My fruit trees have too many pests and diseases

Question

Despite following a spray schedule recommended by Purdue Horticultural, we have problems with our fruit. Our grapes get black rot or bunch rot, not sure which it is. They develop little black spots on one or two grapes then spread to whole bunch and ruin crops. Have sprayed with Immunox last week to see if that will help. How many times a season can we spray or should we spray? The grapes are size of dime now. Our Montmorency Cherry trees always have worms in fruit, despite the dormant oil spray in early spring then spray schedule with Fruit Tree spray.

Our apples have spots and weird indentations on them, as well as yellow and brown spots on leaves. Also follow spray schedule for these. Pears are only ones ok. Black and red raspberries are too small. We fertilized in fall and in spring. We only get one peach crop every 3-4 years. Fruit has ooozy stuff coming out of it and they rot before they ripen. We are ready to chop it all down and grow berries. We have good blueberry and blackberry crops every year. (25 gal and 70+ gals. ) Anyone have any ideas? We are looking for sources for more resistant trees. We live in hot humid Indiana. Anyone have source for patio trees from reputable grower? We’re also putting in Mason bee houses to up the pollination and help fruit set. . . hopefully.

Thanks in advance!
plantfreek
aka Chris

Answer 1

Try switching to neem oil. I love the stuff and it works on both fungus and pests. Also, since you have such issues, I would step up how often you spray on all fruit for at least a year. Neem is organic and completly safe for people and bees, so a weekly treatment for several months would not be too much, Consider a year to be a clean up period, where you are clearing out the nasties in your garden.

Also remember to destroy any leaves or dead branches from the plants. Don’t compost them. Seal them in a bag and toss or burn them.

The oozing on the fruit is caused by peach borers.

As for more resistant trees, I would recommend that you find someone who grows commercially in your area and ask them what varieties they grow. They will be the best people to know what does (and does not) do well in the area. Many small farmers are happy to share this information with locals.