Not to side track but what is good summer covers for apples?
I was planning to cut down my peach trees this year and never got around to it. I’ve done NOTHING. No pruning, no thinning, and no spraying. Based on past experience I can’t believe I had any fruit at all.
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Glad you didn’t cut them down. If that’s all the peach scab you have from doing nothing, your trees are in a fortunate site.
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We harvested our first two peaches ever this year, off of one of our youngest but happiest peach trees that’s in a more sheltered area than our original plantings. Not the prettiest on the outside, but so delicious!
We have Harvester, Flavorrich & Redhaven in that row, but I need to check the label to confirm which of the 3 this was from. Harvested first week of July.
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The reason I use so much tank mixed IndarXCaptan with a latex based spreader-sticker (Tactic) is because it works so well on apples AND stonefruit. In my region, we also have a huge problem with Marsonnina leaf blotch that causes August defoliation of apples.
For a home grower, mixing Topsin M with Captan would likely take care of all major fungus issues for stonefruit and apples even in the most humid climates, as long as you are not located near commercial production and exposed to fungus resistant to TM.
Except for nectarines, you could probably get away with one spray in early July and a second in early August with Captan and Topsin M mixed with Hi-Yield Spreader Sticker. Hi Yield is latex based to create a better match than pine resin based stickers with any systemic pesticide. Pine resin blocks absorption of systemics like Tompsin M, Assail, myclobutanal, Pristine, and Indar. .
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Just returned from 2 and 1/2 weeks in Italy. Had a housesitter/dog sitter. Before I left I had 32 lemons on my trees (now 7) 12 Grosse mignonne peaches, (now 2) and many figs (now 8). Here are this years peaches and one fig from this morning. Oink!
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Where did the fruit go? The house sitter ate them?
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I have been using southern ag spreader/sticker with good results. But I am interested in your thoughts of its good or not for fruit trees.
From southern ag “Southern Ag Sticker Spreader, contains two active ingredients, each one with a different purpose. One ingredient, the “sticker” (Modified phthalic glycerol alkyd resin), is a binding agent that prevents or reduces washoff. The other ingredient, the “spreader” (Octylphenoxy polyethoxyethanol) is a non-ionic surfactant which increases wetting, or reduces the tendency of the herbicide solution to bead up on the surface of leaves, and helps increase penetration into the leaves.”
Thanks
Contender set a good crop this year, despite a late hard freeze in April.
My spray schedule includes delayed dormant spray, and Surround+ Spinosad + sulphur powder sprays.
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Yes!!!
Organic, great job 
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My one Saturn peach because the deer ate the tree so many times
Helping my little one pick it
I have 4-6 rising star and about 8 blushing star left. Eventually I’ll get something to stop the deer…
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I used to grow Saturn. It did well here. Was my favorite snaking on peach. I ate so many they rarely ever made it to market.
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I manage hundreds of peach trees, apples, plums, pears apricots… with one full time helper but I’ve been pruning trees since childhood and until recently, I’ve been if very good shape for a 73 year old man. For the last 2 months I’ve been hobbled by an arthritic knee, but I’m still working at about 80%. I assume I prune well over a thousand fruit trees a year including about 200 very old and very huge apple trees.
Thank God my helper now prunes even faster than me- you’ve never seen anything like him. Almost all of it with a Silky saw an ARS pruner and a little help form a Bahco lopper.
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