I also should note that I haven't yet sprayed for any diseases. I would, but I just don't know what I need or where to buy it :-/

Ryan,

I have a Redskin peach and a Fuji apple. Harvestman mentioned on your other post about soil problems. I would concur that is probably your biggest issue right now. The grass, color of the soil, and the tree problems suggest fertility issues to me.

The peach leaves look nutrient deficient and insects will readily attack that type of weak foliage before they will healthy growth. The apple doesn't look too bad.

My advice to you. If the insects continue to attack foliage, as a stop-gap measure mix up a little carbaryl (Sevin) and spray the foliage frequently for a little while. Mix up only what you'll use in one spraying, otherwise the spray mix will degradate in the bottle before the next spraying. As small as your trees are, a little quart spray bottle would be about the right size.

Apply a complete fertilizer around the trees. Something highly soluble like Miracle Grow, or generic equivalent, but don't overdo it. Water it in, or water with it.

In the long term, I'd suggest a soil test to see what it really needs. You can get a good one for around 20 bucks. I've used A&L labs. Make sure they test for the micros, not just NPK.

For a mulch, you might try calling around for some free stable waste. Don Yellman uses it and hasn't mentioned any vole problems. I suspect urine and horse manure would not be premier housing choices for voles.

Malathion isn't good for much. I think some people have success using it for apple maggot, but it offers little control for most major pests. I've got a bottle in my lockers, that's just taking up space.

The edges of the missing tissue show that the damage occurred sometime ago. You can stop spraying.

Thank you both for your helpful responses.

Olpea, can I ask a few follow up questions based on your suggestions?

Regarding the fertilizer, is there a particular type of miracle gro to use? I'm sure when I get to the garden section of the home improvement store, I'll be overwhelmed with the number of options. I'm worried I'll choose incorrectly and cause damage. Do you have any specific suggestions? I'm picturing the kind that you attach to your hose and water directly. My other concern is that a lot of places I've read say to avoid fertilizing the first year, which is why I've been hesitant. Should I take any precautions?

Regarding pest control, I think I'm taking the wrong approach. Malathion was recommended in a county publication, so I went with it. Aside from sevin, which chemicals are considered the "must haves"? Is there a trusted resource you can recommend for me to read to learn more about this specific issue?

And finally, the manure. I've never used it before and I'm not quite sure the best way to go about finding it in my area. Do I need to look for something specific? Fresh? Well-rotted? Would the stable owner know what I'm looking for? Is this spread over the same as other mulches?

Sorry for the amount of questions... I'm afraid I've found a hobby that nobody else around me is interested in. As a result, this place is really the only place for me to talk about these things and ask questions. Other than that, I'm kind of in the dark about these things.

Jean001 - thanks for your comments too. Though I'm hesitant to say that the pest damage only has occured in the past. Every evening I come home from work I see less foliage than the previous day.

Manures around here generally are loaded for free by stables and such and it can be a concern as to whether they are free from residual herbicides such as Tordon. These are effective for several years on dicots but are harmless to monocots. Often the stables know and will announce the fact. (The problem exists because Tordon type herbicides are used to keep hay and grain crops free of competition, and are carried over in the crop. This appears to be harmless to the livestock which eat the hay or grain; however, they pass the herbicide through easily and it's readily available when you use the manure. So you end up unintentionally applying a powerful herbicide with a long term residual effect wherever you use the manure.)

If you are uncertain you can do a simple bioassay: transplant a bean or tomato plant into soil that has some of the manure in it, and if there's tordon there you'll see evidence in a couple of days.

Marknmt,

As one whose sprayed quite a bit of picloram (Tordon) I agree it is quite powerful. I've sprayed it on the bark of thorny locust and killed whole trees.

I know its been in the press in America and the UK lately, but in spite of all the press, I think the risks of picloram tainted manure are a bit trumped up.

I've been in agriculture all my life in one way or another. For a few years I owned a hay crew (square bales). In this area, people rarely apply fertilizer to hay ground, even less, pesticides. There simply isn't enough margin in hay ground to justify the expense.

Even if they did apply a carry over product like picloram (and around here it would be very rare) the carry over and diluted effect probably wouldn't harm the trees. In spite of what the literature says, it only lasts a year (I've seen broad leaf crops germinate a year after it was applied).

