Fruit trees

Butchthekid · May 13, 2009

My Wife and I own a small farm in the Finger Lakes area of New York State, and we have a few fruit trees...some apple, peach, and some pear trees, and they are just starting to bud now. Hopefully, the frost we've had over the past 3 nights won't hurt anything, but we were wondering when is the best time to spray for bugs, etc., and when is the best time to trim these trees?

glennster · May 13, 2009

i use a product called orchard spray, its a combination insecticide and fungicide. generally they get sprayed about 5 times a year, just before the buds open. after the flowers drop, then space the other sprayings thru the rest of the growing season. i also need to spray liquid sevin during the japanese beetle season, as them lil devils can strip a tree of all leaves in a matter of days.

Hotflashjr · May 13, 2009

Pruning time is past. Usually in Mass. we prune our trees mid Feb into March. At home we have a few different apple trees and a two peaches as well. We usually spray dormant oil in the end of March. You want to do that before bud break. Then we need more like 6-8 sprays after that. We tend to get scab in our area so the extra sprayings help control that. If you just want pie apples then you can skip a few and go with five. We have one tree we leave for pie apples and it always gets whats left in the sprayer after everything else is done.

Anonymous-0 · May 13, 2009

I worked in a large apple orchard for a couple years. We started trimming trees anytime after harvest, til tax day. As for spraying, We sprayed every 7-10 days, throughout the summer. Different sprays for different stages of growth in the tree. We started with a dam oil that entombed any bug on the tree. Then pre-bud, post-bud, ect. We stopped spraying 21 days before harvest.

Hotflashjr · May 13, 2009

Below I put a link for the Umass Fruit Advisor website. Umass has it's own experimental orchard in Belchertown, MA, and has some great resources on their website as well as books available to purchase. I have used info from their website and bought some of the publications. Well worth a look. They also offer a few weekend courses throughout the year on fruit tree's including proper pruning, spraying, and pest ID.
Umass Fruit Advisor

Mathias NY · May 13, 2009

I am guessing you are new to trees. Try to get a hold of the your local Cornell Cooperative Extension office. They should be able to offer some suggestions specific to your area. Each type of fruit has different requirements and each spray has different limitations on usage. There are several dormant sprays that should have already been applied. If you are growing them for your own consumption, please disregard this paragraph.

The best time to prune is when you have time. We have found that trimming is summer tends to reduce the amount of regrowth and improves fruit quality. Most farmers trim in late winter when they have time.

Good luck.

dhermesc · May 13, 2009

I know about the spraying. We are spraying every time it rains right now - if you wait to long you notice the leaves are being eaten again.

We use "Fruit Tree Spray" (seemed basic enough)

http://www.johnsonnursery.com/OrchardSupplies.htm

According to our extension agent you prune anytime you want except Christmas and Easter Sunday.

Paul from MI · May 13, 2009

I have a few tree for my own use. Best time to prune is in Jan. or Feb. but you have to watch the weather. I usually wait until it's about 10F and the wind is blowing the snow flat to the ground. Makes the job go really fast.
I use a general purpose orchard spray about every 10 days or two weeks.
Paul

thurlow · May 13, 2009

Listen to the guys who are saying to consult the experts (local extension agent) for a spray schedule, published by your state land grant univeristy. If such doesn't exist in NY, I'm sure it does in one of the surrounding states. Had a commercial orchard until '86; right now (in TN), you'd be about 10 or 12 sprays behind and might as well hang it up for this year and vow to do better next year. We typically sprayed weekly after shuck-split (peaches), unless we got a lot of rain, in which case, had to spray more often.

Fruit trees

Butchthekid

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glennster

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Hotflashjr

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Anonymous-0

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Hotflashjr

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Mathias NY

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dhermesc

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Paul from MI

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thurlow

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