I try to wait until the last possible moment, but if busy that doesn’t always happen. Its better to spray a bit early than to not spray at all 
At this point I sprayed my stone fruits as they were starting to bloom, but am waiting on all the others.
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Got it. Thank you! This cold snap slowed everything down, so I have more time now.
I am learning a lot from you all, but I must admit I feel overwhelmed with all the information, and wish I just had a simple program to do for my first year. I start to get confused with all the information, and some seem to contradict others, and then just when I think I feel like I know what to do, I question and don’t think I can do anything.
For example when you all talk about spraying Green Tip to pink you say to use sulphor and Dormant/ Horitculture Oil, but then in another place you say
" and don’t spray oil when you sprayed sulphur recently and can still smell it."
One of the guys on the forum, said I can mix up my own oil mix using 2 tablespoons of some cheap oil excpet Olive, 1 tablesoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon dish soap, and one gallon water.
Is this a good and effective recipe? And can I use this everytime when you all are talking about applying dormant oil/horticultural Oil?
Last year I sprayed Sevin on all the one year old trees that I planted, becasue they were getting defoliated badly by Japanese Beetles. But I guess Sevin is not organic? I assume I will have to fight this battle again this year. What would you reccomed in place of the Sevin if that is not organic to deal with the Japanese Beetles?
In the last few days I got a bunch of things in the mail, Surround, BT, Spinosad, so I am getting armored up and ready for the attack and battle! LOL
Thank you for clarifying some of these and for all the help and support!
John in Kentucky
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Those instructions are only when not dormant. When dormant spray them together. That’s what I will be doing myself today.
For Japanese beetles I put down milky spore and have not seen any for over ten years now. Surround also worked well for me before that. Someone else here said Surround didn’t work for them so ymmv.
Just take it one spray at a time and don’t be afraid to mess up. You will be doing a lot of that, there is just too much to learn. The good news is every new year is a blank slate and you can do better.
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I am also new to this and was super overwhelmed by all of it! I found that reading the more detailed bulletin below was actually helpful because it was very specific about what I was supposed to spray for which pest and when and which sprays seemed effective. They update it every year to try and catch new resistances and such.
Japanese beetle info is on page 58 and shows Surround as being “Good-Excellent” for them. The first time it mentions spraying for them is “fourth cover” on page 80 and it notes that you must spray Surround before the beetle activity.
2023 Spray Bulletin for Commercial Tree Fruit Growers
Here is the bulletin for home fruit which is less detailed and doesn’t show as many options (eg. it only shows Sevin for the Japanese beetle), but I still found it super useful, especially for the descriptions of diseases and pests:
Homegrounds Pest and Disease Management 2023
Fruit begins in section 3-1 page 89
As a side note: Neither of these details what I would call “low-impact”, but I feel like if I can see the extreme version and understand some of it - I can hopefully make more informed choices.
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Can I mix copper with the lime sulphur and dormant oil? Need to spray my parents peach tree which had issues with peach leaf curl and OFM last year.
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Sure, I have many times.
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Thanks for this! My first year doing any sprays (other than neem oil, by hand, last year).
What spray bottle do you use? The kind that attaches to a hose, or another?
For the Surround, it’s powder - How does one keep it mixed, and from clogging up the sprayer?
Most seem too have a sprayer with an agitator but I don’t. I can tell you it’s possible to spray without an agitator but perhaps not ideal. Remember to add about a teaspoon of dawn dishwashing soap or the like. I sometimes fill the sprayer in alternating fashion–water surround, water surround. I don’t shake until my 3 gallon sprayer is full, then I give it a really good agitation. Once I start spraying, I actually shake my backpack back and forth at least after every tree if not more often. I use a hand pump sprayer. I guess that means I’m either cheap or old school. (or both)
Don’t add a sticker. You want the clay to come off and get into PC and pests enough to deter them. A heavy 3 cup per gallon first spray, then 2 cup per gallon every couple weeks or after a heavy rain. I like seeing the fruit without it, but it is really effective if applied soon enough. Scott has all the scoop in his low impact spray recommendations.
It is possible without an agitator
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I only have a few small trees, and I have been using a quart-sized spray bottle. I haven’t had any trouble with Surround (which is the only thing I have sprayed). I think I whisked up the Surround in a bowl with some water, poured it into the bottle, and gave it a few shakes as I went. Worked well enough. Of course, I don’t know what I’m missing…but it can be done. 
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I did my delayed dormant spraying (Green Tip to Pink) on my apples and pears and cherries, but then we got a very heavy rain two days later.
A few of my trees also were just begining to open, but still relatively closed. Is it ok to do a second spraying on all trees?
It looks like we have about four days of nice weather, and then more rain.
John in Kentucky
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Also, I used dawn dish soap in my dormant spray mix. Will the smell of the soap keep bees and other polinators away once the flowers bloom? I think they will be blooming in the coming week. So, I am wondering if that is an issue.
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No the smell is in the flower which is closed now. There is very little dish soap there in any case.
Does anyone know the mix ratio of Captan 80?
@Robert Take a look this thread-
It looks like 1 tablespoon/gallon would be correct but read thru the thread carefully and make your own judgement.
The rate for Captan 50 (50% concentration) is 1 1/2 tablespoons per gallon if you adjust this rate for Captan 80 (80% concentration) you get 0.94 tablespoons per gallon which is approximately the 1 tablespoons per gallon recommended in the thread.
Why do you use Dawn soap in the spray?
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Also,acidify the mixture a little.
How do you do that? What else am I missing?
Any kind of acid,like vinegar,I use battery(sulfuric),is added to the tank.It helps the Captan to last longer,after being sprayed.It doesn’t have to be a lot.There is probably a chart or information somewhere.If found,I’ll post it here.
Okay,when using the search feature on this site and typing in the words “acidifying captan”,a number of posts came up.It might be best to know the pH of your water first,but I’d say adding about a half cup of vinegar to about two gallons of water,before mixing in the Captan,should be okay.
citric acid- probably about half a TBS per 25 gallons of water, depending on pH of water to begin with.
Olpea can give you more precise info and I would tend to trust it more than vinegar. It is quite inexpensive on-lne.
Why is that?