protect Apples & Pears

[Skerby]

from what i understand, it's best to just stay on top of your trees until you have a problem, then address it.. i.e., if you properly identify apple maggots, then get an appropriate insecticide.. don't just spray them for the sake of spraying.. you need to be spraying for something... $aves money too! i'm planting 100 next spring on bud 9 (dwarf) i'm new to this, but read as much as i can on apples...i'll post some questions for the pros here next year

 

[Robert_in_NY]

from what i understand, it's best to just stay on top of your trees until you have a problem, then address it.. i.e., if you properly identify apple maggots, then get an appropriate insecticide.. don't just spray them for the sake of spraying.. you need to be spraying for something... $aves money too! i'm planting 100 next spring on bud 9 (dwarf) i'm new to this, but read as much as i can on apples...i'll post some questions for the pros here next year

It is called Intergrated Pest Management (or IPM), this is vital to all crops as we need to do proper scouting and counts to know if the problem is at the point where it is causing more damage then it will cost to spray (economic threshold). People who just spray for the sake of spraying and not knowing what or why they are doing it only help the pest develop a resistance and throw money away. A lot of vineyard owners here were spraying for Japanese beatle last year because they found them in their vineyards. However, you need a huge amount of beatles to actually affect the crop as they eat the leaves but not enough to do any major damage. Most of these guys were wasting money on spray because the amount of damage was less then the cost to spray.

Good luck with your orchard.

 

[Skerby]

yea, they sell apple maggot traps that you place on the perimeter of your orchard and count the flys you catch in a certain period and spray under a certain count in that period... integrate your other habits, clear dead fruit litter, install mouse/mole/vole guards, go ahead and apply dormant oil as directed (early spring before flowering) i don't think any insects have yet grown resistant to suffocating

 

[tallyho8]

I love plums and peaches but at this time only have a couple of bearing trees. I wouldn't mind if the birds and other critters would eat half of my produce and save half for me but they insist on taking one or two bites or pecks out of each fruit.

Not wanting to waste my entire crop, I usually wash the peach or plum and cut out the spot that was pecked and eat the rest. My question is: Is this safe to do or could my fruit be contaminated in any way?

 

[DocHeb]

Not wanting to waste my entire crop, I usually wash the peach or plum and cut out the spot that was pecked and eat the rest. My question is: Is this safe to do or could my fruit be contaminated in any way?

Can't produce any scientific papers documenting safety, but that is what I do.

I can remember my Grandfather going nuts about the squirrels and his apricots. He would get so upset that the squirrels would chew off the fruit and drop it on the ground to get at the pit.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

yea, they sell apple maggot traps that you place on the perimeter of your orchard and count the flys you catch in a certain period and spray under a certain count in that period... integrate your other habits, clear dead fruit litter, install mouse/mole/vole guards, go ahead and apply dormant oil as directed (early spring before flowering) i don't think any insects have yet grown resistant to suffocating

The dormant oil mainly affects mites and eggs, the rest of the growing season you have to still deal with new bugs that move in. It is actually a lot of fun to scout for insects and such. You see some amazing critters (assassin bugs are my favorites).

 

[Chuck52]

Aside from insects, my main problem with apple trees is cedar-apple rust. I didn't spray at all this year, but in the past I have tried to control it with neem oil and with Bonide fruit tree spray, which is a multi-component mix for both insects and fungal diseases. I'm not too fond of the idea of the Bonide for the very reason that it does contain multiple components. Except for some invading caterpillars once, insect damage hasn't been all that significant on my apples, but the rust is bad here. There are some resistant varieties, but the more popular disease resistant varieties don't seem very resistant to rust. This year will be a test for me to see just how badly my trees are affected. Not that I planned such a test....I just didn't get around to spraying my trees early enough to ward off the rust. The only trees I have that are old enough to bear much didn't even bloom for some reason this year, so I'm not losing fruit, but it will be of interest to see which of my dozen or so varieties suffer most.

Chuck