Quick question…I use Bonide Fungonil on my peach trees. What’s you opinions on the time it lasts on the tree after a rain …and yes I sprayed when dry and no rain for 24 hours before.
It’s been raining here every 3 days and wondering if I should respray after every rain.
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As a commercial grower I dont use Fungonil, But the active ingredient Chlorothalonill is used by commercial people in the product Bravo.
The effectiveness after rainfall would depend on the aduvents added to the Fungonil and if you have added anything else. But considering that you are trying to hit a very narrow window of activity of PLC (just before bud swell) I would say that repeat applications are warranted.
We have extreme PLC pressure here in the Pacific NW and trials have been done on the common products used. Chlorothalonill, which is supposed to be an eradicant as well as protectant by nature came out below the other 2 main products being used.
Ziram was most effective followed by various copper products.
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Thanks for the extra treatment chemical advice. Never heard of Ziram.
Im in Ohio. PLC is horrid here. I’ve had good results with fungonil over the last few years. I have been spraying after each heavy rainfall. Just not sure what others have done. I have used a ‘sticker’ additive also but again…not sure if it’ll make it last longer with rain or just longer when dry.
What is a good copper brand you would suggest ? I have around 30 peach trees and wouldnt mind trying other stuff. Especially if copper is more “organic” just for the sake of saying so.
I’m reading about ziram now. Seems to be used on everything that I currently grow. Peaches, plums, grapes, pears. Seems like a go to spray for everything.
Yes, Ziram is popular for control of just about any fungal problems. Basically a chemical formulation of Zinc. There is also Thiram, and Ferbam, each with its main uses.
As far as copper goes, I use a Bordeaux mix, which is copper sulphate and hydrated lime mixed together in equal amounts. Bordeaux is very hard to use in a back pack or hand sprayer if thats what you are using. It needs heavy agitation and a big nozzle, high pressure. Not to mention that it is very toxic, in fact last time i checked it was the only class 1 fungicide. Class 1 being the most toxic to the sprayer. But hey… its organic!
Other formulations like copper hydroxide or cuprous oxide dissolve easily and stay in suspension more readily. These are what you would find on most store shelves.
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I use Kocide 3000 copper, as long as you mix well it is easy to spray.
If you have bad PLC I hope you are doing late fall sprays, that is the most important thing to do.
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Lol. I got into an argument with a long time friend about organic chemicals. She had no idea that even though the chemicals are “organic” they cause a huge health risk. If you’re not a grower then it’s all just marketing that you know I guess.
Thanks for the tips.
Yep. Problem here in NE Ohio is we get a TON of rain during fall through early winter. It’s a pain in the ass. But… I keept it up.
Thanks for the tips also on copper. Would you use your copper spray for black knot on plum? I’ve been using Chloranthonil and so far no knot…but then again the trees are young.
I’ve got peach, plum, pear, persimmon, pawpaw, apples and grapes.
It would be great to find a spray for the stone fruit and pommes and also the grapes that took care of everything from black rot, black knot, plc, fire blight… Instead of using multiple kinds of sprays.
And it seems Ziram will do that.
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I’m in NE Oho as well. On average I spray Chlorothalonill for PLC once around November and once or twice in the late winter /early spring and it seems to do the trick, but I always add a sticker/spreader. As for black knot on plums, I think Chlorothalonill helps some, but doesn’t prevent it 100%. Same with copper.
I never found anything to help much with my black knot so I primarily rely on prompt removal of all knots. Once I started doing that I have not had any significant issues. If it’s on a large limb I first cut out all the darker green wood and then blowtorch it. I just finished pruning and I found only one knot on all my plums.
Re: the one shot fungicide, it doesn’t exist. Ziram is not very useful for brown rot which is one of the biggest issues on stone fruits. You may not have it now but as your trees mature it may become your biggest problem (it did for me). I now have five different synthetic fungicides I use in rotation, plus sulfur and copper. Keep the diseases guessing is my philosophy …
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Kocide 3000 copper is popular and has been discussed here many times. The discussions can be found with a search. I’ve used Southern Ag Liquid Copper Fungicide with a sticker for several years now it has has worked for PLC.
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Copper is very popular on this forum and it does work pretty good.
For a long time it was thought that there would be no resistance problems with copper but recently that has been shown to be not true.
Just be aware that the leading causes of resistance in fungicides are overuse, misuse and trying to stretch the efficacy period too much with stickers.
Its always a good idea to rotate chemistries even if you find one that works well for you.
I realize the sticker thing will raise some hackles on this thread but the science of it is pretty sound.
The biggest offenders would be the resins, terpins like Nufilm. Nufilm is a great product and when applied in the sunlight, as their original instructions used to recommend, creats a hard shell around the plant tissue that breaks down very slowly.
Problem is, in some cases the sticker is outperforming the full performance of the fungicide. As the fungus attacks it is met with less than full strength fungicide. The fungus that is able to survive this is the beginning of resistant fungi.
Hugely over simplified of course but i hope i made sense…
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What’s your spray schedule like for stone fruit? Chemicals that is. I’m sure you’ve answered this question a hundred times though so I apologize.
How much nufilm do you mix per gallon of water? I’ve been using bonides brand but I’m becoming a small orchard now and need better and less expensive brands since I have so many trees.
You should check the label but im pretty sure its less than an ounce.
I havent been getting much in the way of acceptable spray weather for Nufilm this and last year so Ive been using oil. This doesnt have a lot of sticker activity, mostly concerned with spreader, good coverage.
We don’t have near the leaf curl pressure here compared to parts of the western states.
We’ve used chlorthalonil for years with good results. We never use a sticker.
Once I oversprayed windows of the house and the product seemed to stay on forever.
I’ve no doubt Ziram may work better, but the older studies I’m familiar with don’t rate Ziram as effective as chlorthalonil.
That said, I’m highly respective of professional growers. So jcf may be the one to listen to on this.
As a small commercial grower, I recognize times when researchers are just plain wrong. Plus disease pressure is of course vastly different where your feet are standing.
I have a guide here,
which has some generic information but is a bit out of date on what I do now. I now use Indar in nearly every tank plus one of Elevate, Luna Sensation, or Merivon. This is through early June, I usually don’t need to spray after that. I am using Surround (and other stuff, see schedule above) for bugs and it requires a lot of sprays so “every tank” means every 1-2 weeks from petal fall. For dormant spray I do delayed dormant only, at pink, and use oil plus either lime-sulfur or copper. I’m running low on lime-sulfur so am using copper (Kocide 3000) this year and saving the lime-sulfur for my pears.
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Thanks for that. I like seeing what others are doing. Chloranthonil is working for me so far so I guess don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.
I’ll say this …about 15 of my peach trees are from seed. This will be their 5th year. Their resistance to plc was great last year…most I should say. Did they get plc, yes. BUT … The leaves fell and grew back and the fruit wasn’t effected. I didn’t spray last year to see what would happen. So in the fall I started spraying again and this spring they’re on a schedule. One of the trees is a monster that over produces, annoying really, but such a fast grower, awesome tasking fruit and what I feel good resistance to plc. So as the years go on we’ll see what happens.