly around the base for weed maintenance. Some varieties definitely do better than others. Liberty, enterprise and Arkansas Black seem to be my most thriving varieties
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Never sprayed anything and get loads of good apples every year. Pick the right cultivars or as I say - grow apples that support life instead of requiring life support.
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
I've taken the approach of picking the most robust varieties I can as my core planting along with some I know less about and then let nature figure out the winners. I just spray for insects once in a while, aphids on young trees and japanese beetles or caterpillars when they get bad. Choosing scab resistant and CAR resistant (if needed) varieties remove much of the need for spraying fungicide. Fireblight spray regimen is too complicated for most people to do it effectively. Then just be ready to cut your losses and remove/regraft something that becomes a problem.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Never sprayed mine either, most trees are between 5-7 years, and they have been producing well.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
Wouldn't grafted trees be the best way to insure disease resistance and fruit qualities? I only have so much time, space, and money for trees... I want to know what I'm getting. Maybe my approach has been wrong, but are you having luck with seedlings coming out the way you want them?
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
I think the grafting question depends on your situation and goals. Like Cat mentioned. If you want a production in a particular location, a grafted variety will give you what you want dropping when you want it and give you fruit earlier. Seedlings are a fine choice if you have time and space to plant a bunch and see what works.
I would posit that your trees then aren't "strictly for wildlife"
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I guess they aren't strictly for wildlife as I eat one or two when I walk by, but I've never chosen a tree based on it's eating characteristics. My decisions are that I want disease resistant trees that I don't have to take care of to survive and be healthy. Fireblight, CAR, and other diseases that have grafted trees with resistance or immunity are high on my list. When planting seedlings you loose that assurance of resistance.
Maybe we are looking at it differently. Maybe you are more willing to plant trees that might or might not have the livability that you want than I am. If I plant 10 trees, in 15 yrs I want 10 trees that still don't need taken care of or replaced. Am I missing part of the puzzle here?
In my experience...the old axiom..."no spray-no apples" definitely applies. YMMV. I like unblemished/pristine eating apples as do my family and friends that get loads of them every year. I can not abide with fungus covered, scabby old wormy disfigured things...so I spay like a banchee. Much to the chagrin of the organic types. When I get too old to grow nice apples - they'll all go to the wildlife but until then I'll grow them to be the best I can.
Seedlings are fine if you just want a general apple or crabapple that could drop at any time. I have a bunch of those, but I prefer grafted varieties for most areas.
I prefer to know when the apples will drop so I can plant them in the best hunting location. The only way to do that is to go with a grafted tree. I want early season apples dropping near my bow stand, so I pick an apple or crabapple that will do that. Same goes for rut hunting locations and late season spots.
I agree, I want apples like that too. But, doesn't that by definition then mean our apples aren't strictly for wildlife? Once we factor in drop times, disease resistance, bushels per tree, huntability, etc. that would seem to me to mean more than strictly for wildlife. The point being, most people on here want known factors when choosing which apples to plant. Removing issues surrounding diseases and insects by spraying is simply one more thing within our control when it comes to fruit production.
Catscratch
5 year old buck +
I think I get where you're coming from... planting for drop times for hunting season or resistance for fruit quality is for the convenience of the guy planting the tree, not the wildlife.
I do select trees based on drop time but I have no intention of hunting my trees, I just want fruit available as long as possible. I select disease resistance so that I have healthy trees long term. I don't want wildlife trees that are too sick to produce. To be honest I have no interest in spraying so if I want fruit for wildlife the trees will have to be able to handle themselves.
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