hey folks. ive been using only immunox on my stone fruit the last 3 years. its been working ok. i need to start rotating to something else. what has worked best on stonefruit for you guys? i know its been discussed before. too lazy to look. captan? i have blossom end blight and brown rot on my sour cherries occasionally and lost 1 tree this spring to the blight despite spraying well with copper in Apr.
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I interspersed immunox with Monterey Complete Disease Control or Bonide Revitalize (both utilize Bacillus amyloliquefaciens).
Immunox has a limit of 5 sprays and season. My growing season is way too long and those 5 sprays go fast. I alternate Immunox and copper first(except for trees sensitive to copper and only copper before the heat of summer starts). I then switch to bio.
I can’t tell you how effective it is though as I have not had major issues in the last few years besides bacteria based issues. High humidity and heat I’m mostly protecting against mildew and mold.
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Captan works very well for peaches. I don’t grow cherries and plums. I’ve used it for years.
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This is a general spray schedule for my climate. I suggest that you can get by with a single fungicide application to control brown rot on most stonefruit if you get it about a month before ripening, but this may not apply further south. Bonide Infuse mixed with Captan at highest rates would be my suggestion. If you are having any success with myclobutanil you do not have as high disease pressure as many of us in the humid region. The label may be the law but it is not always the truth.
Bonide Infuse Systemic Disease Control Concentrate, 16 oz, Bonide product/model #148, active ingredient propiconazole 1.55%
Just make sure the label allows stonefruit. I couldn’t really confirm it and labels are changing all the time. This is a much larger amount, but I know the label allows its use on stonefruit. https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=924&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplp924&sc_intid=924&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20598086762&gbraid=0AAAAAD_TCfRvHSSc2frE4O0hPhU0YWF8C&gclid=CjwKCAjwuuPRBhAnEiwA2Ji8elfgsAxEKi9HzuZNzZbGb-LxkiKy-9BypUUYmMUhM86AiFZEcUNp2xoC7KYQAvD_BwE
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Indar (expensive but good)
I use captan mixed with toledo because it’s inexpensive but if I could I’d rotate with something like indar.
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Chlorothalonyl works very well for Blossom Blight, but it has to be sprayed on open blossoms before rain events. It can’t be sprayed after petal drop or shuck split (I can’t remember which; review the label).
Captan is harsh on cots after fruit development, and had caused my crop to drop years ago, so I stopped using it.
For rotation with Immunox, I would use Bonide Fruit Tree and Plant Guard: https://www.solutionsstores.com/amfile/file/download/file/5470/product/10435/
It has different mode of action fungicides than Immunox. Infuse belongs to the same class as Immunox, so is not good for rotation with it, plus, from my experience it is week against brown rot (Indar from the same class is more effective than both).
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I don’t think rotation is an important issue for home growers, the math is entirely different when you aren’t doing a monoculture on multiple acres. There is no specific research on the affect of scale in terms of developing resistance- who would pay for it? I can only speak from decades of anecdote working in scores of home orchards. No immunity issues anywhere yet, although I rely on myclobutanil for scab and CAR control. However, I do throw Captan in the mix. Not as a rotation but in the same tank.
Early in my career I was informed that my low-spray methods would breed resistance by a Nutrien (major U.S. ag chem supplier) guru. He was trained to give advice to commercial growers, but his advice has not panned out in my business. I ran my reasoning by AI and what information there is seems to support my experience.
And yet members here frequently speak of concern about resistance- generally as a precaution not based on bad experiences.
See my note about pesticide rotation. I expect in most cases by the time resistance develops in a non-commercial scale mixed fruit orchard, the material will likely be obsolete anyway.
However, I was unaware of Toledo and looked it up. It seems to come in very large packaging but the same chemical can be purchased at a reasonable price with a different name. https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1285
It is said to work almost as well as Indar.
Thanks for the heads up- I need to edit my spray guide. It is also labeled for apples to control CAR and scab and doesn’t wash off in the rain.
Thanks for the heads-up.
I thought you were mistaken on this, but I just learned you are supported by U.C. Davis whose advice is to never use Captan on cots. I never had even considered this and have frequently used Captan at heavy strength on cots without damaging the fruit. For decades.
