Beginning Spraying Supplies/Introduction

Hi,

My name is Ben, this is my first post here, and I am new to growing fruit trees except for blackberries and raspberries. I am located in Eastern Missouri, just South of the Missouri River, about an hour outside of St. Louis. It’s humid and hot in summer, late cold snaps in Spring, and rocky clay soil.

In the past three years, at a new house I have planted 4 apples (Liberty, Arkansas Black, Fuji, unknown forgotten farm store tree), 3 Cherries (Montmorency, Romeo in wine barrel, Juliet in wine barrel), 2 Plums (Methley, Ozark Premier), 2 Peaches (Redhaven, Reliance), 2 Pears (Bartlett, Moonglow). In addition to this, I have a 20 foot raspberry hedge, a 10 foot blackberry hedge, 10 Blueberries all in raised beds or containers, a small asparagus patch, and a small strawberry patch.

The impression that I have received throughout my life is that the Missouri Ozarks is not the best location for growing fruit, but I am not convinced that it is an insurmountable challenge.

A lot of work has been completed to pretty much fill my suburban backyard with these edible plants to try to make success more likely. The holes that I have dug for each tree were more along the lines of large pits. It was all pickaxe and pry bar work to dig each hole. The pits for each tree measured roughly 4’ x 4’ by 4’. I understand that many people recommend not replacing or amending your soils, but I felt that it was necessary to do so on my property. If I did not do so, my holes would have been half empty due to the amount of rocks and boulders that were removed in digging these holes. The soil that I filled the tree holes with was bulk garden mix from local landscape supply shops. The removed rocks and boulders were then used to make raised beds for my berries and other edibles.

Due to the large amount of work completed in planting, I would love to be able to just now kick back and relax. Maybe in a few years, get a little buzz from some homegrown cider and satisfy some munchies with tasty fruit leather. That said, it is my understanding that my beloved State of Missouri, might not want to cooperate with my plans.

This leads to my questions for the forum.

I’m looking to purchase another sprayer to begin spraying my trees. I have a sprayer I use for herbicides in my front yard, but that sprayer is not great and does not enter my back yard. Would anyone have suggestions for a sprayer to purchase that is <$100?

Also, I am not that concerned about trying to be organic, but I am concerned about minimizing work time. Would anybody have any thoughts on sprays to use maybe two or three times a year, that might not lead to a yard of perfect fruit, but help to at least protect some harvest. So the question would be, what one to three spray products would you consider to be essential, and when would be the best two or three times a year to spray these products. Also, I would like to be able to use any products on all of my trees if possible. I have seen some things that are not good for some trees and some not good for others. Any recommendations? Or am I going to be left severely disappointed if I don’t commit to an elaborate spray regiment?

I have seen Scott’s basic spray schedule as I have lurked on this site for a while, and it seemed fairly extensive and elaborate to a newcomer. However, I would like to say, thank you to Scott for maintaining this forum and sharing so much information. It is really appreciated.

Other than that, thank you to everyone else for providing me so much to read while I fill downtime at my office job.

4 Likes

This one is $135 but doesn’t have to be replaced every year. I have one and have also had the cheap ones that need replacing. Cherries, peaches, and apples will have to be sprayed unless you don’t mind eating worms. STIHL SG 20 18 L Backpack Sprayer - Ace Hardware

Here is what you need when your trees are mature: STIHL SR 200 10 L Mister/Sprayer Backpack Sprayer - Ace Hardware

Thanks for the reply,

The SG20 looks durable, I will consider that option.

That said, I do plan on spraying, I would just like to avoid almost weekly spraying. Are worms pretty much guaranteed in all fruit if you don’t commit to that type of regiment?

As I stated, I would prefer possibly a winter spray, a spring spray and a summer spray.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

North,

You need both Luck and persistence. Luck because a late frost and you wait 365 days just to see those cute flowers again. Persistence, you have to keep up on spraying.

Some fruit trees will produce no fruit if not sprayed every 10 to 14 days, like peaches/stone fruit here in the mid-west. If you spray 2-3 times, sorry very likely no fruit. OFM get in early and the little green fruits fall like rain. If you miss sprays mid season, you might get a few wormy peaches. Miss at the end, good fruit with some worms at the pits. Try as you might, then it rains and you have to respray. Let alone traveling and missing sprays

I use a cheep $20 2 gal sprayer with a 6 ft extension tube I added DIY. Allows me to spray from distance.

