Bonstermonster
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri May 05, 2017 10:39 am

Spraying apples, pears and plums

We moved in to a house with an orchard recently. I had someone help me with learning how to prune the trees but I keep reading about spraying and just need a little more clarification. I have captan and a backpack 5 gallon sprayer for fungicides. Do I need to only spray in the morning? Or if I spray in the evening will it do the same? It has been quite windy durning the day and I also read that if you spray during the day you run the risk of the fungicides evaporating off. What is the best way to go about this?

JONA
Greener Thumb
Posts: 812
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:11 am
Location: Sussex. England

Hi B.
Captan is a protective chemical for Scab dureing the season and for brown rot at storage time.
Scab spores are a danger when it's warm and damp. Captan will not kill established Scab, but will stop the spores germinating if they should land on a protective layer of the chemical.
So...it's essential to get a spray on whenever these conditions are thought to be coming.
A spray will give around a fortnights protection so a regular spray is needed dureing the vulnerable part of the season.
This is roughly from first leaf to early July.
The early sprays are the most important, as if you can knock the spores on the head early they are much easier to keep under control.
Best time to spray is early morning or evening. This is when the spray dries slower. Although Captan usually contains a 'wetter' it pays to add a small amount of soap ( not detergent) to make sure the cover is good.
Plums don't suffer from Scab....but it will help control brown rot on them.



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