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Fruit & Orchards

New to fruits - should I have sprayed/treated by now?

13 years ago

I just bought a house that has a peach tree, three apple trees, grapes, blackberries and raspberries. I discovered too late that I should have sprayed the peach tree against peach leaf curl, and now the poor thing is done for this season. Now I'm wondering what else I should have done to keep my fruit trees/vines/canes healthy this season! Do I/did I need to do anything with the apple trees, grapes and berries to keep them healthy and productive this season?

So far as varieties: the apple trees are red and yellow "columnar", the grapes are Reliance and Concord, and I have no idea about the berries or peach tree. Thanks, all!

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Comments (4)

jlc102482
Original Author
13 years ago
Oops - forgot to mention that I also have strawberries, bush cherry, rhubarb and ground cherries. Do I/did I need to do anything with these plants so far as spraying or treating goes?

Thanks!
Scott F Smith
13 years ago
Grapes usually need a couple sprays in the spring to prevent diseases, say at something like 1" shoots and 12" shoots. The peach needs copper in dormant season for curl and shot-hole. The apples are probably OK until they start fruiting. The apples and peach will need bug preventative sprays when they start fruiting. Also there are tons of bugs and diseases that you may get which you will need to treat; keep on the look-out and look up any bad looking thing you find.

Scott
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Toka is a good choice. I would consider grafting some other American and/or Hybrid plum varieties onto Toka in case Black Ice doesn't pollinate it. It is pretty easy to learn to graft plums and be successful in the first year. Next winter search online for scion wood sources, then graft in the spring. These varieties might be best for pollinating Toka: Wild American Plum (Prunus Americana), South Dakota Plum (another sport of Prunus Americana), Shiro, Superior, or other American/Hybrid Plums. It is possible Black Ice is fine, but the more the merrier. Honeycrisp will also need a pollinator. If there are wild crabapples near you they should work, or you can graft branches from them or other apples onto Honeycrisp. Wrap the trunks in screen or something to keep rabbits from girdling the trees, especially in winter. You should protect the trunks up to 18" above the expected snow line. If rabbits are present, they will girdle fruit trees (especially plums and cherries) every time.
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olpea
13 years ago
JLC,

Not sure where in Zone 6 your at, it can make a difference.

I take it that you bought this house and all the trees and fruits are currently in production?

If so, you'll need some protection for your apples. You'll either need to bag them, or spray with an insecticide.

Since you haven't sprayed for fungus, be on the lookout.

Blackberries and Raspberries should be OK without spray in most places. You need to cut out the old canes though (the ones that fruited last year (they will look dead)).

Strawberries generally don't need too much protection. If it rains a lot, the berries will rot. In those cases, I spray mine with Captan. Other than that, slugs will eat them (slug baits are effective). Mine are sometimes infected with strawberry beetles.
franktank232
13 years ago
I did one heavy spray of copper last fall...after leaf fall. Maybe sometime in November. I still ended up with PLC this spring on those trees, although it hasn't been bad, maybe 15% of the leaves have curl. I really think a spring spray probably makes more sense?

Read as much as you can about bugs/diseases. There are a lot and some are very area specific.

Also think of are you shooting towards a more "organic" approach or a "conventional" approach?

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