Hman, the Retail Immunox label lists for 'Brown rot' but Cornell states "It is neither registered nor affective for control of fruit brown rot". Many pesticides loose their effectiveness in commercial orchards because the fungus develops resistance. You can read olpea's Hello Indar report above that talks about disease getting resistant to a similar type fungicide. It says; "Warning!! Growers who might consider using Indar for summer diseases face a critical decision. Using DMI fungicides during summer will almost certainly speed selection for DMI-resistant strains of apple scab." "We know that DMIs are no longer effective against apple scab in many orchards, so it makes sense to consider Indar as an option for summer disease control in these orchards." My opinion is the author is saying Rally/Immunox is no longer effective on Apple scab and be careful because newly approved Indar will soon loose its effectiveness.

I have sometimes suffered some phototoxicity apparently from applying oil between 10 and 14 days following Captan. The label of either the oil, Captan or both clearly warns of incompatibility but there is no written indication that residue from Captan could create a problem this much later. Only certain varieties, particularly Tomkins King have had this kind of response to so late an interval between Cap and oil- also pears are particularly sensitive. Oil probably wouldn't leave as lasting a residue-it evaporates very quickly, at least if you use some kind of summer oil. I like Purespray. The 10 to 14 day interval for PC protection is for Imidan only. Most other available materials will require a tighter interval and at least an additional spray unless you are very attentive or lucky. Imidan is exceptionally rain-fast for a non-systemic. The manufacturer doesn't even recommend a sticker. As far as historic PC protection results, you never can be sure what your chemicals are doing for you unless you see the PC in your orchard and then spray. In recent years in the Northeast PC has become somewhat less predictable on some sites based on my observations. In 2 of the last 4 years I have seen unsprayed sites produce apples without PC damage. These are large trees with lots of apples. PC often leaves the russeted old-strain Yellow Delicious alone as well. Too bad I don't much like them although they're a lot better than the new strains. PC disagrees with me and attacks those newer strains. Imidan is not nationally restricted and the government is stearing its use away from homeowners because they don't trust them to follow the label. It now has a 3-day REI, probably because it can be tracked indoors, especially off a dew covered grass. Once it is brought indoors it is almost as durable as DDT, outside it breaks down quickly. I wouldn't do any hand thinning of fruit until about 2 weeks after a spray myself which is very inconvenient. On varieties I'm almost sure will overcrop I remove a lot of flowers because I don't use chemical thinners. The Imidan label says not for residential use but according to code I now believe this means indoors, from what I read while studying for certification renewel. I called the NYDEC and was told that it is OK to use in resedential areas. In NY it is restricted to commercial applicators unless you are a commercial grower. In CT it is sometimes available from suppliers catering to commercial landscapers and is not restricted. It can legally be sent through the mail 1 package at a time. I can even have it sent to NY from another state even if I don't prove I'm licensed to use it here. Of course it would be illegal for me to use it if I wasn't licensed.

Many retail outlets are indicating that it has been discontinued by the manufacturer. We have had several products like Calypso and Tourismo that were discontinued by the manufacturer, yet we were still able to get the product from distributors and the manufacturer was still listing it until all supplies had been exhausted. Check some online listings for Spectracide Triazicide and you will see that many indicate that it has been discontinued. It may also be that Spectracide has discontinued only certain sizes. Because of the whole bee toxicity thing, many products are seeing a major slowdown in retail sales and those products are being discontinued in conjunction with their lack of sales in the retail market.. I know that Bonide has completely changed the chemistry of its Fruit Tree Spray because of the phase out of carbaryl. It used to contain Captan 12%, Malathion 6%, Carbaryl .3% and a spreader sticker. Now it has a new name of Fruit Tree & Plant Guard and contains Lambda-Cyhalothrin .05%, Pyraclostrobin 3.06% and Boscalid 5,622%, yet Bonide still shows their Fruit Tree Spray listed on their web site. They discontinued the Fruit Tree Spray last year. I only know because I went to college with the regional sales rep and he told me last spring that they had discontinues it.

Sujiwan, If you're still here, you do not need different sprayers for different fungicides. In fact, it's common to tank mix both fungicides and insecticides and apply at the same time. As Glenn and Marcus pointed out, it is advisable to have a different sprayer for herbicides. Glenn addressed your pome fruits, but for your plums you'll probably need a fungicide to protect against brown rot. Captan or Montery Fungi Fighter should protect you from brown rot. Captan can also be used on apples, whereas Fungi Fighter is not labeled for pome fruits. In terms of your chickens, generally speaking the pesticides we are discussing are not inordinately lethal to birds. I've sprayed trees that had Robins nests in them, and it didn't seem to affect the birds at all. Hman has mentioned Imidan will cause birds to vacate nests, but I doubt you'll be using that. If you want more information on the avian toxicology of a specific compound, Google the active ingredient of a pesticide with the term "LD 50". For instance Triazicide has gamma cyhalothrin as its active ingredient. Googling shows an LD 50 value of greater than 5000 for quail. Anything over 1000 shouldn't cause problems to your chickens, even if you sprayed them directly with the mix.