Where do you live? And, not sure what this product is? What are the active ingredients and why are you thinking you need to spray? Normally, there is a dormant spraying schedule you should follow for your area, so I can't tell you what that is, since you don't have in your "My Page" section, your location, but I would suggest you contact your local extension agent or Master Gardener organization, and ask them for the proper spraying schedule for your cherries, apples, pears, plums and apricots. They can give you the very best advice for your specific area and pest pressures.

Patty S.

Thanks, Patty. My location is in Indiana; I'll check my "My Page" I thought I had everything set, but I guess not. What we've been told is that without spraying the cherries there is a bacteria that will prevent the cherries from producing. Our trees are very young, which is why we are trying to get information now, I just didn't know who to ask for realistic information and not just rumor. Thanks for the help! I'll be making that call!

Rachel

Rachel,

I live in Kentucky and we planted 3 apple trees and some blueberries and strawberries last year. I've also heard of citrus fruit and nut orchard spray, made by Bonide, and it was recommended by someone at Stark Bros as a more natural alternative to chemical pesticides and fungicides. I haven't tried it, but I would be very interested to know what you find out about it and if you decide to give it a try. I'd like to use as few chemicals as I can while still having healthy trees and fruit, so this product sounds pretty ideal if it works.

Lisa

"I just didn't know who to ask for realistic information and not just rumor."

Rachel,

This is an understandable dilemma. There are lots of people out there that will give you all kinds of wacky advice. It can be difficult for someone new to fruit growing to sift through it all.

This forum can be an excellent resource for you. You still have to sift through advice, but with a little effort you can do it successfully. Pay particular attention to some of the seasoned fruit growers like Scott Smith, Harvestman, Fruitnut and others. People like that may not be from your area, but because of experience and reading, have a good intuitive sense of growing fruit. You won't hear nonsense from them.

Advice from Extension personnel and Master Gardeners can be very dicey. Patty has had good experiences with both, but many Extension and MG personell don't know what their talking about when it comes to serious home fruit plantings. They are simply giving you secondhand information they read from a book and have no idea what are the real challenges for home fruit growers.

Regarding your question about the Bonide Citrus and Nut fruit spray. A quick search reveals that it's nothing special. The active ingredients are sulfur and pyrethrin.

Sulfur is an organically listed fungicide that has been used for centuries. It has some insecticidal properties for minor insects like mites. It is less effective than synthetic fungicides, so must be applied more often.

Pyrethrin is a naturally occurring insecticide derived and concentrated from chrysanthemums. It has also been around for years and is also less effective than synthetic counterparts and therefore must be applied more often for control.

It should be noted that because these substances are natural, doesn't necessarily mean they are safer for applicators. There are synthetic fungicides and insecticides that are safer than both sulfur and pyrethrin.

Because your Citrus and Nut spray has an insecticide, you would never want to spray this product at bloom because it would kill pollinating bees.

You don't say whether you have sweet cherries or tart cherries. Tart cherries will generally bloom and fruit just fine without worries to blossoms. Sweet cherries are more susceptible to what's called blossom blast. Blossom blast is caused by bacteria working in conjunction with frost. Basically certain bacteria make blossoms more susceptible to frost damage. There are some products available to reduce this damage with variable results, but Citrus and Nut spray will do nothing to prevent blossom blast.

Generally speaking, it doesn't make sense for home growers to spray anything at bloom. I would ignore advice to spray your cherry blooms.

Okay, I am an Advanced Master Gardener from Indiana (Purdue University, Elkhart County, 2005), so any advice from Indiana's MG program will be sound :-) But, Olpea is right, some programs are less accurate in their advice than others. I would try contacting your local MG chapter, and see if they can point you to their documents. For now, here is a link to some good basic info for growing fruit trees in Indiana. Another good resource will be your local orchard supply (a REAL orchard supply store, that supports commercial orchardists, not Tractor Supply).

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: Purdue Extension: Managing Pests in Home Fruit Plantings

Thank you everyone! Your information has been wonderful! When I heard to spray the blossoms I went, "you want me to do what? That doesn't sound right!" I've searched and searched for answers and the itty bitty town I live in doesn't have any local knowledgeable people to get information from. A lot of local farmers and large orchards, but I don't want to follow the philosophy of chemical spraying, if it's not needed. We work so hard to keep chemicals out of our garden and have succeeded for the past several years, we wanted to do the same for out small orchard. We've asked around at local nurseries with no luck. I am going to check out the Purdue site, hopefully that will help! I appreciate the helpful information you have all given. I've come to Garden Web for different information but have never posted, heck only searched as a guest and I'm thrilled I decided to join and ask! I'll keep on my research! Oh and hoosierquilt, not to ask a silly question, but how exactly do you find a MG in the area?

Rachel