Need help with organic spraying

I have 3 apple trees I need to protect. I bought the following products based on the forum members info. But I do not have my mind around using them so have only been using surround.

With surround, I don’t know what is correct for application as some leaves are basically painted yet much fruit is chewed on. I have targeted the fruit with spray, not sprayed willy-nilly.

The other products I have not used. please help me with them. Please elaborate on instructions so I understand how, why, and etc. Also need to know mix rate per gallon. Some of this stuff is labeled per acre. I spray with a solo backpack sprayer.

Here is what I have:

Microthiol Disperss Micronized Wetable Sulfur
Miller Nu-film 17
Serenade Garden Disease Control Concentrate (fungicide)
Moterey Garden Insect Spray
Pest Wizard Codling Moth Kit

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You can so easily look that stuff up yourself but nothing there will help with plum curculio if Surround failed. It is considered only adequate for the task by most objective evaluations, but seems to work well enough here at sites I’ve used it and for Scott in MD. It has to be applied very patiently to where the fruit itself is completely covered.

There is also nothing in your quiver that will help much for cedar apple rust.

I should probably write a detailed description of how Surround is applied. I have found the most important thing to hit is the branches around the fruits, particularly on plums where it is hard to stick the Surround on the fruits. If they are completely covered the curc will not be able to travel quickly from one fruit to another. They can fly but they don’t like to do it very often. You need to spray both tops and bottoms, if you only get the tops the curc will just walk on the bottom part. So I am holding the wand upside-down a lot. I use a little soap, around 1/2-1 tsp per gallon, to help the Surround break the barrier and stick a bit better to the plums. You also need to maintain the spray coverage up until the curcs are dead. This year I stopped a bit too early and got a lot of late bites on a few trees.

The sulphur I spray with every Surround spray in the spring, along with the spinosad (all three in the tank). Sulphur can also be sprayed later in the season, just not on really hot days. If you use it later you can include nufilm. Don’t use nufilm with Surround, it will prevent it from falling off on the bugs.

PS I missed that you had Serenade on your list. I used to use that a lot in alternation with sulphur, usually in combination with oil.

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Thanks, Scott. I wish more people chime in their organic ways of growing fruit trees.

cckw - I pretty much follow Scott’s advice. I’ve never used the last 3 items on your list. I’ve found that timing is very important. I sprayed my peaches late this year due to rain, wind and work getting in a way of spraying (and gardening).

I got new kind of damages on almost all peaches. I will post pic for identification. It’s not easy doing it an organic way.

I am not totally organic. I use Immonox for fungicide for CAR and scab. Only 1-2 two sprays, very effective… Monterey Fungi Fighter for brown rot is another non-organic chemical that I will use. Otherwise, I’ve tried to stick with organic methods.

Scott, I am curious, did you find using Serenade and sulphur in alternation worked? I had always tried to keep Serenade away from anything that might inhibit bacteria/fungal growth, so that its pro-biotics weren’t being wiped out along with the bad guys.

Steve, I am also concerned about that. I looked around to see if there was any official information on it but found none. What I do now is never apply Serenade if there is any apparent sulfur residue. This tends to mean that in the spring when I am heavy on the Surround I am spraying mainly sulphur. I think I did Serenade only once this spring. But now that summer is here I will be using more Serenade. Its also better in the heat. I am due a spray now and will use Serenade plus Saf-T-Side (renamed Tritek recently) smothering oil.

I should have mentioned the Saf-T-Side / Tritek oil, it is a different kind of oil that is more like a paste in the container. Along with help in smothering eggs and aphids etc it also has proven efficacy against some diseases such as brown rot due to the smothering property. Plus oil is known to extend the effectiveness of spinosad. So, I generally use Saf-T-Side with my Serenade (also since oil plus sulfur is a no-go).

Is Monterey Horticultural Oil the same as Saf T Side? What mix rate per gallon? When spraying, coat everything? Dripping wet, or what?

I’m glad to see some other questions come into the thread. Despite Alans statement that this stuff can easily be looked up, it can’t. There are countless sources on the web that are not credible, and credible sources that are not detailed enough. And when you don’t know the right answer you cannot know when an answer is wrong or incomplete. That is why I prefer to get my info on this forum only. This is my first year spraying. Have only bagged before. So I apologize to Alan and any one else who is offended by beginner level questions.

According to

it is the same oil. I just follow the label. I either coat fruits or everything depending on what pests I am after, until it drips off.

Please keep asking questions, I agree there isn’t much in the way of written guidelines out there.

I was talking about the specific materials you mentioned in the beginning of the thread, and only in terms of how to use them and what they are labeled for. Your wording seemed to suggest not understanding the labels, not what other peoples experiences were in terms of their efficacy with those and other “organic” pest management materials in general. I’m sorry I misunderstood your question.

Scott is the forum member who can most help you with this, of course, so all’s well.

Hey guys,

Wanted to invigorate this old thread. How are your lady bugs doing after this spray regimen? I would hate to wipe them out to get rid of the plum curc, and then open myself up to aphids…

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