Hi All-

IÂm wondering if I should have a better spraying plan for my apple trees.

First, the trees: I have 7 young apple trees: 3 non disease resistant: A Granny Smith, a Red Delicious, and a 5-1. Then 4 DR trees: 2 Liberty, a WilliamsÂs pride, and an Enterprise. The Granny Smith and Red Delicious are not in optimal lighting conditions but have given me great apples. The others have been too young to fruit.

Next, the diseases/insects: IÂve had problems with cedar apple rust, apple scab, fire blight, and flyspeck & sooty blotch. Also, a couple of aphids. Really it's the cedar apple rust and the apple scab which are my biggest problem. In my first year when I tried not spraying at first, the results were quite bad.

What I currently spray: I have had relatively good luck with the Bonide Fruit Tree spray. I spray it about every 7-14 days as per the instructions on the label. Every once in a while IÂll give a diluted spraying to my DR trees (this was recommended to me a while back here on the forum). I know itÂs a little expensive by comparison, but then again, itÂs simple. I also spray dormant oil in the late winter, and also peppermint spray to keep the deer away. This year, IÂll be bagging my apples per DonÂs (& JimÂs) recommendations mostly as a preventative measure, but also to help with the flyspeck & sooty blotch.

My concerns: Mostly IÂm concerned about how healthy it is to be spraying the Bonide around. The warning label on the back scares me quite a bit. But, I like the fact that itÂs simple.

Questions:

1) Should I go to a more targeted spraying regime if the Bonide seems to be mostly doing the job? Would the schedule be too complicated? Would this targeted spraying be better for my health? Could I get away with spraying less often?

2) If answer #1 is yes, do you have any recommendations of sprays for my diseases (and the best place to buy them)

3) Is there any chance the cedar apple rust and apple scab will do damage to the apples if the bags prevent the spray from reaching them?

4) Might the Bonide be protecting me from other insects/diseases that the new targeted spraying might not cover?

Thanks again, this forum is great!

-Glenn