Orchard spray program--first time

13 years ago

I need to get the materials together to take care of my 5 year old orchard this year. I've got about 25 apple trees and 4 pears then 1 sour cherry and 2 Euro plums planted last year in a separate location.

I'd like to concentrate on scab and cedar apple rust for the apples and cucurlio prevention. Not sure if the pears have any problems yet as they only started producing a few blossoms last year. I'm not sure if I should leave the stone fruit alone until I notice they need it or what.

What type of sprayer would I use and do I need a different one for the various fungal concoctions?

I can lock up my poultry, but they are normally free-range the rest of the time. Are there sprays that are effective for the diseases but less harmful to my poultry if they come into contact with any residue?

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Comments (6)

glenn_russell
13 years ago
Hi Sujiwan-

I can help with some...

For Scab and Cedar Apple Rust, you want Immunox. Just 2 sprays of this stuff at Pedal Fall, and 10-14 days later eliminates my biggest nemisis Cedar Apple Rust. Some have found it at the big box stores, but most have to get it online. You want Immunox (Myclobutanil), not "Immunox Plus" which has an insecticide not rated for fruit.

For Plum cucurio, you want Triazicide Once and Done Concentrate which you can find at Walmart. For me, I only have to spray it once or so and after that, I bag my fruit.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3909460&CAWELAID=468824812

In the case of both sprays, make sure you read the label!
I've got a Solo diaphram sprayer that many of the experts on this forum recommend. http://www.gemplers.com/product/109878/Solo-Backpack-Sprayer-3-Gallon-Standard-Diaphragm-Pump?sku=109878&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=109878

The only time you would need a different sprayer is if you were spraying a herbicide like RoundUp or weed killer. Never put that type of stuff in your nice new sprayer.

Since know nothing about chickens, I'll let someone else answer that question.

