Fruit trees and chemicals......

[MERRYMEDIC]

I recently got a good deal on some fruit trees and I was wondering how can I keep them insect and disease free and not use chemicals on them? I have 30 trees of different varieties of plums, apples, nectarines, apricots, peaches and pears. Any advice would be appreciated.

I'd start by looking here:

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docush...Collection-326

Some of it is for commercial growers and some for the home grower.

.....Alan.

[Paul Wheaton]

Get some bales of alfalfa hay. Keep a good mulch on them. Maybe spray the leaves in the spring with some alaska fish fertilizer. Maybe plant some things under the tree that will provide a living mulch - like alfalfa.

[cathryn]

The company Garden's Alive has some great products that you can use for fruit trees. Don't remember the name of it right now, but they have a clay based spray that helps with all sorts of things. It is good for organic growing, but seems it is so good that even the commercial farmers are using it. My trees aren't producing yet, but I will be using it when they do.

cathryn

[WisJim]

Read Michael Phillips' book "The Apple Grower". He is an experienced organic apple grower and explains things well. We have grown fruit of many kinds for over 30 years at 2 different places, and never used any kind of chemical sprays, just good soil fertility, mulch, careful pruning, and paying attention to what pests are starting to show up.
Here is the author's website:
http://www.herbsandapples.com/books/grower.php
and the listing at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Grower-2.../dp/1931498911

[bluebird2o2]

We raise sour cherries no spray is ever used.they almost never get bugs.we also raise apples different kinds.red delicious are the worst too attract bugs.im my opionion the older baking varieties get less bugs than the sweeter apples.bluebird

[orangehen]

I read once that in the "olden days", when farms were much more diversified, that chickens, ducks, geese, or guineas roaming in the orchard took care of most of the insect pests before they could become a problem - sounds reasonable to me.

[RoseGarden]

I was going to suggest letting chickens roam your orchard if you can. For the last few years I have let my hens have run of the entire property during the late fall, winter and very early spring and then put them back in their pens when I plant. I can't tell you the difference this has made. NO curculio, which have always been my main enemy, and no peach tree borers either, which had damaged a few trees over the years. I am digging up far fewer grubs, and seeing fewer of those spotted cucumber beetles too. What else was it... tomato hornworms, I haven't seen any little ones yet either (keeping fingers crossed). There are still plenty of earthworms, I guess they go too deep for the hens to find.

I know it probably isn't a total solution in and of itself, but I am now a firm believer in letting the poultry run the property in the fall and winter.