Hi Glenn: If you read the section in the 2009 Midwest Tree Fruit Spray Guide for apples, you'll notice the recommendation for combining Nova (same AI as Immunox) with a protectant. See the note #2 in the right hand column under the section titled "APPLE TIGHT CLUSTER". The #2 note refers to the extended protectant program which includes Immunox/Nova as opposed to the "protectant program 7-day interval" which does not utilize Nova. You and I have to deal with CAR which complicates things some as far as fungicide choices. I haven't come up with a protectant to tank-mix with Immunox for CAR other than Mancozeb but, we had that discussion elsewhere. Why does the guide state that, "Growers using an extended protectant program should use an SI fungicide (Nova...)...(tank-mixed) with a protectant fungicide"? My best guess is resistance because the SI fungicides have resistance issues at least in some parts of the country. Hi Olpea: thanks for beating the captan doesn't work for CAR back into my head, must have slipped out during the winter. Have you lost any peach or apple buds to old man winter yet? Sometimes the spray thing feels like trying to juggle 30 balls at once in my head! Michael

I wouldn't spray anything now. Just cut off the dead branches and see if it happens again this summer. I don't think the roots have had enough time to grow enough to properly feed the branches yet. Sequoiadendrons aren't known for their good rootballs. (I've planted hundreds) It seems that if the problem were fungal, the damage would show up in a more general fashion rather than picking on a random branch or two. I don't have that problem where I live, so I am just speculating. Mike

Hi Sharon: You benefit me & others with your intelligent questions, which enable me to see what I did wrong with my past experiments. How did I cause rust by throwing POWDER GYPSUM on top? I repost the info: There's a U. of Nebraska research on rust, with the title, "Medium pH and Leaf Nutrient Concentration Influence Rust Pustule diameter on leaves of dry beans." Their conclusion: Plants grown in pH 5.8 medium show significantly larger rust pustules than plants grown in pH 6.5 or pH 7.9. Concentrations of Cl (chloride) and Mn (manganese) were more in high rust. In contrast, concentration of K (potassium) were less in high rust." From Straw: Alabama Agriculture Cotton Research also recommended potassium fertilizer to reduce rust. Info. about gypsum from USAgypsum.com: Elemental Calcium......21.0% Elemental Sulfur (S)....17.0% pH...................................6.8 Kelp4Less sells 5 lbs. of GRANULAR GYPSUM at 18% sulfur for $12.50 .... more than my local feed store, or Menards at $4.49 for 25 lb. bag. There's a quarry nearby that manufactures gypsum, so cheap here in my Chicagoland. I WOULD NOT use Pennington gypsum plus lawn fertilizer, if it's chemical nitrogen (high in salt). What I did wrong was to throw 1 cup of POWDER-gypsum on top ... it's acidic, plus fast release of calcium, which drove down potassium, necessary for rust-prevention. Previous times with 1/8 cup of GRANULAR gypsum, along with sulfate of potash ... no problems whatsoever. I would use even less GRANULAR gypsum, like 1 teaspoon, along with 1 teaspoon sulfate of potash, plus 0.2 cup of Milorganite. The best ratio for veggies is 1 part nitrogen, 1 part potassium, and 1/2 part calcium. Roses have a higher need for calcium, so I use equal amount to potassium. Sulfate of potash NPK is 0-0-50, and Milorganite NPK is 5-2-0. Take 50 divide by 5, you'll get 10. Ten teaspoons of Milorganite is equivalent to 0.2 cup, best with 1 teas. of sulfate of potash, and 1 teas. of gypsum. I would use more sulfate of potash & gypsum with pale own-root like Jude which needs more potassium for blooming, plus more sulfur for leaves to be darker-green. PALE own-root like Duchess de Rohan, W.S. 2000, Jude, Eglantyne, Honey Bouquet, Comte de Chambord can take more gypsum at 17% sulfur, and more sulfate of potash at 23% sulfur. DARK green roses grafted on Dr. Huey, and French roses dislike acidic sulfates. Bone meal has high sulfate at 2000 ppm, and 400 iron & 300 sodium, with the dark-green roses break out in diseases. I put too much bone meal in Gruss an Teplitz hole ... he's the parent of Dr. Huey, it became a BS-fest, and I had to fix the hole. Pennington fish pellets NPK 4-6-6, high phosphorus with fish bone meal. The pale & lighter-green roses LOVE that tea, today tiny Jude broke out in 2nd flush, 3 more buds with that tea, very fast repeat. Austin roses, bred in an acidic & high rain England like that ratio ... The ratio in David Austin Rose food has NPK 9.5 - 7.5 -10 ... a bit higher nitrogen due to high-rain England, which leaches out nitrogen. Acidic sulfates help pale-own-root to bloom better, but sulfates also burns if in direct-contact with roots, best as SOLUBLE. Pennington pellets is best as SOLUBLE tea under hot sun, to spoon-feed wimpy own-roots which can't acid-phosphatase as band-size. Bone meal is OK for pale own-root the planting hole, if mixed-thoroughly and buffered by plenty of soil. Bone meal burns if applied on top. Concentrated amount of sulfates near the stem burn. One person killed his tomato plant by topping with Jobe's Organic tomato fertilizer NPK 2-7-4, high in bone meal. When I mixed that stuff THOROUGHLY in the planting hole, I got bumper-crop tomato. Same with gypsum, at 17% sulfur, and sulfate of potash, at 23% sulfur. Both burns my finger, and burns any root, best used as soluble. If I sprinkle some on top, I flood the basin immediately with water, to dilute that, along with milorganite for nitrogen. Tomato Tone has NPK 3-4-6, neutral pH & less phosphorus ... it didn't burn my tomato plant, so that can be applied at 1/4 cup before a rain. It's finer particle & tend to float, best to let rain work that in. Milorganite is best 0.2 cup with 1 teas. sulfate of potash and 1 teas. of granular gypsum .... spread that on top before a rain, if you are lazy like me. Safe approach would be Milorganite on top, then make soluble out of potassium & calcium per gallon of water. Roses are all different from each other, the pale ones require more sulfates, potassium, and phosphorus via SOLUBLE to bloom. The darker-green leaves like Dr. Huey can secret acids to utilize nutrients from soil, thus breaking out in diseases when too much acid is supplied, like rain-water (pH 5.6 in East coast), or sulfates in bone meal, gypsum, and sulfate of potash .. which are components of Pennington Pellets. Sharon, best wishes with your roses. They all are different from each other ... such as pale Graham Thomas which required an ungodly amount of potassium & phosphorus as soluble to bloom for a Texan. It took me 3 years, and countless failed experiments to learn the above. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 11:19

