Some of my apples are simply rejecting any coating of Surround when I spray. It sticks in foliage but not on the fruit needing protection!
Does anyone else have this issue?
I follow the mixing guidance in the shipping advisory with the product. Some fruits accept it readily after the third application, these pics attached after about 10 spray attempts are still refusing to be coated. I have actually tried painting them with a thicker slurry to no avail!
What causes the solution to bead up and drop off the surface of the fruit rather than spread out and cover the surface as desired?
There must be a way to break down the beads, do I need to use a water softener?
Please advise if you have found the remedy
Dennis
Kent wa
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try a surfactant. A little dish soap mixed in.
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Yes. A surfactant will remove the fruits natural defense and allow the chemicals to penetrate into the fruit as they do in commerical orchards.
More professionally an adjuvant would be used as it is not controlled by the EPA so you can use it at will.
The OP’s photos show that the fruit is naturally defending itself. Breaking that natural barrier is needed to accomplish his goals.
@DennisD I think you just need to make thicker mud, lol.
Since Surround is just very finely milled kaolin clay (the main clay in porcelain) you are making muddy water when you mix it. Fuzzy peaches, etc. are easy to coat but for smooth-skinned fruit that don’t naturally hold a liquid, like my Carmine Jewel and Juliet cherries, I double the amount of surround in the mix for the first application and often do two or three coats. The thicker mix will get a few drops staying on the fruit to dry and then another coat sort of uses of adds to that, etc. I may even try triple the amount when I do my first mix next year and see if it works- basically as thick as you can still get through your sprayer. Even after most rains I find there is enough residue left that a regular ratio works after you get that first application on enough.
Also, I believe it was @scottfsmith who I first saw comment that a complete coat isn’t really needed. Surround is irritating to bugs and doesn’t actually kill them, so you just need enough to be a deterrent. Depending on the pest you are trying to keep off the fruit, getting it on the leaves and stems is helpful as well. Since I’m mostly defending against plum curculio, which pretty much take out my whole crop if I don’t spray surround, I definitely hit the trunk and a lot of stems since I understand they tend to walk around the plant from fruit to fruit.
After losing a full crop the first year PC found my cherries, I was amazed to have almost a completely clean crop using surround the next year when it didn’t seem like I was getting anything close to full coverage on the actual fruit.
By the way, if what you showed in your pictures mostly dried on those fruit I would consider them very well covered.
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The instructions actually do not call for any sort of sticker or surfactants to be added. I am still just using a little hand pump sprayer and I shake everything a lot frequently. I find that even though I barely get any on my plums, the coating on the rest of the tree seems to work to deter insects.
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Amy idea what this coating is on a Cosmic Crisp, from a discount bin (79¢ / pound)? It’s dry and crunchy/powdery, I can’t completely wash it off, scrub it off, scrape it off, even with dish detergent and a pot scrubber…
Store bought fruit is sometimes coated with food wax or food shellac to protect it during transport and storage, keeping it in better condition until sold.
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The apple rejecting the Surround WP is because it has a hydrophobic surface.
Elephant Ear plants and Lilly pads are the same.
Skin “fuzz” can either repel or attract water. Peaches are like sponges with the long fuzz.
Actually today I found that when I doubled the surfactant, with 50% more powder than prescribed on the package, and switched to a finer mist nozzle the spray was covering each fruit fairly well. The surfactant does make a difference if you mix enough so that the spray forms a foamy cover. Instead of beading up and dripping off the fruit, the foamy cover engulfs the fruit leaving the powder coat desired as it drys.
In our area it is important to coat the fruit well to avoid apple fly maggot damage. Also around the stem is the favored entrance for codling moth grubs. We have both insects so I alway strive to obtain a coating over the whole fruit.
Dennis
Kent, wa
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