While trying to find "Bayer Advanced with Merit" (with no luck I might add) I came across a forum post from you this spring saying it should be applied in fall.
The reply you had was from an experienced grower saying it's not something they would think of for apple trees. I agree with that poster, that the only thing it looks like it controls is aphids which are not hard to control or much of a problem, and grubs which are not a real issue as far as the fruit is concerned.

I think the Neem oil is also only good against aphids and other things that aren't likely your problem, although it may take care of powdery mildew. When I was worried about being "organic" I kept insecticidal soap with pyrethrum on hand. Pyrethrum doesn't last long enough to be a realistic control but at least it is effective on a lot of insects.

Whatever it was that damaged that apple did it a lot more than a couple days ago and if every apple you have is down it's been going on much longer.
That apple looks shriveled like it was destined to be a June drop or was a June drop, and it looks like it has seen the blades of a lawnmower.
If you picked that apple off the ground go find an apple still hanging that is in better shape but has some bug damage. If you really don't have any left, daily visits to your tree next spring starting at petal fall will allow you to see the problem.

I don't see the "brown specks" you're talking about, although I see a lot of damage that is impossible to identify in such a poor specimen. If you are worried about the light specks in the green, that is the coloring of that apple. The brown insides are because it's been sitting around so long that it's rotting.
I think I see some curculio damage but it's hard to say. Early egg laying from them can certainly cause a total loss on a tree that doesn't have many apples.

I have Curculio, Codling Moth and Apple Maggot.
I am using Triazicide (readily available at Walmart and other places), the gamma-cyhalothrin is said to be very effective on curculio and somewhat effective on codling moth. It is not supposed to be very effective on apple maggot.
Since the curculio and apple maggot do not overlap I am going to switch to malathion, which is supposed to be effective on apple maggot and codling moth. (Although I think the effectiveness has to do with how much the town has abused it spraying for mosquitoes. Which I don't think my town has.)

No, this one was definitely ON the tree; I had to fight the tree to pull it off. It's a little shrivelled because I pulled it yesterday morning then couldn't find my camera (which I finally found this morning.) The specks are on the other 2 apples that are still out there. They are comma-shaped and about the size of the head of a pin. The apples we had last year had the same thing; the apples were all misshapen, never ripened and had brown streaks all the way through them. (They were totally inedible to us, but the horse didn't object, though!) I remember asking about what controls curculio a couple of years ago and was told that Imi... something was really effective but that you can't buy it any more. Glad to hear about the Triazicide; I will have to get some. Thanks!
Edie

Yes, please give us more pictures, not just the absolute worst fruit. Leaves as well if they are spotted. My guess at this point is you have a very bad case of either scab or cedar apple rust. Each disease has a specific spray so you need an accurate diagnosis before spraying anything. I do think it is a disease and not an insect, but that is just my best guess at this point.

By the way that clarified neem oil does little, only raw neem is worth spraying.

Scott

Oops I overlapped with your post. Your damage does sound like curculio based on your description of the markings, not a disease. I use Surround which is a non-toxic clay. Permethrin is another readily available option.

Scott

Could your "comma" be a crescent? That is what I computer enhanced your pictures to see.
If so that is curculio, they are hard to control and they hit early.
Being totally inedible sounds like something else unless you were saying too early to be edible. Curculio laid fruit doesn't make it anywhere close to harvest for me (not with cherries, plums or apples).
The Triazicide is a synthetic pyrethroid which makes it a neurotoxin, female mosquitoes can't bite with permethrin. What I'm seeing for curculio with Triazicide is many that manage to make the egg laying scar don't do it successfully. Problem is not being able to know which ones are blemishes and which ones contain the larvae.

Yep the EPA has taken away the effective homegrower's control for curculio. It's Imidan (phosmet) if you ever run into it. But as far as I know we're past the date it's supposed to be gone for home use and I think even past the date when it was supposed to be totally removed.
The good news is that as commercial growers can't use phosmet more things like gamma-cyhalothrin will get approved.

