It was my understanding back in February of 2013 that the phase out was to be completed by 2017, with the newer label restrictions being the first phase. I haven't seen any new data that refutes or supports that lately though. The phase out was announce back in '06. Our network began in 2006 with the phaseout of all organophosphates due to the projected total phaseout and started coming up with alternatives as have many other extensions services around the country. Bonide is phasing out the Fruit Tree Spray that contains Captan, Carbaryl and Malathion (MPFS) and the new Fruit Tree & Plant Guard spray is replacing it. Unfortunately, Lambda-cyhalothrin, one of the major components of the new spray is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops or broadleaf weeds, ie dandelions, clover, etc. We actually had to remove all of those peach trees in 2006 because they ended up freeaing when we hit a spell of -26 temps the previous winter. We replanted new trees in 2013 and the jury is still out on those trees. We planted them in the southern most portion of our East orchard and they got sun all day long. We have lost all the new wood, but it seems that some of the 1"+ wood may have survived this past winter. The jury is still our as to how many survived. We should know in another week or two....as soona s we see some 60 degree + temps here!! All the apple trees have been hanging around green tip to 1/4" green now for over a week and the peach trees have not shown any green tip at all, but some of the wood is still green inside. Only time will tell!! We lost Reliance, PF 24C, and Contender back in '06. We now hacve PF 24C Cold Hardy, PF24C-007 and PF 7A and PF 5D. I'll let you know how they turn out!

Concerning bleach and concentration. The recommendation of: "1/4 cup bleach in 3 gallons of H20" gives an available chlorine concentration around 267 ppm. This amount IS a high concentration compared to the "safe" drinking water and swimming pool examples. ------------------------- Drinking water has about 0.5 to 2 ppm available chlorine: http://www.newmadridcountyhealthdept.com/wands.html -------------------------- Swimming pools are about the same ("Check chlorine level in pool water at least daily with a pool testing set and add this product as needed to maintain 0.6 to 1.0 ppm available chlorine." This is from the Clorex company: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/archive/index.php/t-5852.html ------------------------ Concerning the comment: "Bleach solution (3 teaspoons per gal. H20 is the preferred method of commercially sanitizing food preparation surfaces and utensils." H. Kuska comment: that mixture yields a ppm of 195. However, that amount is put on a surface not sprayed into the air! In addition to short term high exposure problems, there are problems with long term low exposure problems with chlorine, see (since the original poster is from Wisconsin): http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/chlorine.htm Here is a link that might be useful: Wisconsin Dept. of health services

Whaas: Yes, pines and spruces can exude sap, but that sap is not enough to cover large wounds, and even if it were, it would not prevent rot. Pine sap can for a time can create a barrier that can delay fungal infections, but it is not itself a fungicide. In fact, I have had a lot of experience with large wounds to both pines and Norway spruce trees--the fungal rots enter these trees faster than in most, and the rot spreads very, very fast. Before I hit on the liquid copper fungicide, I experimented with Captan, and with Bordeaux mixture. With both I saw fungal fruiting bodies within two years--maybe just 1.5 years. But, if one prunes off smaller side branches from pines and spruces, there is virtually no risk of fungal rot entering those kinds of cuts. With red pines especially, the cut surface is impregnated with pitch, and is very, very rot resistant. But this is not the kind of situation I am recommending this fungicide treatment for. The cuts I made on about a dozen white pines, for example, were to remove 1/2 of a forked tree, and the cuts were generally about 8" by 12". My forester who saw what I had done said that I was wasting my time trying to save such trees. Hah! He should see them now. White pines with a tight "V" shaped fork will eventually split in storms about 90% of the time, hence my acting to save them. Every one of the trees I cut this way about 27 years ago is now a beautiful, straight white pine tree, 100 feet tall, and as healthy as any tree can be. I have also had a few white pine and spruce trees clawed by bears, leaving large areas with the bark removed. I have treated these trees also, and no rot has appeared in these either. With the spruce, sap did cover a part of the damaged areas. With the white pine, sap actually covered very little. But, even had the sap covered these areas, there would have been a delay of just three, or maybe up to 5 years--not nearly enough time for the callus to cover the wounds. --Spruce

Ichabod, "I formerly used Consan 20." So what do you use now? Was there some reason you discontinued the use of Consan 20? I think Consan is what I used on my zinnias about 30 years ago in my Fort Worth garden. I haven't seen it on the shelves of garden stores in recent years. This year I used GreenCure® with excellent results in preventing powdery mildew (I had none this year), but apparently GreenCure has no effect on bacterial leaf spot, which ran amok in my zinnias as cool, wet weather set in. I am thinking about using a copper-based bactericide in addition to potassium bicarbonate next year. But perhaps Consan 20 would have been effective in preventing my bacterial leaf spot. However, there are conflicting opinions as to the safety of Consan 20. MM