Hello all. I’m new to this group & need help. New fruit trees (bare root planted early March) were sprayed with insecticide yesterday morning after rains subsided because tiny catepillars had started to chew new leaves. This morning leaves are seriously browned - trees look worse than with the bug chewing. I have apple, plum, pear, peach and nectarine. Apple and pear are most seriously impacted. Will the trees survive? Can I do anything to counter this? I mixed the solution and applied it per the label. I’m in NW Massachusetts. Thanks in advance for help.
Which insecticide did you spray? What was the outside temperature when you sprayed?
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It was Bonide Fruit Tree Spray. I sprayed in the morning when it was about 60. Temps got up to the mid 70s yesterday. Forecast is for 90+ today. 20220521_104729|690x920
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Bonide Fruit Tree Spray appears to be oil based and according to Michigan State U., Captan can become phytotoxic when applied with oil or within four days of an oil spray.Was it sunny during and after applying?That may be the cause.
An Amazon customer had a similar experience and reported it to Bonide.Here is their conversation:
This stuff burns the leaves of my fruit trees, causing more damage than the insects and diseases I am trying to control. Bonide customer service just blew off my attempt to determine what is going on. See the following email exchange. I have removed names and personal contact information.Product Name you are inquiring about: Bonide Fruit Tree Spray ConcentrateUniversal Product Code (UPC) (if available):How can we help you?: I sprayed this on my apples, plums, peaches, and cherry. Within 3 hours the new, developing leaves on the rapidly growing tips of the apple and plum branches curled up and turned brown. The older, more mature peach leaves equally quickly developed small brown spots or holes. The cherry appears to be unharmed. To the best of my knowledge I followed the directions on the bottle. The leaf damage is worse than the insect damage I am trying to prevent. This has happened both times I have used the product. That, plus the fact that the leaf damage was apparent within hours of spraying makes me think that the spray is the cause. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it?Thank you for your email. Sorry to read that this happened to you. Damage with Fruit Tree Spray usually occurs due to misapplication such as over application or not shaking the concentrate or dilution well enough (as products with wettable powders settle), or poor cultural controls such as low turgidity (water) in the leaves or even weather can effect it and give an unwanted result. Be aware Fruit Tree Spray is oil based.Another reason could be is that the leaves already had the fungus just not the spore making part yet (the damage we see) as the fungicide in Fruit Tree Spray, Captan, cannot reverse existing damage only prevent the original spores from germinating.Fruit Tree Spray cannot be used on plums. Consider using Fruit Tree & Plant Guard instead as it is water based plus does not have ingredients that like to settle out of solution. Below is a link to the label.((URL removed at the insistence of Amazon))Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.Warm Regards,Bonide Consumer Service SpecialistThank you for your response, but I am still unsure of what I should do.“Damage with Fruit Tree Spray usually occurs due to misapplication such as over application…” I was very careful to accurately mix 2.5 tablespoons per gallon of water, per the label. I don’t think this is my problem."…or not shaking the concentrate or dilution well enough (as products with wettable powders settle)…" I vigorously shook the concentrate container for about 5 seconds, including turning it upside down while shaking to loosen anything that settled to the bottom. I jostled my sprayer as I used it. Does that qualify as “well enough”?"…or poor cultural controls such as low turgidity (water) in the leaves…" It has been fairly rainy here, but has been hot and humid with no rain in the week before spraying. There were no signs of wilting or other obvious indicators of lack of water. How do I determine “low turgidity” before spraying?"…or even weather can effect it and give an unwanted result." What kinds of weather is a problem? Hot? Cold? Wet? Dry? High humidity? Low humidity? Sunny? Cloudy? etc.“Another reason could be is that the leaves already had the fungus just not the spore making part yet (the damage we see) as the fungicide in Fruit Tree Spray, Captan, cannot reverse existing damage only prevent the original spores from germinating.” The damage appeared within 3 hours of spraying. I am not aware of fungus damage that can appear that fast. See the attached photos of the damage.“Fruit Tree Spray cannot be used on plums.” OK. Got it. My error. But that does not explain the damage to the apples and peaches. Note that publications from several state extension services say that the active ingredients (captan, malathion, and carbaryl) are fine on plums, which is why I used it on plums.“Be aware Fruit Tree Spray is oil based.” OK. I was not aware. I am now. But I have no idea what significance this may have.Thank you for the additional email but unfortunately the pictures (zip file) did not come through. Please attach the zip file in an reply email to this email. Bonide does want to see what has occurred to your trees.Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.Warm Regards,Bonide Consumer Service SpecialistHere are the photos again.Bonide never replied to my last email with the retransmitted photos. So I tried spraying a third time, carefully following the label directions and trying to control the potential issues raised by Bonide. The results were the same, more burning of the tree leaves. I then bought the active ingredients (captan, malathion, and carbaryl) separately and mixed them together in the concentrations listed on their labels. I sprayed this on the trees. There was no leaf damage.Conclusion: This stuff contains something beyond the three active ingredients that damages my trees. From now on I will mix my own fruit tree spray. Now I only have to determine how to safely dispose of the remaining Bonide spray. See the attached photos of the damage to my trees.
Images in this review
Notice later,he bought his own ingredients and mixed them,but doesn’t mention oil.The results were,no damage to the leaves.
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I had this happen once. Have you ever in the history of the sprayer used an herbicide?
I had sprayed an herbicide a month earlier, washed it twice with soap, and let it fully dry.
That was not enough, it slowly killed all the leaves on my new trees.
Now I use two separate sprayers and I’ve never had it happen again.
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Apparently Bonide is as big a problem as the pests it reportedly controls. If the pests dont kill the trees, the Bonide just might. My trees today look like those in the other photos - brown curled etc - when the day before they just had worm holes.
Today and tomorrow it will be hot and sunny, so I’m not overly optimistic about the long term outcome. I’m hopeful that if I stop using Bonide immediately and with cooler weather in 2 days that they may sprout a new set of leaves like they do after a frost kill. What a fricking expensive (not to mention time consuming) lesson to learn. Thanks Bonide.
Does anyone have another insecticide they’d recommend or a homemade recipe (assuming the trees live)?
Thanks all.
Currently, the new formulation of Sevin is an insecticide that is good choice for home orchard use. The new Sevin has Zeta-Cypermethrin as the active ingredient. Also as mentioned earlier in the thread don’t use spray equipment that has been used to spray herbicides since it’s very difficult to get all of the herbicide residue out.
I would take a look at Alan’s spray schedule it covers a lot on spraying fruit trees. I think you will find it helpful.
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Before you spray more chemicals, do you have a new sprayer? If not, use a water hose to spray your trees with water to wash off much chemical as much as possible.
Also if the soil is not soaked, water your trees so they are well hydrated. (Dehydrated trees suffer more).
It is over 90 F in MA today and tomorrow. Do not spray anything on your trees but water.
If it is tiny green worms, you may have “leaf rollers”. This is the time they are munching on leaves. If they are leaf rollers, you do not need a big gun like the new Seven. Get a bottle of BT, that should work well. Wait until this heat wave passes before you spray.
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