I am not an expert on this area of the law. I bought Mancozeb under the label Pentathlon. I use it to control blackspot on rose bushes. I have a fruit tree. I do not use it on edibles due to its label. I regard Mancozeb as a powerfully effective fungicide for ornamentals. I am a bit frightened to spray it on edible stuff.

Bears happen. Here in Montana black bears do wander into our town (well, small city) and cause a lot of problems in orchards and dumpsters. Fish and Game or Wildlife and Parks will humanely deal with them pretty quickly. Usually they dart them and relocate them, sometimes trap. They almost never find it necessary to kill them. I've taken to carrying pepper spray when I'm in the mountains now (as much for wolves and cougar as for bear) and you might consider it. This is a pint aerosol that goes off with a very loud bang and sends a cloud of capsaicin. It has been known to turn charging grizzlies, which is a good trick. One experience with it will convince Black Bear to seek friendlier neighborhoods. Expect to pay forty or fifty bucks for a can. Local bear expert Jamie Jonkel says it will, in fact, deter 9 of 10 grizzlies .... There's no warranty for the tenth bear. You'd have to lay in wait for your bruin, so it may not be practical. I can imagine trying to convince my wife that I needed to sit up and stare at my trees until daybreak! Good luck. We all sympathise. :-)M

Hi there, I am also new to this and plan to get a couple trees in the ground this season. I can personally recommend Honeycrisp. It has an excellent sweet-tart flavor and is very juicy. I've done some research and here is what I have found... Stark Bros seems to be a good place to order from and if possible, get the Honeycrisp on an M26 or Bud 9 rootstock. (dwarf) If anyone disagrees, please let me know! Good luck!

Most people who grow and love to eat lots of apples like apples that are more complex in flavor, like Goldrush. Most people prefer bland sweet flavors like Honeycrisp. Most of them don't grow apples and haven't tried many apples. I didn't particularly like apples until I started trying different kinds of apples at tastings and found some, like Karmijn da Sonnaville and GOldrush, that have lots of flavor. Honeycrisp is also a much bigger apple = more profit and more advertising/publicity. Part of the point of this site is for growers to share ideas. It's ok if one like Goldrush better and one likes Honeycrisp better, but there is no obvious superior, etc. apple. It's just a preference. John S PDX OR