Bought a House with an old orchard. Any tips or hints?

H

HighCaliberCannabis

Member
This year I bought a third of an acer in town, on the lot are the remnants of an old apricot orchard with fairly old trees as well as a large apple tree. My house is a series of additions off a 100 year shack from the homestead that was once here. So I assume the trees are very old.image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg

The apple tree was full of earwigs and I was struggling to find any apples with out hole in them, even towards the top of the tree(30 feet up) the apples were badly damaged.

The apricots have some kind of disease as well (I cannot find a picture).

Anyways, obviously I need to do some pruning but I won't be able to do that until next year, I'm hoping there is some kind of treatment I can use on them to take care of the pests and disease so I can have some viable fruit.

The trees are too large for me to thoroughly spray and I was wonder if anyone knew of anything I can apply that will be systematic but safe?

Also any hints or tips would be great, I'd like to make some $ off the trees instead of just feeding the deer.
 
Alienwidow

Alienwidow

Well-Known Member
Theres always the internet. And atomizers. Im sure you can find a product that kills or repells earwigs, maybe neem and soap? Or an insecticide. And a product that cures blight, or whatevers wrong with the other ones.

At first glance an electric atomizer on amazon may cost 150 bucks, but, if you have more than four lights it pays for itself, and can lend a hand to other projects like..... Ant sprays, rodent repellant sprays, wasp removal, black mold removal, herbicide sprays, oil coatings, making your own flame thrower, and other such meaningful endeavors.
 
Moflow

Moflow

Well-Known Member
HighCaliberCannabis said:
This year I bought a third of an acer in town, on the lot are the remnants of an old apricot orchard with fairly old trees as well as a large apple tree. My house is a series of additions off a 100 year shack from the homestead that was once here. So I assume the trees are very old.View attachment 3870118View attachment 3870119View attachment 3870120

The apple tree was full of earwigs and I was struggling to find any apples with out hole in them, even towards the top of the tree(30 feet up) the apples were badly damaged.

The apricots have some kind of disease as well (I cannot find a picture).

Anyways, obviously I need to do some pruning but I won't be able to do that until next year, I'm hoping there is some kind of treatment I can use on them to take care of the pests and disease so I can have some viable fruit.

The trees are too large for me to thoroughly spray and I was wonder if anyone knew of anything I can apply that will be systematic but safe?

Also any hints or tips would be great, I'd like to make some $ off the trees instead of just feeding the deer.
Click to expand...
Im no good at links but Google Stephen Hayes Youtube.
Really helpful site. He even sent my brother some scions for grafting.
I done a load of apple grafts last year.... real easy to do.
My brother done a load of heavy pruning of an old Orchard last year and is using wood for his fire.
 
H

HighCaliberCannabis

Member
Moflow said:
Im no good at links but Google Stephen Hayes Youtube.
Really helpful site. He even sent my brother some scions for grafting.
I done a load of apple grafts last year.... real easy to do.
My brother done a load of heavy pruning of an old Orchard last year and is using wood for his fire.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I'll check that out.
 
sixstring2112

sixstring2112

Well-Known Member
you def need to do some pruning haha,its good for the soul.but you will also need to either buy a decent sprayer from someplace like tractor supply or hire it out. alot of lawn care companies like truegreen or other local co's will also do ornalmental and fruit tree spraying.i picked up a pretty nice pull behind sprayer from tractor supply for like 300.00 that holds 40 gallons and the wand is adjustable but it will spray a cloud up to about 30 feet in the air.you would need to wear a suit and respirator for most bug controls unless your just doing organic oils.you need to time your spraying around the bees,dont kill the damn bees lol. lots of stuff on youtube.you can prune as soon as the leaves fall off and or all winter long.get em all thinned out/pruned first and the spraying will be much easier.idk shit about apricot trees,was speaking just to the apple,pear,cherry trees as those are what i have worked on before.
 
H

HighCaliberCannabis

Member
Alienwidow said:
Theres always the internet. And atomizers. Im sure you can find a product that kills or repells earwigs, maybe neem and soap? Or an insecticide. And a product that cures blight, or whatevers wrong with the other ones.

At first glance an electric atomizer on amazon may cost 150 bucks, but, if you have more than four lights it pays for itself, and can lend a hand to other projects like..... Ant sprays, rodent repellant sprays, wasp removal, black mold removal, herbicide sprays, oil coatings, making your own flame thrower, and other such meaningful endeavors.
Click to expand...
I borrowed an atomizer from work last year, with some Azamax and spinosad. It was expensive And was a pain in the ass trying to get the whole tree. The issue is my trees are very large and it's not economical or efficient to spray them. I'm realizing that pruning is going to be where I need to start. I just don't want the cut ten feet off the top of my apple tree.
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
You don't want to cut the tops out of them. Cut some secondary branches.

