Fruit trees and spraying for pests
 

Well, fruit season is upon us, and I have a ton of flowers this spring
on my plum trees. I sprayed before the flowers opened, and then once
again after the last petal fall, which was just 4 days ago, and
already I notice over half my plums have black spots on them. Are the
bugs getting to them already? Or was it because of the spaying? This
is really the first year I will be getting anything so I haven't
sprayed much before. Last year I did the same thing for the peaches,
spraying every 14 days, and I had malformed fruit. tasted great thou.
I really want to get fruit that looks like store bought...maybe
someone has some advice for me. I have all the common fruits, and just
using the common fruit tree spray. Thanks.

Ray

Fruit trees and spraying for pests
 

The spots on your plums aren't the little crescent shaped scars from
plum curculio, are they? I ask because the curculios are about the
only problem to appear right after petal fall, here. I'm obviously
farther north than you, because my trees are just starting to flower.

Steve in the Adirondacks



Ray wrote:
Well, fruit season is upon us, and I have a ton of flowers this spring
on my plum trees. I sprayed before the flowers opened, and then once
again after the last petal fall, which was just 4 days ago, and
already I notice over half my plums have black spots on them. Are the
bugs getting to them already? Or was it because of the spaying? This
is really the first year I will be getting anything so I haven't
sprayed much before. Last year I did the same thing for the peaches,
spraying every 14 days, and I had malformed fruit. tasted great thou.
I really want to get fruit that looks like store bought...maybe
someone has some advice for me. I have all the common fruits, and just
using the common fruit tree spray. Thanks.

Ray

Fruit trees and spraying for pests
 

The one important piece of information you omitted was what exact kind of sprays
you were using. It's highly doubtful that the sprays caused any spotting of the
fruit. It sounds like it may be some kind of fungal
problem, so is your spray just a pesticide, or is it also a fungicide? I have
had occasional malformed peaches, but if you are getting a large number of
these, it could be due to the lack of some element in your soil. Check with a
good nursery to find a supplement you can add to the soil. Understand, these
are only guesses, so take them for whatever they are worth.

Sherwin Dubren

Ray wrote:

Well, fruit season is upon us, and I have a ton of flowers this spring
on my plum trees. I sprayed before the flowers opened, and then once
again after the last petal fall, which was just 4 days ago, and
already I notice over half my plums have black spots on them. Are the
bugs getting to them already? Or was it because of the spaying? This
is really the first year I will be getting anything so I haven't
sprayed much before. Last year I did the same thing for the peaches,
spraying every 14 days, and I had malformed fruit. tasted great thou.
I really want to get fruit that looks like store bought...maybe
someone has some advice for me. I have all the common fruits, and just
using the common fruit tree spray. Thanks.

Ray

Fruit trees and spraying for pests
 

Thanks for the info. The spray was a liquid all purpose fruit tree
spray from Agway (Agway's brand). It controls both insects and
diseases. I have seen the leaves from my trres and grapes turn brown
because of the spraying. I think the malformed peaches are from plum
c. which I didn't realize. I am trying to spary more now that I know
about them. Just seems wierd, I sparyed right after petal fall, and 1
week later p.c were destroying my plums. Seems that I need to spray
even more frequently to catch those buggers. I may look into a
different spary for just those guys.

Thanks
Ray


Sherwin Dubren wrote in message ...
The one important piece of information you omitted was what exact kind of sprays
you were using. It's highly doubtful that the sprays caused any spotting of the
fruit. It sounds like it may be some kind of fungal
problem, so is your spray just a pesticide, or is it also a fungicide? I have
had occasional malformed peaches, but if you are getting a large number of
these, it could be due to the lack of some element in your soil. Check with a
good nursery to find a supplement you can add to the soil. Understand, these
are only guesses, so take them for whatever they are worth.

Sherwin Dubren

Ray wrote:

Well, fruit season is upon us, and I have a ton of flowers this spring
on my plum trees. I sprayed before the flowers opened, and then once
again after the last petal fall, which was just 4 days ago, and
already I notice over half my plums have black spots on them. Are the
bugs getting to them already? Or was it because of the spaying? This
is really the first year I will be getting anything so I haven't
sprayed much before. Last year I did the same thing for the peaches,
spraying every 14 days, and I had malformed fruit. tasted great thou.
I really want to get fruit that looks like store bought...maybe
someone has some advice for me. I have all the common fruits, and just
using the common fruit tree spray. Thanks.

Ray