[Nicky Schander]

Thank you so much @John Willis. This totally helps me!

[Nicky Schander]

My questions are:
1. What are these 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cover sprays?Is this the same as Spring 2-4 or Spring 1-3, the first “cover spray” being “Start Me Up?”
2. What does meristem launch mean? I took this from a search on this forum for Cedar Apple Rust in 2015 https://holisticorchardnetwork.org/community-orchardist-newsletters/community-orchardist-february-2015/?highlight=cedar+apple+rust
3. I outlined the Core Holistic Recipe in recipe format. Has this been done elsewhere before? And did I get it right?

Thanks for your help! The new HON looks great!

[Nicky Schander]

Cedar Apple Rust (CAR)

• Issue: Serious CAR problem in a small home orchard with prevalent cedar trees.
• Solution: GreenCure, a Potassium Bicarbonate-based organic fungicide, tested and effective against CAR.
• Application: Apply GreenCure during wet conditions, 6-8 hours after the start of rain for optimal results.

Holistic Orchard Approach:

• Focus: Priming the immune function of the tree and introducing deep nutrition for competitive colonization.
• Additional Methods: Alter leaf pH with products like GreenCure to hinder basidiospore germination.
• Other Products: Armicarb, Kaligreen, and Milstop can enhance efficacy when used with an organic spreader/sticker. (I’m not sure what an organic spread/sticker is)

Spring Holistic Sprays:

• Core Holistic Recipe: Fish hydrolysate, pure neem oil, seaweed extract, effective microbes/aerated compost tea. (See recipe below)
• Timing: Applications during the quarter-inch green, pink, and petal fall, and seven days later.
• Bloom Competitive Colonization: Essential to prevent fire blight, using Karanja oil, competitive microbes, seaweed extract, and blackstrap.

Comprehensive Applications (Fruit Sizing Window):

• Issues Addressed: Curculio, sawfly, internal-feeding moth larvae, scab, cedar apple rust, and black rot.
• What: Pure Neem Oil (NimBioSys label for pure neem oil with EPA registration for certified-organic growers)
• Timing: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cover sprays every 7-10 days during the fruit sizing window. (What are these 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cover sprays?Is this the same as Spring 2-4 or Spring 1-3, the first “cover spray” being “Start Me Up?”)
• Key Components: Calcium and silica brews included in the core holistic recipe to build cuticle strength on leaf and fruit surfaces.
• Kaolin Clay Strategy: Applied separately from fatty oils, the day after a holistic app, to keep fine clay particles “unstuck” on plant surfaces

Spring1 – Tight Cluster to Open Cluster:

• Timing: 5 to 9 days before Spring2.
• Description: Overall tree canopy is sparse; soil and arboreal food webs are engaged; wets down branch structure and trunk for decomposition.

Spring2 – Pink, Delayed as Long as Possible:

• Timing: Up to 7 days before a bloom time rain.
• Description: Blossoms show pink;

Spring3 – Petal Fall, ASAP:

• Timing: 5 to 9 days before Spring4.
• Description: Continues thorough spraying to runoff; renewal spray after extended bloom; trace minerals for seed development. (Trace minerals can be found in seaweed sprays)

Spring4 – First Cover (Beyond Bud Stage Lingo):

• Timing: Better to err on the side of sooner rather than later.
• Description: Fruitlets starting to reveal; major wetting events; risk of primary scab ending; add trace minerals for meristem launch. (I have no idea what meristem launch means)

Summer Holistic Sprays:

• Frequency: Biweekly applications.
• Composition: Core recipe minus nitrogen-rich fish, including foliar calcium. Consider adding milk for the brown rot of peaches.
• Monitoring: Traps for maggot flies to indicate the need for additional actions.

Fall Holistic Spray:

• Focus: Leaf decomposition, hindering scab overwintering sites, addressing insect eggs/larvae.
• Components: Higher rates of liquid fish, neem oil, and increased microbes for better decomposition.
• Benefits: Azadiractins in neem hinder insect development, while good fats stimulate mycorrhizae during the fall feeder root flush.

When they mention Core Holistic Recipe above they mean this:

• Core Holistic Recipe

  • Ingredients:
  • 2.5 ounces pure neem oil
  • A generous teaspoonful of soap emulsifier
  • 10 ounces liquid fish
  • 6 ounces mother culture of effective microbes
  • Up to a half cup of blackstrap molasses
  • 5 tablespoons liquid kelp or 0.5 ounce (dry weight) of seaweed extract
• Instructions:
1. In a suitable container, mix 2.5 ounces of pure neem oil with a generous teaspoonful of soap emulsifier to achieve a 0.5 percent neem concentration.
2. Add 10 ounces of liquid fish and 6 ounces of mother culture of effective microbes to the water filling the spray tank.
3. Dissolve as much as a half cup of blackstrap molasses into the mixture to launch the beneficial microbes.
4. Additionally, include 5 tablespoons of liquid kelp or 0.5 ounce (dry weight) of seaweed extract to enhance the overall solution.
5. Ensure thorough mixing to create a well-blended solution.
6. Use the prepared mixture in a 4-gallon backpack sprayer, covering the trees until runoff is achieved.

[Nicky Schander]

Sorry, I was trying to lay it out by cutting and pasting code but it didn’t work well. Let me try again