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  • From: Anton Callaway <marillen@earthlink.net>
  • To: mailing list at ibiblio - Northamerican Allied Fruit Experimenters <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [nafex] Azera insecticide and pears
  • Date: Sat, 18 Apr 2015 12:50:41 -0400 (GMT-04:00)

Dear fellow pear growers,

I just wanted to warn other readers on this group about Azera insecticide
from MGK. It is an OMRI-approved insecticide that's basically a mixture of
azadirachtin (the main active ingredient in neem oil) & pyrethrins. I
sprayed a mixture of Azera and Serenade at the recommended rates on my
orchard on Sunday and by Tuesday, several cultivars of pear with European
heritage (P. communis) were completely black. The damage is not fireblight.
The symptoms are quite different and it is hitting certain blight-resistant
cultivars while blight-susceptible cultivars right next to them are
unaffected. I will compile a complete list this weekend, but I wanted to
send a note quickly so that others can avoid the damage that I experienced.

I think the trees will survive, but I'll get no fruit from them.

I've been orcharding in the Southeastern U.S. since 1979 and have never seen
anything like it. I've sprayed this same orchard with neem oil and
pyrethrins (separately) and neem oil & Serenade together for several years in
the past with no ill effects. Other species were not affected at all. I
have one tree with 6 cultivars grafted in it. One pure communis cultivar has
all of its leaves killed and another communis X pyrifolia cultivar has slight
damage while the other 4, including one pure pyrifolia ('Koyama') are
completely fine.

'Potomac' and 'Blake's Pride' are severely affected.

Anton
Zone 8; The North Carolina Piedmont





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