Knowledgebase
Fruit Tree spraying #852591
Asked October 08, 2023, 9:02 PM EDT
Benzie County Michigan
Expert Response
Good morning. Organic management of fruit trees can be tough, but it can be done. The main disease to control will be apple scab (https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/apple_scab). You would use a copper 'fungicide' to control this disease as most coppers are considered organic. It is sometimes called Bordeaux mixture.
Insect pests will include codling moth and plum curculio. We do sometimes see obliquebanded leaf roller cause issues in apples. These will be hard to control organically. You could use virus to control codling moth but there is nothing for the other two pests. Here are some links to help learn more about these pests.
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/codling_moth
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/plum_curculio
https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/obliquebanded_leafroller
Lastly, Enviroweather is a great free tool provided by MSU. We have weather stations around the state (one in Benzonia) that collect real time weather data that gets fed into models to predict when to control a disease or an insect. It is pretty slick.
https://enviroweather.msu.edu/
Nothing to worry about until next spring. Good luck!
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2023 8:47 AM
To: Marc Heuser <<personal data hidden>>
Subject: Re: Fruit Tree spraying (#0122516)
I think a Bordeaux mixture is the best thing for scab right now. We are having serious scab weather with all the rain. Powdery mildew is also an issue this year. Sulfur is really the only organic option now. Plum curculio is out now, and we have no beetle materials that will work that are labeled organically. You could try to use kaolin clay, but you need excellent coverage of your fruit.