My husband used up more than 4 gallons to spray 3 mature fruit trees: 2 peach and 1 plum. The trees are full size.
I think he used too much. We have a 4 gallon battery operated sprayer that produces good enough mist (in my opinion), but he had to douse each individual branch from top down and bottom up. He said he just couldn’t help it.
My questions are:
Is 4 gallons for 3 trees too much?
if yes to 1), can I make SLIGHTLY diluted solution (Of pesticide and fungicide) for him, trading slightly diluted solution for much better then usual coverage?
if yes to 2), any ideas and suggestions How much I can trade off? I know it can not be too diluted, what might be an acceptable dilution?
This topic came up in another thread. See below. Since then I’ve only done one spray and I’ve increased the amount I spray a little bit. Still I’m using less than two gallons on 10 trees. But I may be still on very light side on this.
My sprayer holds 1 1/2 gallons and I can generously spray my two semidwarf, fully leafed-out trees with that. If the trees are bare I probably use less than 1/2 that. For full sized trees I’d expect to use maybe twice as much per tree, probably more.
This is a complex issue. I’ve been a licensed pesticide applicator for 20 years now, and the issue of how much exactly to spray is the hardest thing to teach or to get consistently correct. Generally commercial grade products have a rate per acre or square feet, and, technically, legally you are obligated to follow the label as the label is the law. Realistically, it’s damned difficult to get 5 different people to apply the product exactly consistently. So much also depends on circumstances, if you want to kill mites with oil, complete coverage is essential, including underside of leaves, so you need to use more product. A systemic fungicide being applied as a preventative only requires a rather lighter coverage.
Has he calibrated his sprayer? That’s how you would figure out how many gallons per acre he sprays, and mix the tank appropriately. It is very easy–anybody can do it.
@esoteric_agriculture, I went to read the Captan label, got stumped by the nomenclature here. What is considered “ground equipment” here? And what does “by air” mean? My battery Powered prayer is Considered as what, ground equipment or air equipment?
I have 20 apple trees. I usually spray Imidan Captan and sometimes Rally.
I spray about 10 gallons before bloom when the trees are not leafed out. I spray 15 gallons after bloom. Sometimes 20 gallons when the trees are fully leafed out.
I have bigger trees on MM111 rootstock
“By air” means using an airplane or helicopter. So it won’t apply to you. Aircraft use less water as a solvent because water is heavy (greater than 8 lbs per gallon) and also because they move faster than ground vehicles .
Both my pear and my apple are about 12 feet tall and probably close to 16 feet diameter in the most spread out areas. I’m able to tend to much of them from the ground, but need a six foot ladder to get to the higher branches. An eight-footer works even better.
@marknmt, My trees have about the same span but Slightly shorter. So what’s the difference between a regular and semidwarf tree? I pruneD off the taller branches.
@Sara_in_philly,
I just sprayed yesterday. My plum trees are about 8x8 and 8x10 ft. I used about a gallon (or a bit less) per tree to be thoroughly covered. I don’t just look for fruit to spray as PC walk on limbs and twig, too.
For commercial growers there is a semi-exact science to the amount of chemicals sprayed to an acre. I do not think most backyard growers with 4 gallon tanks can be that exact.
I would have to go back and re-read the insecticide and fungicide labels but I think most of the chemicals I use are not supposed to be applied to the point of run off (wet and chemical dripping). Reality is that happens on a good percentage of the tree because I can’t get a uniform spray.
The label is your best guide and that is what you should shoot for. From knowledge and opinion it is not the end of the world if you over spray, but that is my opinion - others may have a better different answer. After plum curcilio season in the past I rarely spray. This has worked well for peaches and Asian pears but not apples. This year I am spraying fungicides more due to the wet, cold weather. I do not worry about spraying the fungicide only sprays as heavy as my disease issues have not been heavy in the past. Also ask yourself do you you need to spray the whole tree or just the fruit (I think the answer may be different at different times). Also how close are you spraying to harvest time? I like to stop my sprays at least 30 days before because I am paranoid about chemicals. But some diseases need spraying later - depends on your disease pressure and tolerance for risk.
I think it depends on how they are pruned and managed - you can keep a standard reasonably small with aggressive pruning, pulling branches to horizontal, encouraging early, heavy fruiting, and minimal fertilization. And you can conversely get a fairly good-sized tree from some “semi-dwarf” rootstocks.
Here’s my pear. The peak of the shed is right at 12 feet.
And here’s the apple, about the same height, maybe a bit shorter:
@ribs1, @mamuang you two use about similar amount of spray. I went out to spray myself just to see. I think I can do about 1 gallon per tree. I also spray the whole tree in case bugs are hiding on the leaves😀
@SpudDaddy, I went to do the spraying myself yesterday and found it hard to avoid run off. So I guess I have settle for over spraying a little.
Like you, I don’t like to use chemicals either. But it’s a necessary evil to me. I usually spray peach and plum with Triazicide and captan at pink, petal fall, shuck split and 2-3 times after that. That’s enough to control Plum curculio and brown rot.
Maybe I will add one more round of captan for peach this year to better control the brown rot.
@marknmt, your trees look really nice. You have to use ladder to pick fruit? I usually try to net my peach tree before the fruit ripens and the color become attractive to birds, otherwise I will lose a lot of peaches to them. And the dam birds will peck many fruits but never finish even one
I do need ladders, even though I much prefer working from the ground. And I always get a warning from my wife about being careful, which helps me pay attention. If I come back in the house with so much as a limp I’m going to hear about it!
As for birds, I’m sure they’re much harder on peaches than they are on harder fruit like apples, but I get a few crow pecks on the topmost apples.
My (almost) only sprays are for codling moth, and for that I always use spinosad plus a helper insecticide. For the last two years I’ve used Triazicide plus spinosad for the first two generations, and then just spinosad for the last two. This year I think I should switch up and use Malathion just to confuse anything that’s getting used to the Triazicide. I also use dormant oil spring and fall as a smothering spray, and that should help with codling moth. If I see a little powdery mildew I’ll get some sulphur powder on the affected areas. If the timing is right it can go in with the insecticides. And that’s it.
But I live where the rainfall is about 14" per year and we have extended dry periods with goo air circulation. So we have lot less problem with fungal issues than elsewhere.
I follow Michael Phillip’s instructions on using a holistic spray. Check him out in his books, “The Holistic Orchard” or “The Apple Grower” - Also he is online as well. I also have a 4 gal. sprayer. My orchard has about 80 trees - I use 10 gallons of spray. If you check out Michael’s recommendations he suggests a series of sprays throughout the growing season. Hope this helps. Waite Maclin, Pastor Chuck Orchards.
