Home Fruit Tree Spray Schedules

By John Fulton

[March 10, 2008]  When it comes to spray programs for apple and pear trees, the two rules are to be consistent and be persistent. Quality fruit these days takes these two things, and time. It seems like quality fruit must be sprayed at the recommended intervals. Starting with dormant oils, these need to be applied before buds swell. Dormant oils are usually needed only every two or three years to provide control of scales and mites. Sure, the populations will build up in the off years, but should remain relatively low if the three-year program is followed. Dormant oils do require temperatures above freezing for 24 hours, but you want to be ahead of the bud swell.

The first regular spray of the year is applied when the green tissue is a half-inch out of the bud. The spray used by homeowners usually consists of a multipurpose fruit spray (and sulfur if needed for powdery mildew). Multipurpose fruit spray has been reformulated the last few years to include malathion, captan and carbaryl (methoxychlor was eliminated from the old mixture). This same mixture would be used when the fruit buds are in the pink stage (when fruit buds show color). After that, the persistence and consistency pays off as you spray with the same mixture about every 10 days until we get to within two weeks of harvest. In our area, we need to continue spraying this late because of apple maggot and sooty mold.

This spray program will also control borers on apples and pears, if you also thoroughly spray the trunk and main limbs of the trees. On non-bearing, young fruit trees where borers have attacked, you can spray the trunks every two weeks during June and July with a multipurpose fruit spray.

The spray schedule for peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums varies a little bit. The dormant spray for them uses captan fungicide. This is the only spray that controls leaf curl and plum pockets. The next spray, with captan, is when fruit buds show color, followed by captan at bloom. When the husks begin to pull away from the base of the fruit, we would then spray with sulfur, captan and malathion. This mix would then be used every 10 days or so to within a week of harvest.

For borers on the peach group, you can spray or paint the trunk only with carbaryl (Sevin) on June 15, July 15 and Aug. 15. We have some challenges with the loss of some of the insecticides, since carbaryl can cause fruit drop or thinning on the peach group and some apples.

Radon test kits

We recently had Radon Awareness Month, and our office has several free radon test kits left. All you need to do is come to the office, fill out a voucher and take a kit with you. Follow the test directions, and you will get an idea about the presence of radon in your home. Our office is located at 980 N. Postville Drive, just outside the fairgrounds, diagonally across from the former Tropics building.

Online information

The Logan County Extension office continues to develop its online site at www.extension.uiuc.edu/logan. The site contains program information, subject matter, links to other university sites and fact sheets. I have even started blogs for horticulture and agriculture. Reposts of these columns, as well as frequent horticulture information updates, may be found on the "In The Backyard" blog.

[By JOHN FULTON, University of Illinois Extension, Logan County