I clean up active blackspot by spraying with mancozeb 3 times, with 3 days between each spray. I then return to my regular spray schedule of BannerMaxx/mancozeb/Indicate5 (pH balancer with sticker properties to hold the products onto the leaves, some people use dish soap instead)/liquid seaweed. I "usually" spray my regular mixture every 14 days (I've been very lax in spraying this year). Many people use Bayer Advanced Disease Control as both the contact and the systemic. Michaelg noted above that spraying the Bayer product weekly for a month will get control over the blackspot and provide the systemic properties needed to control future outbreaks. Others will have to chime in on this as I am not well-versed on the Bayer product. You don't need to alternate between the Ortho Garden Disease Control and the mancozeb, it won't buy you anything. Just a note, though, that the Ortho product can burn at temps over 80 degrees, but mancozeb does not burn. You will also need a few drops of dish soap in the mancozeb solution to hold it on the leaves.

I have done some recent testing with my Honeywell tstats and the CPH adjustment definately changes the cycle rate, but it takes a while for the settings to reach a steady state. I lowered mine from 3 to 2 and the average number of cycles per hour dropped accrodingly, but it took at least 2 hours to see a rotuine, repeatable cycle per hour rate. When the cycles decreased the ON time for each cycle increased. I also measured the swing in the various room temperatures: they increased from a +/- 0.5 degree swing with CPH=3 to a +/- 1.5 degree swing with CPH=2 which I did not like, so I eventually reset the CPH back to 3. The techs you talked to at Honeywell must not understand the software running in the tstat. I found a nice description of the Honeywell P+I algorithm way in the back of the Vision PRO documentation - and I believe that same algorithm is used in the other PRO tstats (I have 3210 PRO non programmable digital tstats). If you read the description of this algorithm, you can see that it is a combination of room temperture/set temp differential and long term room temperture trend that the tstat uses to decide when to call for heat and how often. In your case it may be that even with a lower CPH change the tstat will still come on more frequently beacause the differential between room and set to temperature is also a factor. How are you measuring the room temperture? One thing I noticed is that it takes quite a while for the stat to reach normal operation when you change the settings - and this makes sense after reading the manual on the P+I algorithm. I let it run with the new settings for 12 hours, and took 2 sets of measurements: one set at night and the other in the early morning for 3 hours worth of cycling each. I evaluated both sets of readings, and made one GW post for advise, before making any decisions on re-adjustment of CPH. The other thing I learned is that the Honeywell "Room Temp" has quite a range on it - something like +/- 2 or 3 deg. So while the tstat was showing a room temp of 65 even when I lowered CPH to 2, the actual temp swing I measured in that room was 64 to 66 which I verified with a standalone thermometer that i placed on a stand right next to the wall tstat. Prior to the CPH chnage, that room alawys stayed in the 64.2 to 65.2 range. This room temp display range is also described in the Vision PRO manual - and with the Vision PRO device you can actually change the tstat so that it displays the actual room tempertaure, which I cannot do that with my tstat. That alone was a good discovery for me. I don't know how you did your testing. Even with the decision to change to a different tstat, i would still test the Honeywell unit throughly so you have a good baseline from which to compare. Use independent thermometers in a few rooms to measure the temp at the on and off times with the CPH at the recommended manual setting and then again with the change to a lower CPH. Make measurements at night and in the early morning when the outside temps are lowest,and do this for a few hours of cycling. It is a pain to do but the data will be useful when you compare the results with the new tstat. After chnaging to the new tstat, I would repeat the tests and compare. There is a lot happening behind the scenes in these digital tstats. You have to get into the details of not only what algorithm the tstat uses for contolling heat ON/OFF, but also what algorithm it uses for displaying the room temp. best of luck.

I am a 38-year-old (I think, hard to remember at times!), female with 2 young children and a full-time (overtime required) job with no nanny/grandparents/help. My youngest has finally reached the blissful age of 5-years-old, so I can finally let him out of my sight for a few minutes! I've had more time for hobbies this year than the past 9 years combined. I don't remember when I registered. I know I lurked on several forums starting around 2005 before I finally registered. Whenever I searched for information on things like appliances or kitchen renovations, gardenweb posts always appeared on the search engine. I started saving myself some time by searching this site first. I think Vip (vcheethi) said what I have been trying to articulate for years. As I have always suspected, this board leans heavily toward the still active, empty-nesters. I can't keep up. I do read and try to retain information for later. I've found lot of great ideas that I hope to use later. (Lately you all have me pining for a sewing machine. That may have to be my next project/hobby for my next block of free time.) Peaceful state ... yes, that is it exactly. I pop in and out of here as my time permits. Decorating is a fun "extra" to me so it comes last after all my responsibilities. I received a lot of help recently with my library. It is looking good (at least I think so). Last weekend I took the plunge and bought new curtains. Once I have them in place, I will post new pictures. I *thought* I'd have them up by now, but as always, life throws a curveball. FIL is in ICU right now. I popped in tonight for a distraction since I can't sleep anyway.

Butchering a fruit tree should be done in winter while the tree is dormant, as I advised in my initial post. In the spring after the tree has expended it's stored energy into pushing out new leaves puts a lot of stress on the tree. It wants to start collecting the expended nutrients, sugars, and energy from the new leaves but once those leaves are cut off, it has to start over. That tree did, as you said, push out new growth again so the butcher job didn't kill it right away. Looking at the trees in the background and how some seem to still be dormant and others are just starting to push out new growth, I wouldn't discount the tree yet. I think its great you only like a natural growing tree. In my small yard, even a fruit tree on dwarfing rootstock will grow to 15' which is too large for my needs. I keep my trees manageable for what I want. The local avocado and apple growers have been switching from growing standard height trees to growing shorter trees with more trees in a spacing. Lines of trees that were on 20' centers have been cut to the trunk and another tree planted in between to create 10' centers and then the trees are kept to the 10-15' range for ease of picking. The trees are more productive per acre, and there is much less danger in picking them because the picker isn't 25 feet up in the air. I'd like to note that many of use here advised the OP to first thin the branches out to rejuvenate the tree and re-establish the apple growing wood. The option of topping the tree down to the trunk was extreme and not what I would do first, however it was an option should that fit the OPs needs. The question was if the trees were worth saving and if they could be salvaged. I answered with a resounding yes to both and stand by my answer. The trees can absolutely be rejuvenated and for you suggest giving up on that old of a tree because its old doesn't make any sense to me. We have many 100+ year old apple trees in my local mountains still producing fruit.