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nafex - [NAFEX] pear fungicides in southeastern NY

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  • From: Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] pear fungicides in southeastern NY
  • Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:41:59 -0500

Although pears have a reputation for being amongst the easiest fruits to grow with low or no spray input I have found that reputation to be somewhat over stated.  I have seen a neglected Bosc orchard loaded with almost perfect fruit and often seen Seckel trees untouched by pruners or the spray-gun for decades producing bushels of very small but otherwise great pears. 
 
Maybe the trick there is total neglect, but on my own property and most sites I manage, scab becomes an issue and often psyla as well.  While I'm serious that pruning for superior fruit may contribute to rank, vegetative growth that encourages psyla and possibly scab, I have also seen lots of scab on neglected trees to the point that they are completely defoliated by mid-summer.  Any fruit is worthless for lack of sugar.
 
It became apparent early on that my combination of Nova and Captan was not affective in controlling pear scab- at least in a low, 2 or 3 spray program.  I now primarily use Flint, one of the new strobes, to address this problem but I'm not really sure what the minimum number of sprays is I can get away with.   Apple scab I can control with as little as 2 sprays with Nova, one at petal fall and one 10 to 14 days later.  Pear scab seems to require more input.  Do any of you out there in a similar climate have experience you can share on this?
 
I have been dealing with psyla with several summer oil applications during the season, which is an additional PIA.  I'm interested in any contributed wisdom on this war as well.
 
The Seckel pear, which is often touted as an ideal home orchard pear, is particularly susceptible to scab, by the way.  It is also a squirrel magnet, even compared to other pears.


  • [NAFEX] pear fungicides in southeastern NY, Alan Haigh, 01/21/2009

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