Codling moth will make fruit that is a pain to eat but edible if you're willing to cut around the worm. They can cause early drops but it's "apple sauce" early, not tiny and green like the curculio drops. They tend to go straight for the seeds and right back out. They're due to hit anytime here.

Apple maggot goes everywhere in the apple so you can't cut around it. But they are a month or two away here and they don't cause drops that I've noticed.

So assuming it's insect I would say curculio is the best bet at this time but that doesn't rule out later insects.

I've never got CAR on the actual fruit to know what that looks like.
My scab apples have never been hit bad enough to drop. Even now my worst one hit young seems to be growing out of it, probably with the help of Immunox (same company as Triazicide, Spectracide, but not as easy to find, I had to go to the biggest garden center here to get it).

"Permethrin is another readily available option."
Problem is Permethrin isn't registered for use on apple fruit. Nobody seems to know why either.
The pyrethroids like gamma-cyhalothrin and lambda-cyhalothrin are registered for use on the apples.
The PHI is kind of long so it may rule out some of the extremely early apples.

By "inedible", I meant that by the time I cut all the bad stuff away there wasn't even a teaspoon's worth of apple left.

If I get both the Triazicide and Surround, would you alternate spraying them, and how long do you need to spray (like the 1st month, through the 3rd month, until harvest... ?) And do I find the Surround at one of the Big Box stores or do I need to order it?

This tree is special to me; it's what I bought with the last Christmas money my Dad gave me before he passed. I figured by buying a tree I would always have something tangible to remember him by.

Edie, since its a hassle to spray I would probably try one or the other of Surround or triazicide at first, not both. I only really know about Surround. It has the advantage of being non-toxic (the other options are quite toxic since they are poisons) but is more of a hassle to spray. It is a white powder that you "paint" your trees with. You use 3 cups per gallon of water and cover your apple tree from petal fall to nickel/dime sized fruitlets. It is hard to find locally but if you type Surround WP into a search engine you will get several mail-order suppliers. Be sure to check the shipping costs, since it is heavy shipping is expensive.

Scott

Might be expensive but sounds like it's worth every penny! Thanks so much!!!

Edie

Traizicide is limited to 5 or 6 sprays.
I start spraying at petal fall and go every 2 weeks, or maybe 3 weeks depending on how its going. That should put me to after my curculio time.

Myk wrote:

"Yep the EPA has taken away the effective homegrower's control for curculio. It's Imidan (phosmet) if you ever run into it. But as far as I know we're past the date it's supposed to be gone for home use and I think even past the date when it was supposed to be totally removed.
The good news is that as commercial growers can't use phosmet more things like gamma-cyhalothrin will get approved."

Hi Myk,

As far as I know, phosmet does not have a date to be removed from the market. Another organophosphate, Guthion is scheduled to be removed from the market pretty soon. If I recall, it's by 2012. You're right Imidan's new label says, "not for use in residential areas." What constitutes a residential area, is, I suppose, open for discussion. At this point I've not used it. In terms of the pyrethroids, there are already a wide variety of commercial pyrethroids on the market. Most are "restricted use pesticides". Some that come to mind are Pounce, Proaxis, Warrior, Mustang Max, and many others. As an aside, I noticed an insecticide I was spraying in our house the other day, has the active ingredient, bifenthrin, a pyrethroid, which is the same exact active ingredient, as the resricted use product Capture/Brigade, allbeit, at a much less concentrated level. I found that interesting.

Not removed totally, just for what is of concern for this forum.

3 uses stopped immediately, pets, household ornamental and household fruit.
A 5 year time limited registration for 9 crop uses (Apples, Apricots, Blueberries, Crabapples, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Plums/prunes).
Dated 10-31-01.

They must've extended that because I found something else where they were planning on removing it for U-picks in '06, so if it was still available for U-picks it must've been extended beyond the 5 years.

Here is a link that might be useful: epa