September Orchard Care

In September I am waiting for the trees to enter a dormant stage with all the leaves having fallen. After the trees are bare I will spray with a fungicide to fight against brown rot in particular.

By September, the buds that will produce fruit the following year have already formed and fungus spores are already taking hold.

There are a couple of fungicides I could use. The University of Tennessee suggest using Scholar and / or Chairman pesticides. I have not had any luck to date finding these two treatments and my retired orchard owner consultants both recommended using Bravo Weatherstik. Another very effective pesticide is Pristine.

These are both non-restricted use fungicides in the State of Tennessee. Pristine is not cheap and is readily available from your local co-op. Bravo Weatherstik is also readily available from the local co-op. They both come in fairly large quantities so one jug is going to last you a number of years unless you have a lot of trees.

Whichever you choose to use, note that you will mix the pesticide with water for spraying and spray the whole tree almost to the point of runoff. When I am spraying I use an airblast sprayer with a 100 gallon tank.

You must read the label and dilute the fungicide according to the label. Whenever you spray, except for when you are including horticultural oil in your mix, you should add a surfactant to help “stick” the pesticide to the tree. It’s also a good idea to spray when you are expecting at least a couple of days of dry weather.

If you cannot find Bravo Weatherstik or Pristine, or don’t want to go to that expense, look for a fungicide that treats against:

• Brown Rot
• Gray Mold
• Rhizopus Rot
• Gilbertella Rot
• Sour Rot

or as many of those diseases as you can find on the label. Remember, the pesticide must be labeled for your peach / nectarine or whatever tree you plan to treat with it.