What do your average apples look like? Not the blemish free apples that have been cleaned and polished for a photo but a typical average apple from your orchard. Most of us don’t have a spray program where you spray 15-20 times a year to get perfect apples. I was hoping to see the typical results of only bagging, organic only sprays, or a modest synthetic spray program.
2 Likes
Most commercial orchards also do not spray 15-20 times a year. Around here it is usually 6-8 times.
I spray my orchard 4 times per year. Most of my apples look pretty good with this program.
5 Likes
I am one of those who follow @scottfsmith’s low impact spray (for the most part) and bag apples after 2-3 sprays.
My common apple issue is sooty blotch and fly specks but it does not always happen. The majority of my apples are quite clean. I will take pics and post them tomorrow.
Your apples are really really beautifull! Congratulations! 
1 Like
Back row from L to R: Black Limbertwig; Goldrush; Green Pippin; Enterprise.
Front row from L to R: Nickajack; Parks Pippin; Keepsake.
All raised in zip-lock bags, no sprays. Roughly 75% of my bagged apples fell off prematurely from May to Oct so may abandon bagging. I bagged over 800 and got 200 to stay on until ripe.
7 Likes
Thank you guys for the pics and posts. The reason I am asking is I expected my apples to look better. I did 3 sprays this year of Immunox + Captan. The last spray included an insecticide and I bagged the apples when they were dime size. At bagging the apples looked good- no insect strikes. The apples still looked good when they sized up… here is an example.
But after the pictures above were taken they started developing bad spots (rots?) which effected about 50% of the crop.
Examples of the good ones.
Now the “bad apples”.
2 Likes
I grow the Yellow Newton Pippin. Is that another name for this one? They look quite similar.
Mike
1 Like
Those spots look like scab.
I suggest ditching the immunox. These homeowner products often have low concentrations of active ingredient. The active ingredient in immunox is myclobutinyl. The commercial brand is called rally.
In addition, the commercial version will be much cheaper over time.
I like to use a combination of rally and captan for fungus and Avaunt or Imidan (or both) for my insecticide.
I mostly go by Alan’s spray schedule.
1 Like
No. Green Pippin has no aliases that I know of. It’s not the Albemarle Pippin or Yellow Newton Pippin. Very rare, haven’t heard of anyone growing it. Think I got scion from Big Horse Creek Farm. GP is in Tom Burford’s book, tart, very late, a huge apple.
Average is a nebulous term.
You want pictures of unsprayed apples?
Locally
That would mean apple scab and apple maggot.
Varieties vary in resistance to Scab;
And some more fragrant ones
Like King
are very attractive to the maggot.
Winter Banana Apple gets some scab.
I am using Bonide Fruit Tree Spray, and Daconil for scab & other disease. It is cold and wet in Spring, but my apples were looking great. I only had a little russet where I mixed the fruit tree spray too strong. I used plastic bags when socks were not keeping out the coddling moth.
Sprayed with myclobutanil + spinosad/BT twice and bagged.
Result is enough for me as damage is cosmetic.
3 Likes
Green Pippin does not have much taste right off the tree- don’t detect any sweetness but it might develop in storage.
Rally is great but somewhat cost prohibitive if one only has a few trees. Since I have 22 I have used Rally in the past. This year I switched to Eagle (Same active ingredient-myclobutanil) and think it is more readily available and cheaper. I use Eagle + Captan 50 and very happy with fungal prevention.
My only issue is one apple variety I grow got sooty blotch. It was clean thru August when I did my last spraying but blotched badly at harvest time around October 10th. Next year I will make a fungal spray only on that variety in September in the hopes of preventing the issue. Since it is a variety only good for cooking, not a big deal as I will be peeling them anyway prior to use.
2 Likes
Anchorage Alaska no spraying and no worms on apples, some leaf rollers on the foliage.
That is the advantage of a long and cold winter. As Anchorage gets more apple trees
the bugs may find me. Also would like to note My Brother in Central Minnesota has an
old apple tree that produces great early apple every year and he has never found any worms in the apples. I think it is a Viking, very dark and early. That tree is only known apple tree for many miles, which is the likely reason for no bugs. Normally pest free apples in that area is unheard of.
1 Like
I don’t use myclobutanil because I read it does not work on anthracnose.
I have Green Pippin, and it should fruit for first time this year.
I’m usually a red apple person, but this one I’m looking to sample.