Brown Rot and when to spray

[Swizzle]

I had a problem with brown rot on my apricots and plum trees this year. I was wondering when is the best time to spray a fungicide and what is the best product that you have used?

[Olpea]

If you have just a few trees, probably something simple and easily obtainable for you, like Captan, is going to be your best bet. Depending on pest pressure, if you spray a couple times starting about a month before harvest, that should help a lot. For a stronger kick in a high pressure situation, you could add a product call Montery Fungus Fighter into the mix, but it’s probably not necessary.

There are a lot of different approaches to the material to use to combat a pest problem (e.g. Monolinia fructicola - the fungus that is causes brown rot) and how often, as well as when to spray. So I wouldn’t necessarily expect the same answer from two different growers. It depends on one’s goals, type of fruit, location, etc.

Here are a couple different approaches to spraying.

Low-Impact Spray Schedule (2019 Edition)

Here is my “low impact” spray schedule, updated from this old version - https://growingfruit.org/t/low-impact-spray-schedule/3610. This has been refined over about 15 years of successes and failures. My rough guide for low impact is no wide-spectrum poisons, which also means no PyGanic or rotenone. Spinosad is about as broad a poison that I use. I don’t personally draw the line at organic vs not, but this schedule is mostly organic and I will suggest some substitutions if you want to be 100%…

Spray Schedule- Synthetic Materials

Alan Haigh- The Home Orchard and Nursery Co. REPRINT PERMISSION FROM ALAN HAIGH REQUIRED Low Spray Schedule for Home Orchards in the Northeast Here’s my spray schedule for the scores of orchards I manage around SE NY adapted for home owners managing a few fruit trees. It has functioned well for me for over 2 decades, although J. Beetles and brown rot of stone fruit increases the number of sprays and necessary pesticides some years some sites. Stink bugs are also an increasing problem,…

[scottfsmith]

@Olpea

Montery Fungus Fighter

I think that got phased out but Bonide Infuse contains the same ingredient (propiconazole). In the mid-Atlantic where I am I need a serious chemical like that, but in Maine you may be fine with Captan. In any case the Bonide Infuse product is easy to find on-line.