Spray after your trees have fruited?

I’m just curious, do most of you continue to spray your trees for the entire growing season, even after they have fruited? I’m referring mostly to peach trees but would be interested in others as well.

After my peach trees produced fruit, I pretty much stop spraying for the rest of the year, but I think that is probably a mistake. I say that because this year, I had a couple cycles of OFM (I guess that is what did it) that killed the tips of all my peach trees about every month or so after they fruited. If my trees were full grown it might not matter that much, but none of my trees are full grown, and by having all the tips killed every few weeks, I feel like I probably lost a lot of opportunity for my trees to put on a lot of new growth and new wood that could have held peaches in the future. Also, after the tips are killed the tree often produces 2 new tip growths to replace the dead ones, making my trees “bushier” than they probably should be.

This may all be peach growing 101 and everyone but me may already know these are all good reasons for spraying even after fruit is gone, but I don’t know so I wanted to ask if the rest of you spray all season? thanks

I do too, and where you have high pressure is might be wise to continue., No OFM here in tips. So I don’t spray. I will do a dormant spray though. I’m still learning too, so thanks for pointing that out. I have a lot of new growth, always do, still do. I will keep an eye out for OFM.

These things are regional. I don’t spray anything from a month before the fruit is ripe for the rest of the season in established trees. I will spray the growing tips of small peach trees to stop OFM, using very little poison, until I stop seeing their symptoms (they hung around much longer than usual this year). Mature apples usually never receive spray after spring unless I’m shooting for summer fungus free “pristine” apples. I will also squirt poison at the base of peach trees in late summer to early fall (but only once per tree) to control borers. I often spray young apple and plum nursery trees similar to how I spray peaches- growing tips only, to prevent leaf hoppers and aphids from reducing overall growth- mostly leaf hoppers because aphids get stopped by lady bugs IF YOU DON’T SPRAY (here).

But NY has its own issues and doesn’t have as much pressure as more southern, humid climates.

I do need to apply deer repellent again.

OFM can be a pest at some locations that requires 5 or more sprayings throughout the year. This link contains information on their life cycles http://extension.psu.edu/plants/tree-fruit/insects-mites/factsheets/oriental-fruit-moth .

1 Like

We spray into August for codling moth on apple. I’m in western Montana.

1 Like

As always, lots of great answers. I also just had to comment on the fact that some of you say you don’t have a lot of OFM pressure, especially late season. I’ve said it before, but I honestly believe I have about the most extreme pressure that can exist. For example, after my peaches were harvested, I mentioned that every few weeks I’d lose the tips of my trees to what I think is OFM. But I want to be more clear: WHen it happens, each and every single tip on each and every peach tree (and many plums, too) get killed. Not just main tips…EVERY tip- no matter how small. A branch coming off a branch coming off a branch- all will be killed. I can cut the wilted tips open and usually find the little maggot-looking OFM larvae. And talk about them staying late in the year…my latest round of OFM destruction was this week…ALMOST OCTOBER!!! That is later than most things Ive read say OFM is still active, but they are still alive and well here.

Also nice to know I’m not alone in trying to not spray after fruit is harvested, but I’m jealous that many of you can get away with it. Looks like next year I’m gona have to spray all year. But Alan’s technique of only spraying tips and doing so fairly lightly sounds better than me having to fully soak my trees like I do in growing season. Sadly, though, thanks to all the cycles of OFM killing tips, my peach trees didn’t put on much new growth this year, which is really sad since my trees are so young and small and really need more growth.

I don’t spray any until about a couple weeks from season end. This year it mostly ended about 2 weeks ago.

I spray quite a bit during the summer and it’s a larger area, so I think I kill most of the OFM by the time the season ends. Of course OFM only has about a month long (from egg to laying eggs) but they don’t seem to rebound at the end of the season here (I suppose their numbers are too low by then.)

The only other sprays are possibly a borer spray in the fall and of course a leaf curl spray after leaf drop.

Pressure is light here for other things too, not PC though! For example leaf curl, I spray for it, but have never ever seen any on my trees. Writing that I do remember seeing it on a friends tree at my cottage. I guess my treatments work! My fall dormant spray is lime-sulfur with oil. I spray copper in the spring. Usually once.