Good day everyone,
Last year I used a multi tree spray without success. OFM got them all. This year I’m spraying insecticide and fungicide separate.
The Captan material states it can be used pre-bloom and during bloom. Is there a time of day that is best? I saw my first bee today and 25% of the follower buds are open. I plan to use a Sticker/spreader by Hi Yield.
Thank you
@ILParadiseFarm thanks for the list of very useful articles. I’ll be adding it to my database of important docs.
@Paddy, the FarmProgress article is an important read. Here is one quote from it:
One study found that Propiconazole mixed with a pyrethroid insecticide was 16.2 times more toxic to bees than the insecticide alone. Similarly, research has shown that feeding larval honey bees pollen contaminated with fungicides can lead to increased mortality. Exposure to pollen containing captan, ziram, or iprodione led to 100 percent mortality of larvae.
Many of us know what chemicals to use to protect our fruit. Sometimes, we simply forget to think that those chemicals are harmful to beneficial insects, not just bees. Other times, we simply don’t know.
@ILParadiseFarm, thank you for the reminder.
Why do you want to spray during bloom? I usually do my first spray at shuk fall for plum curculio.
This is the discussion I was wanting. I have assumed with the label stating pre-bloom, during bloom and at petal fall, it was safe for bees. So my question was about the time of day to minimize the effects. If for example, once dry it’s safe, then I’d spray in the evening after the bees have gone to the hive. But if this is bad for bees, then it’s frustrating the label does not state it.
So to answer the question, “why spray during bloom?” Because the label said to.
I have been warned once I beet the OFM, I will need to learn how to combat brown rot. I was just hoping to fully defend the potential future fruits. But it sounds like it’s not needed
It’s best to avoid spraying during bloom, specially insecticides. Fungicide spraying during bloom is sometimes recommended if it rains during bloom, in order to combat blossom rot, which is a form of brown rot. I did that last year, but this year I will not do it, to see if there is a significant difference in outcomes. Brown Rot pressure is usually not high till after a few years of cropping your trees, so I would not spray during bloom if I were you, still, I would spray the fruits probably twice during the season. If you decide to spray during bloom, I would delay as long as possible so that I maximize the chance pollination has already occurred, specially if you plan to use a sticker. Also, I usually spray in the late evening, as this is the time when bee activity is lowest. Finally, be aware of spray drift to garden beds, lawns and other parts of your yard that may have flowers.
I am not sure if it makes any difference to spray fungicide at dusk, the residual life of most fungicides is greater than 8 hours. In other words the fungicide is still active the next day when the bees would start pollinating.
Last year I sprayed my peaches once roughly during partial/full bloom with fungicide only. After shuck split I sprayed 4 times, every 7 to 10 days with fungicide and insecticide. I had zero brown rot and very little peach scab.
Last year I used Indar and Regalia. I just sprayed my peaches, apples and pears yesterday using Indar, Captan and Regalia. It bothers me that after I spray there is a noticeable decrease in the bees on the trees for at least a few days, but last year I had a bumper crop.
There is an old thread where it was discussed that spraying peaches with fungicide during pre-bloom/bloom is not necessary. It may depend on the disease pressure in your area.
I’m concerned too. The Farm Progress article was very interesting.
This is the first year I did not spray fungicide during bloom on peaches like the commercial spray guide for my area recommends. Hope I don’t have any problems as a result.
It would be great if the bloom spray was really unnecessary.
Since the apples are going away I will not spray them during bloom (or any other time)
Most of the time I combine fungicides and insecticides together in the same spray, and that’s why I spray at dusk.
How do you keep the flower thrip from damaging your Nectarines?
I don’t have high thrips pressure here in Delaware, but you are right, that’s another reason to spray during bloom. For thrips, Spinosad, which is fairly safe to bees (after the spray dries out), is effective.
We do here. One has to start early and often.
Thrips are completely held in check by beneficial nematodes and ladybug larvae and you will not get much if any ladybug larvae when you spray pyrethroids or Organophosphates. It makes me really sad when people spray anything other than beneficial bacteria during bloom in general. Maybe eventually all the pollinators will avoid fruits sprayed with pesticides,fungicides or herbicides because the ones that did not died or reproduced less. Already mason bees and some other pollinators seem to do this. The beneficial nematodes are known to avoid plants treated with imidacloriprid
Some pesticides will have a repellent effect on insects, and I don’t want to repel pollinators away from my fruit tree blooms. Another reason to be careful of what and when to spray blooms.
Thrips spend most of their life cycle on grass/weeds before they move to nectarine flowers. A couple of years ago I removed most weeds/grass and covered the ground with wood chips in the vicinity of my nectarine trees and since then I see much less of thrips damage on the fruit.
I don’t spray a fungicide on our peach trees during bloom. We get a considerable amount of rain in the spring (before, during, and after bloom). I’ve not seen any issues with blossom blight. I suspect I get some protection of blossom blight from a dormant chlorothalonil spray for leaf curl. Chlorothalonil is a very effective multi-site fungicide with excellent residual activity. I suspect it kills most Monilinia (pathogen which causes blossom blight) in the orchard before the trees bloom.
Scab treatments don’t begin till after shuck split, so there is no reason to treat for scab during bloom.
Paddy,
I would just ignore the label of multi tree spay, if it says to spray during bloom. Spraying during bloom won’t help you with OFM, or PM. Both of those insect pests don’t show up in mass number till after bloom anyway.
Olpea,
I think there was some confusion growing in this thread from a Captan fungicide question to insecticide use. . The reference to Bonide’s Multipurpose Fruit tree spray was what I used last year as an Insecticide and only after petal fall. I would never spray an insecticide during bloom for clear reasons. What I wrote was the MPF spray was not effective against OFM, so I was going to stop using it and start using separate chemicals for insects and fungus issues. Meaning Captan for fungus. I plan to use Traicide for OFM at Petal fall. I also have Spinasad and Surrond WP, again, only after Petal fall.
The label for the Captan stated Pre-bloom, Bloom and shuck, not the Bonide MPF spray.
After last years massive OFM lose, I don’t want to just move to the next potential issue, Brown rot or what ever fungus waiting to ruin my year.
Gotcha. I see what you are asking now. Yeah, I wouldn’t bother with the Captan until petal fall (Actually I wait till shuck split before I start spraying peaches with anything.)
Hi Olpea,
When do you spray Chlorothalonil? Looking at the Echo label
“Make one application at budbreak or popcorn (pink, red or early white bud). If weather conditions favor disease, make a second
application 10 days later (full bloom to petal
fall). Apply at shuck split to prevent infections on young fruit. If additional disease
control is needed after shuck split and
before harvest, use another registered fungicide.”
I regret spraying my peaches during bloom, pre-shuck. There is considerably less bee activity (like none) on my trees now. It should not matter on the peaches, all have been in full bloom for some time and should be pollinated except Lars Anderson but my pears, cherries and apples are a different story.
Spud
If you start off spraying based on the label you may be addicted to that schedule for the rest of your life. Olpea has much different conditions than I do in S. NY in a wide range of sites and a wide range of micro-climates- 5-7. Neither of us have ever regretted skipping fungicide on stone fruit until petal fall because we’ve never (in 27 years for me) seen blossom blight on stone fruit.
To be a competent grower you have to take a certain amount of chances to test the perimeters, IMO. You will have barely begun doing this if you skip the pre-petal fall spray of stone fruit.
Now pears and apples are another subject, I put an app on apples of myclo when I spray them with oil pre-bloom. Cornell suggests I need to do it once during bloom, but scab doesn’t seem to read their directives. They have a different union in home orchards.