spraying schedule for fruit trees

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1serenity Brecksville, OH May 14, 2013

I need help with what I should be spraying on apple, peach and cherry trees now.
They have finished blooming and small fruit has formed.
What may I use now as an insecticidal or fungal spray so that I get some of the fruit?
I have neem oil and kaolin clay but can get other sprays if necessary.
Please answer soon so I don't lose the fruit as I have in past years.
thanks

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) May 14, 2013

Apples can get codling moth. The female moth lays the eggs on the outside of the fruit and the caterpillar burrows into the core and thrives, hidden from the pesticides.
There is a specific timing that varies with location to spray, This kills the females so they cannot lay eggs.
Ask at your department of agriculture, or extension service for the timing for your community.

Peach is more subject to peach leaf curl than many other things, and the spray schedule is usually fall and late winter/early spring. Other problems like borers can also be controlled by spraying at the right time.

In general, many fruit trees get quite a range of pests and diseases. In the past it was almost an automatic thing to spray all fruit trees in the dormant season.
The sprays would kill overwintering pests, often by smothering the eggs or pupa that are hiding in the bark.
The sprays would protect the plant from the fungi or other disease organisms when the plant is not active in its own defense. Also, a late dormant spray, as the leaves are expanding, will protect those new leaves from the fungi and diseases.

If you do some research into Integrated Pest Management you can get some idea of the basics:
1) If a disease or pest needs to be treated, then use the safest material that will do the job. A too-strong active ingredient might kill off beneficial organisms that were helping to fight certain pests. So you could kill one target, only to have an upsurge in something else.
2) Time the sprays to be the most effective (such as spraying for codling moth based on when the adults are most active)
3) Some pests can be greatly reduced by encouraging predators to live in your garden. Find out the details, what you need to do to encourage this.

Your local department of agriculture office ought to be able to help figure out...
A) What are the local pests and diseases
B) Optimum timing on the sprays
C) Best products to use.

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