I just had CHAT review the research U.C Davis is drawing from to recommend against its use on cots, and it doesn’t exist. Apparently the concern is about residue on fruit. Cap can be washed off of fruit, systemics cannot.
It seems to have nothing to do with fruit damage.
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I never considered it. I do think it’s good to kick brown rot when it’s down so use both plant guard and infuse in your rotations. You could use them together. The idea is not to use two products that work the same way. Use one or the other. Since these work differently. Use both. Nothing about resistance more about redundancy. Don’t be redundant.
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Sounds more like, be redundant to increase caution.
Commercial growers do not use your method, but I do. However I do it mostly with insecticides when one isn’t particularly affective against at least one of the active pests I’m fighting. Also, using Captan with a systemic like Indar means that the Indar will not wash off while the Captan can relocate to new growing tissue after light rain.
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@steveb4
Chlorothalonil (around us the brand name is Daconil) has a long PHI (post harvest interval) of 42 days on stone fruit. Like @ahmad said, spray at bloom (not after fruit formed). That’s why this fungicide is not used after fruit form (before shuck split in peaches).
I use Indar (febuconazole) which is the same class as tebuconazole. It is suggested that we don’t need to use two fungicides from the same class. Indar is very expensive for small backyard growers. I’ve seen people buy it together and split it up.
Captan is being faded down. It is not possible for me to find it in MA.
@jerryrva mentioned on another thread a fungicide called Pageant Intrinsic Brand fungicide. It contains the same two fungicides as in Pristine and in the Bonide Fruit Tree and Plant Guard. It lists control of blossom blight (monillinia spp) among many other fungal diseases. It comes in different sizes so it seems more affordable. I may look into this brand myself.
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I’m told the ingredient in Toledo is similarly effective to Indar and the link I included leads to a reliable source for it for about $47 that will last a very long time.
The vanishing of Captan in small batches is somewhat baffling. It is still an integral component of commercial fruit production because of its wide range of efficacy and the difficulty of building resistance to it. I used to be able to purchase it in somewhat small bags but now have to buy it in large quantities.
@alan
Glad you pointed out that Toledo is about $44 for 2 lbs at Keystone Solutions (I am aware of Keystone’s good reputation). That’s very good price. @steveb4 may want to look into this.
Steve, many years ago, I started spraying fungicide using Immunox (myclobutanil). After 4-5 years, I realized that it does not work well for blossom blight/brown rot so I have switched to Indar and it has worked well.
If you want to try a more affordable and easy to find product in store, you can buy Bonide Fruit Tree Spray and Plant Guard. It has two good fungicides and an insecticide (in case you have cherry flies, plum curculio, etc. damaging your cherries). Be careful when buying Bonide products. The have many with similar names. Look for one that has Plant Guard in the name and check the ingredients.
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The issue with Toledo for Apple and stone fruit (at least the formation I have) is the long REI compared to Indar and some of the other pesticides. It does work well.
The long REI isn’t a problem in my situation but I can imagine places it would be. For grapes and bunch of other things the REI is much shorter- I wonder why.
Also, the formulation I have specifically says it’s not for use on pome fruit in New York! That seems really odd to me, why just NY? Why just pome fruit?
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Indar and Toledo are in the same class (DMI 3) of fungicides. Would be more advantageous to apply a different class for better long-term resistance. My rotation includes Indar, Fontelis, Inspire Super, and Pristine. For regular cover spray I use Topsin-M with either Captan or Ziram. In my experience I have found that it’s more cost effective to use super rot fungicide closer to ripening time.
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what is REI?
i should have mixed immunox with copper back in apr. it may have worked better than spraying immunox just after petal fall.
well after talking on here earlier, i went digging in the closet where i store my chemicals and found 1/4 full bottle of infuse and half a bottle of daconil. only dry period in the 7 day is tom. morning. is it ok to apply both of these at once? my cherries are the size of a pea. plums are half that size. im also going to add a insecticide also as im seeing alot of damage on some trees. thanks for the education folks. you rock!
Re-entry intervals. The amount of time before you mess around with trees that were sprayed.
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