I will also weigh in here, being a long-time proponent of delayed-dormant oil sprays against orchard pests. This is from my March 28 article in Scaffolds:
The following advice developed from Paul Chapman's original research is essentially unchanged from what I print every spring, which shows the durability of not only the information, but also of a crop protectant that's still as good as it used to be: A delayed-dormant spray of petroleum oil in apples from green tip through tight cluster can be a favored approach for early season mite control, both to conserve the efficacy of and to help slow the development of resistance to our contact miticides. Our standard advice has been to try for control of overwintered eggs using 2 gal/100 at the green tip through half-inch green stage, or 1 gal/100 at tight cluster; this assumes ideal spraying conditions and thorough coverage. Naturally, this is not always achieved in real life, mainly because of weather and coverage challenges, coupled with the difficulty of getting to a number of blocks during a fairly brief window. It is possible for mites to start hatching when the trees are at solid tight cluster, so the suffocating mode of action tends to be compromised if the nymphs are able to pick their way through the droplets or dodge them entirely. Let practicality determine how best to use the following guidelines. First, to be sure that mites are in the egg stage, start on your blocks as soon as the weather and ground conditions permit, even if this means using a higher rate. Depending on how heavy the snowfalls have been in certain areas, local conditions will be the prime determinant of how easily you can get through the rows early on. Also, tend toward the high end of the dosage range, especially if there's been no frost during the 48-hour period before your intended spray, and no danger of one for 24–48 hours afterwards. For example, use 1.5 gal/100 if the buds linger somewhere between half-inch green and full tight cluster during your chosen spray period. Obviously, good coverage of the trees is critical if you're to take advantage of oil's potential efficacy; this in turn requires adequate spray volume delivered at an appropriate speed. Experience and research have shown that a 1X concentration (300 gal/A) in large trees is clearly preferable; however, if all other conditions are optimal (weather, speed, calibration), then 3X, or 100 gal/A, is the highest concentration that should be expected to give acceptable control at any given time. Growers like to concentrate more than this to save time and the hauling of extra water, but reducing coverage too much can compromise your efforts if you end up covering only a small fraction of the egg population with the residue. Don't limit this mite control tactic just to apples and pears. Talks with stone fruit growers have reminded us that many cherry, peach and plum plantings can suffer equally serious European red mite infestations that weren't given the early season attention they might have needed. We don't have hard and fast threshold guidelines for these crops, but stone fruit plantings with a history of past ERM problems should be examined for presence of the red overwintered eggs, and if they're numerous enough to see without a hand lens, then a prebloom application of 2% oil would be a prudent tactic to help ward off this damage, particularly if your fungicide program at this time doesn't present any compatibility problems. Finally, we have heard of some growers who have recently expressed unfounded concern that oil has a negative impact on the health of their trees. To this I can only re-assert that petroleum oil has been used for well over a century as a delayed-dormant treatment to control mites, scales, and even some aphids, with no ill effects on the health of the tree or the current season's crop. The primary cautions we advise when using oils at this time of year stem from their use a) in association with or too close in time to applications of sulfur-containing fungicides, or b) just before or too soon after sub-freezing temperatures; both of these practices risk the occurrence of phytotoxicity, as oil's penetrant activity is capable of damaging the bark, wood, or bud tissues in these situations. Application of oil under any circumstances that do not allow for normal drying to occur can also result in some tissue damage. Also, oil sprays during pink bud can cause burning of the sepals or petals, which may affect normal pollination and fruit set. Art On 4/8/11 6:16 PM, "Balsillie" <dbals...@mnsi.net> wrote: Hi Bill We use oil religiously up until full pink bloom at About 6 US gallons per acre . we haven’t sprayed an additional miticide in over 15 years. We consider it the best first step in our insect/mite program.. but it is time consuming . avoid frost forecast by 48 hours.. The secret to the whole thing is water volume … if you don’t get 200 to 250 gallons per acre on M26 /M7 size trees …don’t bother. Coverage isn’t important it’s everything.. As far as I’m concerned the yield thing is the latest urban myth … It is all the chit chat here in Ontario …seems to have originated in Western New York nobody I know has found any scientific research that supports this claim .. You know the margins on Mineral oils don’t stack up very favourably compared to the other products people are selling . doug From: apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of William Sharp Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 9:54 AM To: Apple-crop discussion list Subject: [apple-crop] oil spray at pink on apples I am in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We are at tight cluster and will be in pink by Monday. I understand that an oil spray is most effective on mites at early pink, so I am planning to try that on a small block at about 3 gallons oil per acre. Does anyone have experience with oil at this timing? Also, I have heard that the oil spray can reduce yield. Is this because it makes the blossom more susceptible to frost? Bill Sharp Timberville Virginia -- Arthur M. Agnello Professor and Extension Tree Fruit Entomologist Dept. of Entomology a...@cornell.edu N.Y.S. Agric. Expt. Sta. Tel: 315-787-2341 630 W. North St. Fax: 315-787-2326 Geneva, NY 14456-1371 http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/faculty/agnello Scaffolds Fruit Journal online [NOTE NEW ADDRESS]: http://www.scaffolds.entomology.cornell.edu/index.html
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