Hello all,
I live in NE Arkansas zone 7a (but the town three miles away is 7b).
I have the following four plum trees: Methley, Santa Rosa, Bruce, and AU Rubrum.
In addition, I have two peach trees: Majestic and Elberta.
I planted all of these trees 2-4 years ago when I had no idea what I was doing. To date, I have followed a no spray program, and I have only eaten a handful of the Majestic peaches that I bagged with organza bags over the past two seasons. And those were bagged after nearly all the fruitlets dropped from the tree, which leads me to believe that I have plum curculio in my yard. (I failed to look for the crescent bite.)
The Majestic started ripening right on July 4, and while they were small, they were especially delicious. This year I did notice that one of them had rot.
I am now willing to spray with Surround up to 3-4 times for the 2023 growing season. I am not willing to do any future bagging.
So my question is, with such a limited spray program, do I have any decent chance of success with these trees? (I am harvesting for out-of-hand eating only for myself and neighbors.) Also, is such a limited spray program likely to be more successful with the plums than with the peaches?
In short, any thoughts from Mid-South stone fruit growers would be appreciated.