How many of you are proactive and consistent with antifungal spraying?

[iant]

Over the last several years I haven't been consistent with it and I'm starting to wonder if I should be spraying more early and more often.
This is what I've been doing:
Maybe spray some copper when leaves are out on my Prunus mostly and while I'm at it I spray the Malus and JBP and Cedrus. (evergreens for needle cast.)
I then usually forget about it and don't spray again for at least a month by which time I'm noticing that my Prunus all have shot hole fungus and the Ume have even started losing some leaves...
I then spray a couple times in a couple weeks but by then it seems the damage is done.... at least on the Ume. They've barely stayed alive over the last several years and I've lost a couple.
The Acers and Junipers seem to never have fungus. The chaenomeles sometimes. the azalea all fine.
I think instead my plan should be to spray weekly in spring until leaves harden off and then spray every 3 wks or something. I have other antifungals like Immunox, mancozeb, etc but I usually just do the copper. Some of the others have odor...
I think I've been too lazy.
So I'm wondering if others of you out there have found the need to be proactive on antifungals and do you wait for an issue or have a routine?
Ian

 

[Anthony]

Ian, the idea behind Health is to reach a point where sprays are not needed.

Perhaps you should ask who has Healthy trees and what they do.
Good Day
Anthony

* Full Sun [ if it handles full sun ] and no touching each other is a good start.
No wilting is another.

 

[Smoke]

Me, religiously.

 

[milehigh_7]

Me, religiously.

What products do you use and how do you use them?

 

[iant]

Ian, the idea behind Health is to reach a point where sprays are not needed.

I feel that way about insecticides.... I don't do that unless I have to.

Ian

 

[coh]

I'm proactive and consistent with it...when I get around to it

Seriously, though - there are some trees that I am pretty good about. We have a lot of problems with pines in the landscape around here, many are being destroyed by a combination of insects (borers, bark beetles) and various fungal diseases. So I have to spray the pines on a regular schedule. If I don't, the trees get tip blight and needle cast. I try to use the fungicides on a semi-regular schedule because they really are more of a preventive measure. Insecticides are only used when there is a specific problem and other methods (hand removal or water/oil spray) can't keep up.

 

[TomB]

I do. General fungicide spray (whatever I've picked up from the garden centre) every 6 weeks (except during winter), and at other times if I suspect there is a need. Bordeaux mix on pines in spring and autumn. Regular systemic insecticide too. I do have concerns about the broader harmful effects of pesticides though, but having lost years of work to insect attack in the past I use them anyway.

 

[Giga]

I do as needed but I have a good routine of annual sprays and maintenance that keep most things at bay. I'm in the garden every day so if I see the start of something I nip it in the bud right then and there.

 

[chicago1980]

I do. General fungicide spray (whatever I've picked up from the garden centre) every 6 weeks (except during winter), and at other times if I suspect there is a need. Bordeaux mix on pines in spring and autumn. Regular systemic insecticide too. I do have concerns about the broader harmful effects of pesticides though, but having lost years of work to insect attack in the past I use them anyway.

Nice Flicker account!

 

[Dav4]

Prior to this year I was sporadic at best with my preventative spraying. Unfortunately, my very old JRP suffered a severe case of needle cast last year and lost many small branches, and my RMJ's are cedar apple rust magnets and routinely lose small branches due to the infection. Sooooooooo, this year, they all get alternating applications of daconil and copper every few weeks, and I've applied Clearys granules to the soil surface. I won't know if it's making a difference until later this fall at the earliest for the pines, and next year for the junipers.

 

[TomB]

RMJ's are cedar apple rust magnets

Do you know what the alternating host is, and are you treating that as well?

 

[Dav4]

Do you know what the alternating host is, and are you treating that as well?

Well, I've got quince, and hawthorn bonsai, and they do get sprayed. Unfortunately, there are crabapples and cherry trees all over my neighborhood.

 

[chicago1980]

Well, I've got quince, and hawthorn bonsai, and they do get sprayed. Unfortunately, there are crabapples and cherry trees all over my neighborhood.

Same here.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I am very aggressive now... but only because I have a lot of citrus and the citrus taught me a lesson.

I have 15 citrus trees on my property that I baby. They each have a dedicated drip irrigator, get regular citrus fertilizer, and were planted in good soil. I started to have problems with my citrus - as well as a couple of peaches I had in the front yard. I couldn't figure out what was going on and thought it might be water related (since we have such bad water). I spoke to garden centers who put me on the path of adding magnesium to the soil (which helped address the salt buildup due to our bad water) but some of the trees generally looked weak, and every couple of years I would lose one. Finally after a total loss of about three or four trees, I found an online site that had a few professional citrus growers. When I described my problems, the first thing they asked about was my insecticide and fungicide routine. When I said I didn't have one they shared theirs.

Now I realize that (at least in Southern California) it is critical to spray during the rainy season when the trees are dormant. At the minimum, you can use organic insecticides like neem oil or pyrethrins, and organic fungicide like sulfur. However they recommended a pretty complicated schedule of rotation through different products - with emphasis on spraying any time after a heavy rain as soon as the foliage dried. The first year after I started doing this my citrus exploded with growth. The leaves are now huge, and thick dark green almost like a magnolia. I can't believe it took me a decade to figure this out.

It took me a few more years to come to the brain storm that if my citrus were suffering - perhaps my bonsai were as well and I just didn't realize it. So now when I spray my citrus I spray my bonsai. I also supplement with magnesium.

