Some of my customers worry about every unexpected thing they see on their trees- which I like, because it means they're concerned, but I still have to bill them every time they insist I drive out to inspect the latest non-problem. I'm not saying that you're behaving like a mother of an only child- the insects may be truly alarming, but generally no harm- no foul. If you see only insects and no symptoms you can probably relax. I suggest you find a source of info on common fruit pests in your area that contains photos and start to learn the faces of our true roster of villains. This will make your thoughtful surveilance much more useful to your trees and the process much more satisfying. Or you can post pictures here of every insect you find on your trees. The funny thing is that most of the insects that do real damage you seldom see if you don't trap them.

I've never seen fungicide residue on anything, but then it is very rare for me to spray fungicide. I'm in the desert and have sprayed a few grape cuttings and a nectarine tree that arrived with curl from the mail order nursery. Other than that, it is too dry for fungus. When I've used fungicide, it didn't leave any sign that it had been sprayed; no marks, no color. Many sprays say to spray the correct dilution until you see it running off the plants, so I suspect that you are not over-spraying. I'd stop spraying at the withdrawal period. That should be on the package the fungicide came in.

You're probably right Hman, at least it makes logical sense that small operations wouldn't have near the populations of disease organisms for resistant pests to arise. So as a practical matter there doesn't seem to be much of a worry, which is probably why homeowner formulations of things like propiconazole aren't as restrictive about rotation. However, to quote from a distinguished legal philosopher, "the label is the law." Yes, I'm only quoting the first part of said philosopher's proverb. The second part is not as relevant to this discussion, I think. Additionally, it is speculated the second part of the philosopher's dictum may be partially motivated by the admission on the philosopher's part, in a certain discussion regarding Imidan, getting ones fruit takes precedence over submission to bureaucrats. Therefore, as a good citizen, will cling to the philosopher's proverb, do my best to heed the law, and will even fear the bureaucrats.

Plums have been a continual disappointment to me. I'm about ready to chop them all down. I have Opal and Green Gage in the ground, but they don't seem to want to grow. I had a beautiful Toka tree, but it never bore fruit and just up and died a couple of springs back. Ptitsin #5 and Brookgold (I suspect was mislabeled and is really Brookred) will grow and survive the winters OK here -- but they either bloom too early or fruit too late, and are aphid magnets. Frankly, they're not worth the space they take up. I've tried Black Ice about five different times, because I heard it's hardy to zone 3b and fruits earlier in the season. But it always winter kills here. We are supposedly in zone 4 under the newest classification, but I have a hard time believing it. I grow a variety of apples, pears, and sour cherries ... even got a few apricots last year. But I've come to the conclusion that this is just a tough area to try to grow plums.