If they are really infested organic treatments will not be very effective. Spinosad works as a systemic in tomatoes and cannabis. Might work on trees.

They make a systemic where you remove some bark and apply to the inner layer.

Don't kill wasp or dirt dobbers. They are your friend. Bees help to.
 
H

HighCaliberCannabis

Member
BarnBuster said:
the apple orchards i see around here (Midwest) have fairly small/short trees. is that due to maybe the apple variety or keeping the tree small from the get go or a combination of both?
Click to expand...
I had a neighbor back in Minnesota who had a really Apple big tree but it wasn't in an orchard. I used to Apple pick in the fall as a kid and most of their trees were less then 15. I've read you can dwarf the tree by grafting it to a different rootstock so maybe that's what they do?. Since I have a single apple tree I'm assuming it was just extra tree for food rather then the focus or the orchard. I have 9 remaining apricot trees, one may be dead though. ive seen quite a few apricot trees just randomly out in the mountains and woods around here so they do well on their own so I'm confused on why my fruit is so bad. There are quite a few stumps in the yard from trees that have died. I'm concerned the rest will follow. I have theories to what's going on but that's all they are....theories.
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
HighCaliberCannabis said:
I had a neighbor back in Minnesota who had a really Apple big tree but it wasn't in an orchard. I used to Apple pick in the fall as a kid and most of their trees were less then 15. I've read you can dwarf the tree by grafting it to a different rootstock so maybe that's what they do?. Since I have a single apple tree I'm assuming it was just extra tree for food rather then the focus or the orchard. I have 9 remaining apricot trees, one may be dead though. ive seen quite a few apricot trees just randomly out in the mountains and woods around here so they do well on their own so I'm confused on why my fruit is so bad. There are quite a few stumps in the yard from trees that have died. I'm concerned the rest will follow. I have theories to what's going on but that's all they are....theories.
Click to expand...
Have people been cleaning up the rotting fruit off the ground?
 
Moflow

Moflow

Well-Known Member
BarnBuster said:
the apple orchards i see around here (Midwest) have fairly small/short trees. is that due to maybe the apple variety or keeping the tree small from the get go or a combination of both?
Click to expand...
Just depends on the trees rootstock.
 
ROOSTERMAN

ROOSTERMAN

Well-Known Member
If the trees are diseased, most of the time the best thing to do is to rip them out (some states have grants to remove diseased fruit/nut trees)

Look into your local agricultural extension and do some research into your trees and the area trying to see whats what, and what can be possibly be done to save them or whatever.

When fruit is left to rot under the tree year after year it's a bad sign, as it attracts bugs that attract diseases
 
dannyboy602

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
HighCaliberCannabis said:
This year I bought a third of an acer in town, on the lot are the remnants of an old apricot orchard with fairly old trees as well as a large apple tree. My house is a series of additions off a 100 year shack from the homestead that was once here. So I assume the trees are very old.View attachment 3870118View attachment 3870119View attachment 3870120

The apple tree was full of earwigs and I was struggling to find any apples with out hole in them, even towards the top of the tree(30 feet up) the apples were badly damaged.

The apricots have some kind of disease as well (I cannot find a picture).

Anyways, obviously I need to do some pruning but I won't be able to do that until next year, I'm hoping there is some kind of treatment I can use on them to take care of the pests and disease so I can have some viable fruit.

The trees are too large for me to thoroughly spray and I was wonder if anyone knew of anything I can apply that will be systematic but safe?

Also any hints or tips would be great, I'd like to make some $ off the trees instead of just feeding the deer.
Click to expand...
I used to spray for pests and disease for a large tree company...we sprayed for fungal diseases first just before bud break and again a week later just as the flowers are breaking...that's good for the season. Don't remember the active ingredient but if you're really in need I'll look it up. As for pests, best to know what you're treating for b4 you spray but dormant oil works great. Spray about the same time as for disease and again about a week later. Then monthly after that. Hort oil is totally safe to use up until harvest. Ppl call it Neem but that's just the brand name I think. It's registered as 3E Horticultural grade oil used for pests. Don't use systemics on fruit trees. Just don't.
Hmu with any questions.
 
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