For fungicide my current mix is Heritage, Clearys 3336 and Mancozeb. The Clearys is a systemic and I only use it on my bonsai - I don't use any systemic anything on my citrus. Because it is preventative it is hard to say that it is "working" because I don't wait until I see fungus before I treat. I personally believe some pathogens are almost impossible to visually identify and they are only seen via the negative impact they have on your trees. You only notice when they are gone.

[EDIT] Let me quickly add - instead of the Clearys on my citrus I use sulfur [/EDIT]

 

[chicago1980]

I am very aggressive now... but only because I have a lot of citrus and the citrus taught me a lesson.

I have 15 citrus trees on my property that I baby. They each have a dedicated drip irrigator, get regular citrus fertilizer, and were planted in good soil. I started to have problems with my citrus - as well as a couple of peaches I had in the front yard. I couldn't figure out what was going on and thought it might be water related (since we have such bad water). I spoke to garden centers who put me on the path of adding magnesium to the soil (which helped address the salt buildup due to our bad water) but some of the trees generally looked weak, and every couple of years I would lose one. Finally after a total loss of about three or four trees, I found an online site that had a few professional citrus growers. When I described my problems, the first thing they asked about was my insecticide and fungicide routine. When I said I didn't have one they shared theirs.

Now I realize that (at least in Southern California) it is critical to spray during the rainy season when the trees are dormant. At the minimum, you can use organic insecticides like neem oil or pyrethrins, and organic fungicide like sulfur. However they recommended a pretty complicated schedule of rotation through different products - with emphasis on spraying any time after a heavy rain as soon as the foliage dried. The first year after I started doing this my citrus exploded with growth. The leaves are now huge, and thick dark green almost like a magnolia. I can't believe it took me a decade to figure this out.

It took me a few more years to come to the brain storm that if my citrus were suffering - perhaps my bonsai were as well and I just didn't realize it. So now when I spray my citrus I spray my bonsai. I also supplement with magnesium.

For fungicide my current mix is Heritage, Clearys 3336 and Mancozeb. The Clearys is a systemic and I only use it on my bonsai - I don't use any systemic anything on my citrus. Because it is preventative it is hard to say that it is "working" because I don't wait until I see fungus before I treat. I personally believe some pathogens are almost impossible to visually identify and they are only seen via the negative impact they have on your trees. You only notice when they are gone.

I use the same exact rotation. What is your schedule?

 

[Cadillactaste]

Living at a lake...the dampness brings black spot fungus in nature around us. If I wasn't proactive...my trees and landscape would suffer. Two years ago it was so bad, that it hit farmers gardens as well. So...environment has a lot to do with needing to being on top of things. I need to treat my trees today. But was up most the night sick. Going to check tomorrow's weather. It may have to wait until tomorrow. I just don't have the energy level for it today.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I use the same exact rotation. What is your schedule?

My schedule is a little ghetto. I do one series in the early winter and one in the early spring.

Early winter for me means when the first rain comes. I wait until there is rain in the forecast, and spray the first time about a week before the first rain. Then I rotate to a different insecticide / fungicide and spray after the rain once the foliage is dry, but no sooner than about a week to 10 days after the first spraying. Then I wait until the next rain, or else go ahead and spray about a week or two after the second application. So the entire sequence takes about a month for 3 sprayings usually in December.

Then I wait until early spring for the second series - which is late Feb / early March. I might accelerate the timeline if the weather is warmer - I need to get the whole sequence done before the citrus bloom because I don't want to spray flowers because it will kill pollinators.

I find when I do this schedule I don't have any trouble during the summer with bugs or fungus. I think as long as the new buds have the opportunity to mature and burst forth new growth in the spring, the mature foliage is much less susceptible to pathogens.

 

[ianb]

Haven't until last autumn now it will be religiously. After having poor results and growth from my maples, an old chojubai and some needle cast in my pines I researched last year and pretty much follow the schedule Bnut outlined above with an extra lime sulfur spray in winter.

This year my maples exploded as well as an asian pear that has suffered since I moved here. My chojubai are extending, even an old one that I thought I'd lost last year.

 

[GrimLore]

So I'm wondering if others of you out there have found the need to be proactive on antifungals and do you wait for an issue or have a routine?

All the fruiting here were getting a copper bath after leaf drop in Fall and again in the Spring as buds formed. After that it was every ten days or earlier if it rained. I changed it up a bit last year and sprayed in the Spring and for the rest of the growing season I wet the substrate down with Sulfur once a week as I was mixing it anyways for Roses and other trees and plants. It worked nicely and honest NOT having to spray on what are usually breezy days here was great. It may not sound as complicated as other methods but I found it to work. I toss two tablespoons of the Sulfur pictured here in a one gallon container, fill with water, and shake to mix. It also happens to be inexpensive and not harmful if you splash it on things. The 1 pound container goes for under 10USD and I can only say it seems it will last me 3 - 4 seasons. I know it says to spray or dust but I do what works for me.



Grimmy

 

[0soyoung]

Other than regularly looking closely at my plants, I do nothing proactive/prophilactic with antifungal spraying. If I see something I suspect to be fungal, I promptly remove the affected leaves and spray a ZeroTol-equivalent peroxide solution (2 tablespoons 3% hydrogen peroxide in a quart of water). Beside being eco-friendly, peroxide is also an antibiotic. I've used Daconil twice in the last 12 years and have never used copper-based stuff.

The one prophylactic process I do perform consistently is to sterilize my cutting tools with isopropyl alcohol before and after use on any one tree/strub. IMHO, contaminated pruners are the #1 source of deadly fungal infections.