M and M, yes, I think so- there were a couple weeks early that were too wet. But there were other unusual factors, including very high fruit set and perfect growing conditions, with ample warm, clear days between timely rains, that made fruit grow more than usual early in the season- really almost perfect conditions for most of the first 2 months of the season after bloom. Felt like CA conditions.
Earlier apples didn’t have appreciable corking.
So, is Captan supposed to have some preventative or remedial effect on bitter pit? I’ve searched for that and cannot find anything. If so, I might believe it because I’ve had very mild bitter pit every single year in Honeycrisp except this year. This year I had zero bitter pit, not even the slightest trace. Like you, I also had purchased calcium nitrate and gypsum powder and never used either one. The only thing different (other than maybe weather etc) was the use of Captan. Does Captan’s base material utilize calcium or calcium rich material?
I didn’t apply the foliar calcium because I learned after getting it that it should never be tank mixed with Captan, I never soil applied the gypsum because, quite frankly, I forgot about it. I’m going to side dress with some later today now that I’ve been reminded.
Alan, as cheap as the calcium is and since you use synthetics, why don’t you just tank mix the calcium with your sprays? Did you also forget like I did?
If you search Cornell recs you may find the info that Captan is the most effective fungicide for bitter rot, which is what I should have written. It was your success with this variety and your reliance on Captan that coaxed me to seek out that info.
Recs toward the end of this suggest Captan as the best option for bitter rot, which I believe to be my major problem with HC (that and my inability to get enough sugar).
I see.
For some reason, I only got the title page to your link, I couldn’t view any of the text. What I have had in past years was textbook bitter pit, and also the corking usually concentrated towards the lower half of the apple. It was never bad and usually only on say 10% of the crop. This year not a single touch of it. The fact that HC can in some years (like this one) be BP free leads me to believe that the tree has the ability to provide calcium to the fruit under perhaps ideal conditions. This, makes me think that supplemental soil applied calcium could nearly eliminate it altogether without the use of foliar spray. The foliar though I’m sure is the best bet. I’m going to do both, I guess I’ll just have to use something other than Captan when I spray the CN.
Interesting observation. In my reverse case with 4 inches of PH 5.5 on top and then 6.5 to 7.0 below I have not had chlorosis problems with my 10 yr old blueberries.
This is the kind of information you only can get from a forum like this.