Thomis:

I see that kind of damage on little apples very occasionally, and chalk it up to birds. It could be something else, but it really doesn't matter, since its occurrence is so rare, and in a cluster of 5-6 apples, where I am going to thin off all but one anyway, I hardly miss that single damaged apple.

Of somewhat more concern are what appear to be orange dots around the fruit. I have seen cedar apple rust expressed that way, and wonder whether this condition is widespread on your developing apples. If so, the game is over for those apples.

What have you been spraying against CAR, and when did you spray it? I made my CAR sprays (Ferbam) on April 10/11, and won't be worrying about CAR again, even though it looks like we may be moving into a cool, rainy period in the Mid-Atlantic. If you beat CAR early, it usually stays beaten.

Sevin is good for Japanese beetles, and not much else. It doesn't faze plum curculio, which is my concern at this stage of fruit development. My next sprays will be Imidan, which I know is hard to obtain, but you do have to find something effective if PC is a problem in your area.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Hi Don, I hope you're not right! I pulled up the pics and looked closer. I just can't tell if there are little orange dots.

My first spray for CAR was on April 9th. I sprayed RALLY WP40 which, as you know is, Myclobutanil. My second spray was last night, since we were expecting rain today (which we are getting right now).

I haven't seen any orange spots on any of the leaves on my 25 apple trees and I was pretty convinced that I had it beat. The apple I picked for this photo is from a Carolina Red June which is supposed to be very susceptible to CAR. But I had none on it last year. We'll see how it pans out. I'll post another update in a few days.

My trees were planted in Nov 2007 and have grown amazingly well these last three years. I lost two in all. One to collar rot and another succumbed to the force of a trellis wire pulling free from the post, which pulled it completely out of the ground. I have many apples on the trees this year and will pick 95% off in a week or so. I can't help but leave a few for a taste for all my patience and hard work.

Thomis:

If you couldn't see any orange dots on the apple when you were taking your photo, then it is probably of no concern that I seem to see them in the photo. So I join you in hoping I am wrong.

I rarely see CAR spots on my apple leaves since I started using Ferbam, but what really drives me around the bend is CAR damage to the apples themselves, which ruins them.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA