Young apple trees - spray, prune - what to do?

15 years ago

Hello all. I'm the typical neophyte who thought "wouldn't it be nice to grow some apples in my backyard", and I humbly come to you seasoned veterans for a little advice. I have two young apple trees - one is a honeycrisp and one is a golden delicious. They're both 6-1/2 to 7 feet tall, were planted last September, and are in full bloom now. I live in SE Michigan, and I'd like to know what I should do in terms of spraying / bagging, in order to get the best apples come fall. I've read several posts, and most pertain to old trees - just curious what your advice is for these newer guys. They're both about 6-1/2 to 7 feet tall. Thank you!

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Comments (4)

franktank232
15 years ago
Watch out for Cedar Apple Rust... That was my first mistake... Spray with Immunox or something along those lines (Menards/HD sell)... Other then that the Jap Beetles will eat your leaves if you have them over there and the bagging is pretty self explanatory.

Might have to thin your apples if it sets too many fruit...although wait to do it...i made the mistake last year and ended up with not many apples (my tree was young and i think it just decided it didn't want to keep its babies!!) and then the remaining bagged apples (in July) fell off in high wind and the squirrels got the rest!
glenn_russell
15 years ago
Hi Jiver-
I think some people would like to help, but not knowing what your disease and pest pressures are like out there in MI, it's a bit hard to answer. You could contact your local extension office and let them tell you what pests you're likely to face. Then people will be able to answer questions about those pests specifically. This might be an observation year for you where you don't spray too much, but just keep an eye on what diseases and what insects are affecting you. Then, after you know that, you develop a plan for next year.

Another route is I would search for posts from "denninmi". Perhaps "denninmi apple". He is right in your back yard, so you may be able to get some good info by reading his many posts.

Stay away from the very common, but almost useless Bonide Fruit Tree spray. You can search for more info on that.

I agree with Frank. CAR is my biggest nemesis here in RI, and Immunox is appearing to be a good solution for that. For me, I couldn't find it at Home Depot though... they only had "Immunox Plus" which has an insecticide in it which is NOT rated for fruit. If you search for "glenn_russell Immunox", you'll see that I've posted where I got mine quite a few times.

Good luck, and welcome to the club!
-Glenn
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Some varieties thrive in neglect- where you are some suffer anywhere from not at all to terribly from scab and or cedar apple rust, both of which are fungus that look like there name. Minimal spray to control these where you are is 2, one at petal fall and one 10 days to 2 weeks later with a mixture of Myclobutanil and Captan. If you are near heavy innoculum (red cedars) you may need an earlier spray as well or suffer a little CAR damage. Tent caterpillar may defoliate part or even all of a tree early in the season but a healthy tree quickly recovers. There are other less likely pests, especially unlikely in minimally pruned trees, such as mites and scale so if the trees deteriate be alert. The only way to find out what the minimum input for survival is is to stop spraying all together and find out what your pests are. Pruning is for better fruit production and ascetics primarily though some tout the advantage of better air circulation for reducing fungus. I've seen a lot of incredibly "overgrown" apple trees that were as healthy as they were overgrown. Don't fault the tree care guys- they are only making a living and providing one for insurance companies, mechanics, and your states bureacracy.
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Bug: There are some important facts missing from your message. The first is: What are you spraying for? Insects? Diseases? What insects? What diseases? Did you see any evidence of insect activity last season, such as aphids, (which I assume was their first season in the ground)? Second, what do you propose to spray with? There are some "combination" fruit tree sprays that combine insecticides like Sevin and Methoxychlor, with a fungicide like Captan. But these combo sprays tend to be weak in all their components, as well as quite expensive per application. It is better to figure out what is wrong, if anything, then spray with the substance that will best do the job. No point in applying something that is totally unnecessary just because it is a part of a combo. But right now, your trees, as young as they are, may not need any spraying at all. While dormant spraying with oil, copper and/or lime/sulphur, is a good idea on nearly all fruit trees, insecticidal sprays are normally not necessary until the trees begin to set fruit. I doubt that your trees are at that stage yet. So the answer is there is no easy answer, and no one-size-fits-all response to your question. Just observe your trees closely throughout the growing season, and if you see something that looks wrong, like a lot of little bugs under the leaves, try to identify it with an internet search or ask about it here. But when you do, describe the problem fully, which cannot usually be done with a one-liner question. I was a little surprised that you had already pruned very young trees, and I assume this was sometime during the winter just passing. Renewal pruning in winter can be useful for some trees, like peaches, but for apples and pears the best time to prune is in late summer. Summer pruning helps to control unwanted vegetative growth of pome fruit trees, and encourages the formation of fruiting spurs, which leads to blossoming and, eventually, fruit. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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Dave: You are correct that apple pollination is a natural process that needs no direct human intervention, and certainly not any specific chemical spray (leaving aside products like bee scent, intended to attract pollinating honeybees). But if your neighbor's apples are reaching at least golf-ball size, pollination may not be her issue, but insects like the plum curculio and codling moth. Incompletely pollinated apples seldom get beyond the small marble stage before they fall off, but even well-pollinated apples, when attacked by insects, will eventually cease to grow and become small, scabby looking, and useless. I will be interested to see how your organic plan works out in a few years when your trees begin to set fruit. There are quite a few people, some of whom post here, who would dearly love to raise their apples "organically", but in the eastern half of the U.S. (and some say the western half too), raising apples with no chemical sprays at all is going to be a very tough row to hoe. Some highly dedicated organically inclined growers go to a great deal of trouble to cover their trees with a kaolin product called Surround, which can be somewhat effective against apple insects, but is not magic by any means. Others, like myself, conduct an intensive early chemical spray program, then bag their apples in ziplock sandwich bags, which makes further spraying of those particular apples uneccessary. However, the insects are always around, especially when there are unspsrayed or uncared for apples in the neighborhood with lots of dropped, damaged fruit. They represent the next generation of insects. You may even find that during the first years your apples are in the ground, and well before they fruit, they are attacked by leaf insects such as aphids, mites, beetles, and a host of others. I am all for organics in theory, but organics will not put apples on the table in New Jersey. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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fibro_fog_excite_com
14 years ago
Hi Jiver!

