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Post by mskrieger on Jun 6, 2015 18:43:53 GMT -5
Orcharding folks, have you ever used Bordeaux mixture? Lime sulfur? Or any of the copper- or sulfur-based fungicides? Did they work for you? Like em? Any words of advice? My orchard is generally run holistically but my stone fruit have serious fungal challenges and I'm considering what to do.
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Post by MikeH on Jun 7, 2015 4:33:55 GMT -5
Orcharding folks, have you ever used Bordeaux mixture? Lime sulfur? Or any of the copper- or sulfur-based fungicides? Did they work for you? Like em? Any words of advice? My orchard is generally run holistically but my stone fruit have serious fungal challenges and I'm considering what to do. What kind of fungal problems? |
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 7, 2015 9:01:45 GMT -5
Brown rot. Really bad. Even in dry springs, now. I'm pretty sure it's due to a sulfur deficit. Would love to hear other people's experiences, especially if they orchard in a wet climate.
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Post by philagardener on Jun 7, 2015 11:30:31 GMT -5
Brown rot in stone fruit is usually attributed to a fungal infection. Cleaning up infected plant material is important - sterilize shears, etc. with a bleach solution so you don't spread the pathogen. Were you thinking of sulfur as a preventative spray ( homeguides.sfgate.com/can-sulfur-spray-used-peach-trees-57044.html ) or do you think you have a nutrient deficiency? |
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 7, 2015 14:49:08 GMT -5
The thing about brown rot is that it's almost impossible to clean every bit of infected plant material--if you've ever seen a bad infection you'll understand why: the infected fruit mummifies and then falls into the duff. Finding every tiny brown mummy could drive you insane.
I am considering the sulfur from multiple angles, both as an anti-fungal agent and to address a nutrient deficiency. Until the Clean Air Act kicked in during the late 1990s, my area was continuously bathed in sulfurous acid rain, and my stone fruit has no problems. I'm a big fan of the Clean Air Act--don't get me wrong!--and it may be pure coincidence that my trees have problems now. But it 's also true that my soil is low in sulfur, and I use it in my garden regularly. I till my garden. I don't till my orchard. And I was leery of the effect spraying sulfur on my trees would have on the beneficial fungi. But now I'm leaning towards using mineral fungicides as both anti-fungal (on the trees) and fertilizer (when the rain washes it off the trees into the duff.)
So, anybody been here before me? Advice?
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Post by steev on Jun 7, 2015 20:47:35 GMT -5
I like to combine lime-sulfur with horticultural dormant-oil for winter spraying.
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 8, 2015 10:24:30 GMT -5
I like to combine lime-sulfur with horticultural dormant-oil for winter spraying. OK. Why do you like it (lime-sulfur) versus another type of mineral fungicide? Why do you spray it in the winter? Why with dormant oil? Sorry for all the questions, the answers to the 'whys' help me calibrate to the situation at my place. Plus I value your experience and outlook.  |
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Post by steev on Jun 8, 2015 12:37:57 GMT -5
Dormant oil smothers wintering insects and eggs. I have enough trouble scheduling one spray; don't want to do two, so it's a two-fer; I prefer lime-sulfur, although it's stinky for a while, because I don't want to promote copper build-up in the soil.
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 9, 2015 11:19:45 GMT -5
Thanks, Steev! Do you mix up the lime-sulfur yourself, or buy it premixed? And do pour it all in the same sprayer?
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Post by steev on Jun 9, 2015 12:32:27 GMT -5
I buy bottled concentrate; in town, I use a hose-end sprayer; adding the hort oil to sulfur concentrate makes an awful mess; adding them to a water-filled tank is fine. I have a back-pack tank sprayer on the farm.
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Post by mskrieger on Jun 10, 2015 8:26:41 GMT -5
Hm. Thanks!
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