Hi Jim: thanks for the picture of the mountains in your PA area ... that's so beautiful !! I live 1/2 hour northeast from DeKalb, IL. You are right that DeKalb is flat, mostly corn fields. I have more trees & and varied scenery here. My heavy clay is fertile too. I don't need to fertilize much, but I need to add trace elements for disease-resistance. This is my first year WITHOUT horse manure, and it's the most black spots, and disappointing year !! Horse manure NPK is low, but high in trace elements, thanks to its being a good source of bacteria. Plus zinc and copper vitamins added to the feed. Even if the soil is tested sufficient in NPK, with constant rain, and after heavy blooming .. nitrogen and potassium are leached out. Nitrogen can be re-supplied again with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which is abundant in organic matter like composted manure. But potassium has to be supplied via fertilizer. Henry Kuska, professor of chemistry and once had a garden of over 1,000 roses, made an excellent observation that perhaps roses become depleted of potassium after a bloom cycle, esp. late fall. I agree, I gave Comte de Chambord a big-dose of potassium at the start of its 2nd flush ... it gave many petals-bloom, and the bulk of the blooms are heavier than the leaves plus the wimpy root. Now at the end of its flush, it's breaking out in B.S. To make zillion-petals bloom, a lot of potassium and calcium are needed prior to each flush. Less-petals like Knock-out are more disease-resistant, because the bulk of its roots is more than the bulk of the blooms ... the roots can easily fetch more nutrients. So for wimpy-root roses like Comte de Chambord and Jude the Obscure, immediate soluble fertilizer is needed for blooms & disease-protection. Why Mr. Lincoln is more disease-resistant for your soil than else where? Perhaps Mr. Lincoln root is most vigorous in your particular soil to fetch the nutrients needed to fight against diseases. Romanticas are clean in my alkaline soil, since their roots are very vigorous at my soil pH, with plenty of dolomitic lime for them. Your pic. shows the mountains in PA, which means less air-flow than my open Chicagoland. Plus I don't get dew, as you stated, "Here we get heavy dews outside. So around 10pm the leaves on our roses are getting wet as if it rained. They dry off early to late morning so perfect breeding grounds for BS." I find that dry & leathery leaves like Crimson Glory (prone to mildew in dry climate) tolerate wetness on its leaves. Crimson Glory is my top-clean rose, even after 1-week of constant rain. Same with shiny leaves like Pat Austin ... that one is known as a water-hog & loves the rain, but become droopy in hot & dry weather. Christopher Marlow has thick & shiny & rain-resistant leaves. It's the thin-leaves like Comte de Chambord that can't take the humidity nor wetness. I have to give that SOLUBLE calcium & potassium to make its leaves thicker. Same with Gruss an Teplitz, leaves can't take wetness, and he's the parent of Dr. Huey rootstock. Zinc and copper are the 2 strongest antifungal agents, and some soil are more deficient in those. That's why this year without horse manure, my roses are the worst ever. Calcium is a weaker antifungal agent, but it still works. That's why my Duchess de Rohan planted in my clay fixed with tons of gypsum, is 100% clean despite being a shady, perpetually wet spot where other perennials are mildewed, and other roses with BS. My clay is dolomitic lime, and I'm next to a limestone quarry, yet my soil is tested barely adequate in calcium. One hundred plus-petals bloom like Austin roses require lots of calcium and potassium, versus less-petal Knock-out. Below is a bouquet picked today, July 23, showing the many petals roses. The firm-petal one like Stephen Big Purple which lasts long in the vase, also requires an ungodly amount of calcium. It does very well next to my limestone-based patio, and doubled in growth after application of gritty lime. Pink is Sonia Rykiel, yellow is Golden Celebration, small beige Mary Magdalene, big peachy pink are Evelyn. This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Jul 23, 14 at 22:56