Thanks Scott, after some more poking around looking for smaller quantities I found Cyd-X at Peaceful Valley. Cyd-X is the same granulo virus, I think, haven't looked into it yet. I plan to find out if it too needs to be stored frozen and if PV stores and ships it frozen. I plan to use the Trece bat-wing monitoring traps and count degree days following biofix to know when to start spraying the virus. Do you use an adjuvant, if so, what ? Any molasses in the mix? Happy new year ahead, Michael

Kig, here's a study you might find interesting http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780775 It's a lengthy study of the long term health of agricultural pesticide applicators. Their exposure would be much, much, much greater than what you would get caring for a small orchard as it is common for farmers to pull a mist blower with a tractor where you positively live in a fog of the stuff. Most of these farmers are old enough to have been exposed to materials much more dangerous than what is available or necessary to use now. As a group they are healthier, live longer and have less cancer than the general public. I think avoiding cancer or personal health reasons is an irrational reason for going organic. To me the point is that it can be more environmentally friendly to garden this way and also dealing with any poisons is a PIA. Cedar apple rust can easily be controlled with a relatively safe synthetic called myclobutanil, which can be purchased by homeowners under the name Immunox. It also does a great job against apple scab. Ohio will have roughly the same complex of pests as what Scott and I face although a closer person could help you more in tailoring your program. The cooperative extension can be helpful but you will get more accurate info about pesticide efficacy right here. Information for homeowners on this subject are not necessarily reliable from CE although I find my own CE very helpful. Just watch out for the printed handouts about pest control. They can be extremely helpful in IDing pests and any microscope work. Michael has years of experience growing apples in a Z4 which doesn't provide quite the pest pressure as you face. He doesn't even have plum curculio at his site- the most difficult insect pest for most of us in the humid regions. I would assume fungus pressure tends to be less as well in his cooler climate.

axel, I purchased footies, cotton bags and tule bags to see which was most effective bagging peaches,apples, grapes, etc. While tule bags were 3X the cost of cheaper alternatives they proved to be the most effective as you could draw the synthetic drawstring tight around the fruit stem, the fabric was easy to see through so you could watch the fruit ripening, it prevented bug/bird/squirrel attacks and the bag was easiest to remove at harvest and seemed to be in the best shape for multiple reuses in future years. When you look at all the time and money invested in the land, plants, sprays, soil, pruning, watering , etc.to grow fruit, to me the cost of tule is miniscule. I have seen a 4 quadrant piece clam shell like aluminum tube frame device with tule type netting that covers a dwarf peach tree from the trunk near the ground to above the tree top. Not sure where it was purchased, but it seemed to keep all pests out except human trespassers!

Charlieboring: there are physical barrier methods for peach and appe crops if you are willing to put in the work. Apples, while the fruit are about 1/2" - 1" in dia. have a prepared 1 qt. ziplock bag placed over them that keeps the Coddling moths out for the rest of the season. If you are lucky, the bgs go on before the 1st generation of moths have attacked your fruit. I spray the first gen. with Spinosad to keep the damage down and then bag to take care of the following generations and get by usually with minimal moth damage. There is now a product called Cyd - X that is a virus specific only to Coddling Moth that is very effective when properly applied and very soft on the beneficials and honeybees but it is not labeled for use in all of the US. As for peaches, sockies, yes those little nylons that only fit your foot are put on peaches to keep the worms out of them. some folks swear by them, I don't know having nly used them one year and not leaving many sock- free fruit to compare with that year. Sockies are stretched over the young appx. 1/2" diameter fruit and tied around the back side of the branch the where the fruit is attached to the branch. Some folks soak the footies in Surround and dry them out before putting them on the peaches.