Hope this helps,
-Glenn

Here is a link that might be useful: Immunox at Ace Hardware
User
13 years ago
If you have curculio, you'll have to protect your plums.
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My apologies, all, I had intended to post this in in the Fruit and Orchards forum. I reposted it there; please reply there, if you're interested, as that's where this info will likely be most useful. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/fruit/ (Note to self: drink coffee before logging onto GW....) --Jonathan
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Actually, unfortunately for me, on the RI coast, we do get a lot of humidity and all the associated fun (severe CAR, FB, Scab, SB, FS, etc) that goes along with it. In fact, our zone of 6b is actually the same 6b as northern Georgia. (Randy - you should include your zone to save us some research). In my conversations with others here on the forum, if I lived out west, I'm confident I could get away with less spraying. In VT's schedule, they're actually spraying 10 different sprays (Copper, oil, Immunox, permethrin, esfenvalerate, M-Pede, streptomycin, Captan, Thionex, Confirm), but for me, the significant issue is how often they spray them. I do agree that it's a good reference, in that it's nice to know you're spraying the right chemicals at the right times, but I'd argue that even in high pressure areas, you don't need such a variety of sprays in such high intervals as described by their schedule, to get complete control. Am I wrong? If so, are you southerners really spraying all 10 of those sprays, that often, to achieve control? Or have you identified and targeted your diseases and pests, and then minimized your spraying to handle all accordingly? There are similar schedules for orchards around here, yet I've found that not all of it was necessary to achieve great apples. I do agree that growing knowledge is subject to location (and that can't be enphasized enough), but I still stand with megamav, that for the home orchardist, that schedule is overkill. -Glenn
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The general rule is not to spray any insecticide when the trees are in bloom, because you don't want to kill the pollinating bees. Now, immunox and surround are not insecticides (one a fungicide, the other a deterrent). So some say you can use immunox during bloom. But with the bee population declining I'm hesitant to spray anything during bloom. Don't know how surround affects bees but I wouldn't use it during bloom. You can use Immunox at "pink" stage before bloom. I just sprayed immunox at "petal fall" (when all the flowers have fallen off). Most people do another cover of immunox a week or two after the first. The surround only works on fruit, doesnt really do much else for the leaves, etc so no sense getting it on early. Just don't kill the bees during bloom
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There's a balance. The owner has a responsibility to avoid spraying under excessively windy conditions. However, it's unrealistic to expect you will never get a whiff of pesticides while he's spraying. Even under the best conditions with a 2mph wind, you're going to smell the chemicals. This is especially true if emulsifiable concentrates are being used, which are easily detectable by our sense of smell, even in the smallest concentrations. Many times it's the petroleum based emulsifier you smell, not the pesticide. However, as I mentioned, it's best to avoid spraying when the wind is above 10-12 mph. I agree with the advice that you're concerned you should contact the owner and explain your concerns and your situation with COPD. However, as background information, understand there are numerous challenges that make it difficult, and sometimes impossible to spray under ideal conditions. Pests can sometimes be very active in an orchard and do a tremendous amount of damage in a small time frame. In those conditions, most farmers are glued to the weather forecast looking for the soonest and best opportunity to get the spray on. Additionally, the orchard (or field) has to be dry enough to get the equipment in. Coupled with that, sometimes there is a significant amount of acreage that has to be covered, so that it's difficult to get it all sprayed while the conditions are ideal. This is especially true if there are multiple fields/locations. Lastly, sometimes the weather just flat changes. The weather forecast may allow a small window early one morning to apply a spray. After that it's rain, windy, etc. for many days. The owner gets out there early in the morning, fills the tank, adds the chemicals, then the wind picks up, despite the forecast (this has happened more than once to me, it's frustrating). At that point a decision has to be made whether to go ahead and spray the pesticide, or wait and hope for better weather. If better weather does not come, the farmer may have a tank of pesticide that is no longer any good (pesticides start degrading the moment they are mixed in the tank water). He also may suffer crop damage because he didn't get the spray on when it was needed. I'm not making excuses if someone is routinely spraying under excessively windy conditions. Just pointing out it can be very difficult to balance all the factors and always spray under ideal conditions.
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iammarcus
13 years ago
I also use two sprayers, one for Roundup another for fruit tree spraying. Don't want to chance any residual Roundup in the sprayer used on the trees.
Dan
foolishpleasure
13 years ago
I don't have much trees like you. All I have 4 Apples, 4 Bears, 4 beaches, one plums and one sweet cherry. For two years in a row we could not get even one apple or one pear. I sprayed with Bonide and Sevin but the Cuddling Moth destroyed all my Crops. You mentioned that the pear tree looks like immune (wholly Cow) nothing is Immune. I use one spray of Dormant oil. Then one spray of Sevin while flowering to protect against Brown Rot But I do it in the evening to protect the honey bees. At the petal fall I start weekly spray Surround and after every rain. It really helped me. As for sprayer I use just one sprayer for every thing but you have to clean it.
If you spray Surround you have no worry about your chickens Because Surround is harmless and even used to stabilize commercial food and is used in tooth paste.
alan haigh
13 years ago
Foolish, please read crarefully. Sevin is not a fungicide and it is foolish and illegal to spray it when plants are in bloom! It will kill bees even when dry if it lands on open flowers.

Sevin is not labeled for and is of no use in combating brown rot- it is a non-specific insecticide- meaning it kills good bugs and bad (ok, bug bit fruit does tend to rot).

I know you didn't just accidentally type a wrong word because you made the same mistake on a post a week or so ago and I corrected you more gracefully then but you didn't see it. I do hope you read this.

I tried to e-mail you but you can't be reached that way through this forum.
olpea
13 years ago
Sujiwan,

If you're still here, you do not need different sprayers for different fungicides. In fact, it's common to tank mix both fungicides and insecticides and apply at the same time.

As Glenn and Marcus pointed out, it is advisable to have a different sprayer for herbicides.

Glenn addressed your pome fruits, but for your plums you'll probably need a fungicide to protect against brown rot. Captan or Montery Fungi Fighter should protect you from brown rot. Captan can also be used on apples, whereas Fungi Fighter is not labeled for pome fruits.

In terms of your chickens, generally speaking the pesticides we are discussing are not inordinately lethal to birds. I've sprayed trees that had Robins nests in them, and it didn't seem to affect the birds at all. Hman has mentioned Imidan will cause birds to vacate nests, but I doubt you'll be using that.

If you want more information on the avian toxicology of a specific compound, Google the active ingredient of a pesticide with the term "LD 50".

For instance Triazicide has gamma cyhalothrin as its active ingredient. Googling shows an LD 50 value of greater than 5000 for quail. Anything over 1000 shouldn't cause problems to your chickens, even if you sprayed them directly with the mix.

Orchard spray program--first time

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glenn_russell

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