I got my first real crop in 2020, no travel, just me against the worms! Triaicide with Captan and a sticker did the trick.

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Welcome here @NorthOzarksMO

I am a no sprayer myself and have hoped for even a low spray all organic solution that I could do just a few applications of and get nice clean peaches…

But evidently that is a dream that just does not come true.

I have 3 peach trees and do not spray… and between ofm and brown rot… well it is just quite disappointing.

I do however get some nice clean peaches on my Early peach tree… ripens mid June… some… not all. I am going to try an even earlier variety next to see if that will help more. Rich May.

My later peaches… well BR and OFM get the bulk of those.

If you ever get frustrated with all that and the sprays needed to get good fruit from things like peaches cherries etc…

You might replace your most problematic varieties with some of the recommendations in the post… link below. No Spray Fruits.

Good Luck to you !!!

Early Elberta peach June 22 last year… no spray no ofm no br. Unfortunately only a few were that nice.

2 Likes

Thanks everyone for the advice. It is my understanding that everyone seems to be saying that there is no lazy man’s method that will will get you halfway there.

Then my question becomes more about selecting as few products as possible, that one could stock up on. On that note, I will refer to prior spray schedule posts, but if any midwestern growers have any products that you find indispensable, that information would be appreciated.

Another question, would be is it a better practice to always be proactive or only reactive with sprays when certain problems arise?

After all the work digging my holes, there is no way I won’t be doing everything possible to get fruit.

I think you would want to look at Alan’s synthetic spray schedule. He is on the forum and runs a business that sprays homeowner’s fruit trees. He doesn’t use a large number of sprays and his goals for spraying are very similar to yours.

Generally, most sprays are preventative they will help little after the disease or pest is well established in your orchard.

@NorthOzarksMO

You’ve read my post on no spray fruits already but I wanted to welcome you to the forum. I’m familiar with your area it is very rocky there in places. I’ve spent lots of time around the St Louis area among other places in your state since your fairly close by.

Hi, thanks for the link mroot, and clarkinks, thanks for working through all this research and documentation. I’m thoroughly reading through all of the Spray Schedule.

Some of my key takeaways…

  1. Never spray oil on open or almost open flowers

  2. Necessary materials: Dormant Oil, Immunox, Sevin, Fertilome Systemic Fungicide

  3. Some chemicals could be replaced with Surround and a little luck? Which chemicals would those be?

After reading that, I have some follow up questions, if anyone has an opinion.

  1. Is there a pretty solid consensus of the Stihl SG20 18 L being the thing needed? Would there be a reason to consider going for battery powered over pump? What are some opinions on the ideal tool for spraying a small home orchard, cost being no issue within reason?

  2. While I was digging the holes for the trees, I felt that would have to be the hardest part of growing fruit trees. Was I mistaken?

I have a sprayer from Iva manufacturing with a 5hp Honda engine and John blue pump.
It cost about 2 grand. If you are planning to expand your orchard you might consider one.
I spray about 50 trees with it or so

Battery powered is probably going to be better for a smaller setup. I have used a 10-15ish gallon electric sprayer hooked up to the vehicle battery for herbicide application at work that we just put on the truck for keeping access roads cleared. I imagine at least one of the 18/20v battery brands has some type of sprayer application.

I don’t have a lot of experience, but planting is probably one of the more labor intensive parts depending on the size of the hole. Pruning, grafting, spraying, protecting from critters all takes time and effort, not to mention harvesting, processing and planning.

The most labor intensive part of growing an orchard is pruning and harvest.
Digging the holes is a one time event. Spraying doesn’t take long and I find it fun.

That is the upper half of my backyard. When you see all those rock raised beds, consider that those were all dug out of my yard to plant my trees. Possibly the cheapest raised beds you can get, but extreme amounts of labor were required. I felt like a miner from the nineteenth century. Anyways, I purchased some products to prepare for spraying when the time comes. Horticultural Oil, Sevin, Immunox, Liquid Copper Concetrate. I have a couple pump sprayers already, and am just going to stick with those until I really feel the need to upgrade. That said, a $2000 sprayer of any sort is out of the picture for the foreseeable future, as this is just a backyard grow with 11 trees and a bunch of berries. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Hi,

I have used this sprayer and I purchased it based upon some comments here.

Master Gardener Revolt Series Rechargeable Cart Sprayer — 12 Volt, 9-Gallon Capacity, Model# PCD-E3-009B-MM | Northern Tool