Several have mentioned adding Spinosad to the Surround spray. I tried that, and it did seem to work much better for PC control until the little apples were big enough to bag and on pears and plums. Later I got to thinking, if you are using Spinosad, what is the point of mixing in Surround?
I don’t think Spinosad is enough to keep PC at bay on its own. I actually thought adding the spinosad was also helping with things like codling moth and maybe a bit with oriental fruit moth. I’ve just been using Surround, but was going to add Spinosad this year since each year seems to get a little more bug pressure.
Thoughts on spraying spinosad and sulphur powder mixed in same tank? I want to get them both on but don’t want to kill the trees if those two shouldn’t be mixed together.
I spray spinosad with sulphur powder and it has never caused a problem. My spray so far has been surround, Cease, spinosad, bT, and sulphur. I believe you don’t want to mix oil with sulphur.
Has anyone experimented to see the difference between just spraying Spinosad and mixing it with Surround? I did find that just Surround alone didn’t work real well on apples and pears, so I have added Spinosad to it. I have not tried Spinosad alone on apple or pear trees, although it took care of the potato beetles and cherry worms well. I am wondering if there is even a need to add the Surround to the Spinosad, what purpose it is serving. Once the apples reach about 3/4 inch I bag them, but there are getting to be too many to do them all now.
Sprayed my plums and peaches with surround/spinosad mix on Sunday evening, it rained yesterday and is expected to rain more the coming days (which is why I did not re-apply surround yet).
Checked one of the plum trees today and +50% of the remaining fruit had PC damage
The PC on the tree does seem more sluggish than before, so perhaps cumulatively, the Spinosad has some effect on these clownish little f-ers?
This one was easily picked up and squished
MF
Are you sure the PC bites weren’t already there before you sprayed? Was this the first spray of the season?
3rd spray of the season, but first with Spinosad (sprays before were surround only). Before I sprayed on Sunday, I took out all the infected fruits so pretty sure the majority, if not all, were new pc bites.