North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>]

So your answer is that my one or 2 sprays early in the season probably 
did make all the difference. Interesting. That's certainly more 
convenient than needing to spray through the entire season. When I first 
used the Manzate, it  was really just to use it up. I figured I would 
need to spray with something else later in the season (something with a 
shorter pre-harvest time) if I wanted scab free apples. This is good.

Steve

jas39a@earthlink.net wrote:
> It's timing that makes the difference.  I usually control scab with two 
> sprays of Ferbam, one at pink bud and the other at petal fall.  Fungicides 
> are designed to attack the fungus when it's at its weakest, or most 
> vulnerable stage, and that stage is early in its life cycle.
>
> Eddie Earles
>
> -----Original Message-----
>   
> > From: Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>
> > Sent: Jul 15, 2008 11:28 PM
> > To: NAFEx <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Subject: [NAFEX] Apple Fungicide
> >
> > We had a stretch of damp weather and I have quite a bit of scab on my 
> > apples this year. I had nice crops of apples the last 2 seasons with 
> > absolutely no scab. What was the difference? Maybe it was the weather 
> > but maybe not:
> >
> > Three or four years ago, I bought some Manzate. I actually bought it 
> > with my other hobby in mind; I wanted to cure some problems on my orchid 
> > plants that I assumed were fungal in nature. That didn't work out as I 
> > hoped, so I read the label to see what fruit or garden plants I could 
> > use it on. Pome fruits were listed so I used it on my apple trees. It 
> > was labeled for use no later than 77 days before harvest. (I couldn't 
> > help but wonder how they arrived at that exact number of days.) The last 
> > 2 seasons, I did two sprays (I think, ... it may have been only one 
> > spray last year) before and/or toward the end of bloom. (My earliest 
> > apples probably were ready in slightly less than 77 days after the last 
> > spray.)
> >
> > As I said, my apples were completely clean those 2 years. This year I 
> > didn't use the Manzate and, even though I plucked off the worst of them 
> > at my last thinning, I'm going to have a lot of blemished apples. This 
> > is the only fungicide I have ever used on my apple trees. My question 
> > is, is the Manzate so effective that it prevented scab right through the 
> > entire season with no more than 2 early sprays, or was it really the 
> > weather that made all the difference?
> >
> > One other thing. I wondered if Manzate was somewhat systemic and that 
> > was the reason for the long 77 day requirement before harvest. This site 
> > was shown by someone here a month or 2 ago:
> > http://www.ipm.osu.edu/fruit/03icm31.htm\
> > The third section down discusses the effects of rain on fungicides. Some 
> > are listed as penetrating the leaves and fruit tissues and don't wash 
> > off. Manzate is in the group that does wash off in the rain, making me 
> > wonder why the 77 day preharvest requirement and making me seriously 
> > question if the Manzate was really what saved my apples the last 2 years.
> >
> > Steve in the Adirondacks (Zone 4 on the map, zone 3 by the thermometer.)
> > _______________________________________________
> >