I live north of Detroit and also have a HoneyCrisp. This is its fourth year of life. The first year that it fruited we had about five gorgeous and tasty apples (that is all it gave us). Last year it was full of apples, but it was also full of every pest and fungus known to Michigan apples (Cedar Apple Rust, flyspeck, Plum Leaf Curculio, apple maggot, web worms, leaf roller, and more)! I was a newbie and had no clue how to prepare for it or what to do about it. This year I have read up and am hoping for better success. I want to avoid chemicals so am climbing uphill.

I would love to keep up with you as we both attempt to keep our apples healthy to harvest so maybe we can learn from each other.

I cleaned up every leaf and dropped apple, threw away all the bad apples from the tree, and carefully inspected the tree (often) for signs of bad leaves or bugs (which I pinched off upon discovery). I semi-thinned (left two or three on each bunch) my apples out a few weeks ago but hadn't yet learned about bagging. I sprayed it with copper soap and a soap spray distributed by Gardens Alive to control fungus. This method requires reapplication every 7 days AND after every rain. This is high-maintenance but not a big deal when you only have one tree.

I just bagged my tree this week and noticed as I was out there that several of the baby apples had bug bites already. I am afraid this means they've been parasitized, so I clipped them off and threw them away. I thinned to only one or two apples on a bunch and bagged all that looked healthy. I hated to clip off all those with bug bites, but I should still have over 100 large apples to harvest. I think next year I will be sure to bag it the week BEFORE Memorial Day since this week (the week following Memorial Day) there was a fairly high incidence of insect activity.

I look forward to hearing of your success.
tlouise
14 years ago
Hi Valerie,

I live in zone 6, near Buffalo, ny. I have two new apple trees(dwarf liberty and semi dwarf empire) planted one month ago, and plan to use organic methods. I just ordered some "sticky traps" for apple maggot. Fake apples you hang in the tree that trap the apple maggot.You place them 3 weeks after the petal fall. I have heard of spraying sulfur, but need to learn more about that. I don't know where to get the sulfur. There is something called cooling moth traps that I read about. I have baby apples on both trees. I suppose I need to thin them to a couple per bunch. EVeryone agree with this? What is copper soap ?

Young apple trees - spray, prune - what to do?

Comments (4)

franktank232

glenn_russell

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