The same applies to tainted grass clippings. I've heard people warn against chemically laced clippings. However, I have a sign in front of my house requesting clippings, leaves, and chipped wood. For years I've put grass clippings around my garden crops, including tomatoes. I've never noticed anything but excessive vigor from this type of mulch. I'm confident these clippings are from lawns loaded with herbicide residues because so many lawns around here picture perfect.

I think the reason they are innocuous to my tomatoes is that most of these herbicides bind to the soil and are rendered ineffective by the time they reach the roots.

Mark, I hope I haven't come on too strong here, but my experience simply doesn't mesh with the admonitions. I understand others may have different experiences.

Ryan,

You bring up some good points.

I've also read not to fertilize newly planted trees. However, nurseries and commercial orchards frequently fertigate (even the first year) to get a jump on growth. I think this could be especially relevant to your situation where the soil seems to be poor.

In terms of specific Miracle Grow recommendations, I can't give you any. Only that your soil seems to be lacking something, so as an immediate measure, I would add a complete fertilizer (NPK plus trace minerals). Admittedly this is a shotgun approach, but without a soil test, I know of no other way.

There is a lady from TN on the Nafex fruit group who complains about how poor her soil is. Maybe her experience has unjustifiably biased me, but I can't help thinking of her experience when I see your pics. But in all candidness, I'm only throwing educated guesses at your problem, as anyone on this list can do.

It's a bit early for any serious pest control. Your extension is doing you a disservice to recommend Malathion for any serious pest control. You'll find some university extensions are well tuned to the needs of fruit trees. Others are merely a chapter ahead of you in the most basic cultural fruit practices.

It's possible your peach tree could fruit next year. In that case, I would post more specific pest control questions this fall, or winter.

Regarding the manure. I would just call around to local stables. There is one about 2 miles from me. They have more manure than they can get rid of and stack it in piles. Although I've not used their manure (because my mulch sign works so well for me) I have used other stable manure. I've also used loads of composted dead pigs. The only problem I've observed is that if the stable waste is extremely hot, it produces a lot of vegetative growth at the expense of fruit.

Olpea, thank you very much- I stand corrected. I was told that by one of the MSU-Bozeman people, and had some limited experience that was consistent with it, and so felt confident relaying it. I'm glad to know there's more leeway than I knew. That's not to say I wouldn't be a little cautious, but I do understand what you're saying about the "literature" picking up on a thought and running with it.

We have a few particularly difficult weeds around here, including some thistles, spotted knapweed, dyer's woad, and leafy spurge, and even dryland hay fields will sometimes get sprayed with Tordon and a fall-applied herbicide -don't recall the name- at the margins; in Eastern Montana they do a lot of this to try to control knapweed brought in by Western Montana hunters!

At any rate, thanks for setting me straight. I appreciate it.

Mark: I think you are probably unfortunate to be in an area where Tordon use is fairly high. Eastern Montana is graced with leafy spurge, and the best control alternative until recently was Tordon. And Western Montana is graced with incredible quantities of knapweed and spurge, which also gets a lot of Tordon treatment. The result is that you probably have a much greater risk of importing contamination. Normally I wouldn't expect Tordon to show up in manure, although I have heard about it locally. I think what happened was that the weed patches were sprayed, then the hay was cut taking the remains of the treated weeds in the hay and it ended up eventually in the manure. Tordon used to be the only effective control of Canada Thistle, but it would sterilize the ground for broadleaves for several years at least, and with high rates it could still cause damage after 20 years. Fortunately Round-Up came about and we haven't used Tordon since the early 70's.

I certainly wouldn't recommend taking the risk of getting Tordon lightly if you are in an area where it is commonly used.

I planted an orchard in S central TN (just above Florence, AL) back in the 70's, and the pH there was 5.5. Thin topsoil over deep chert, actually part of the Highland rim around the Nashville Basin. Acid soil makes a lot of nutrients unavailable. And high rainfall with well-drained soil leaches out the minerals. You'll likely need some ag lime or dolomite and rock phosphate/wood ashes sprinkled around the trees in addition to the manure and/or fertilizer. But by all means get the soil tested, County Extension will send a sample off for you at minimal charge (private labs give you more detailed analysis for a little more).

Anyway, don't use fertilzer for acid-loving plants. Regular Miracle-Gro or equivalent, dissolved in one 5 gallon bucket of water per tree, now and in about a month, should get your foliage looking healthier (darker green). Well-rotted manure is better than fresh as a mulch, IMO.