[Nicky Schander]

Hi HON Members. My name is Nicky and I am very new to this. My husband took a workshop with Michael David Phillips and we have his books but I am always finding myself confused about the spray schedule. So what I did was to take some notes and turn them into an outline to simplify it for me. I am afraid it is too simple but it makes it easy for me to see what to do. I hope it might also be helpful to others. The following in particular is an outline for the treatment of Cedar Apple Rust. It references the overall Holistic Spray Framework.

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.`

<h3>Holistic Orchard Approach:</h3>
<p><strong>Focus:</strong> Priming the immune function of the tree and introducing deep nutrition for competitive colonization.</p>
<p><strong>Additional Methods:</strong> Alter leaf pH with products like GreenCure to hinder basidiospore germination.</p>
<p><strong>Other Products:</strong> Armicarb, Kaligreen, and Milstop can enhance efficacy when used with an organic spreader/sticker.</p>

<h3>Spring Holistic Sprays:</h3>

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

<h3>Comprehensive Applications (Fruit Sizing Window):</h3>

<p><strong>Issues Addressed:</strong> Curculio, sawfly, internal-feeding moth larvae, scab, cedar apple rust, and black rot.</p>
<p><strong>What:</strong> Pure Neem Oil (NimBioSys label for pure neem oil with EPA registration for certified-organic growers)</p>
<p><strong>Timing:</strong> 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cover sprays every 7-10 days during the fruit sizing window.</p>

Question: are these 2nd, 3rd 43th sprays indeed Spring 2-4?

<h4>Key Components:</h4>
<p>Calcium and silica brews included in the core holistic recipe to build cuticle strength on leaf and fruit surfaces.</p>

<h4>Kaolin Clay Strategy:</h4>
<p>Applied separately from fatty oils, the day after a holistic app, to keep fine clay particles “unstuck” on plant surfaces</p>

<h3>Spring1 – Tight Cluster to Open Cluster:</h3>
<p><strong>Timing:</strong> 5 to 9 days before Spring2.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> Overall tree canopy is sparse; soil and arboreal food webs are engaged; wets down branch structure and trunk for decomposition.</p>

<h3>Spring2 – Pink, Delayed as Long as Possible:</h3>
<p><strong>Timing:</strong> Up to 7 days before a bloom time rain.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> Blossoms show pink;</p>

<h3>Spring3 – Petal Fall, ASAP:</h3>
<p><strong>Timing:</strong> 5 to 9 days before Spring4.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> Continues thorough spraying to runoff; renewal spray after extended bloom; trace minerals for seed development. (Trace minerals can be found in seaweed sprays)</p>

<h3>Spring4 – First Cover (Beyond Bud Stage Lingo):</h3>
<p><strong>Timing:</strong> Better to err on the side of sooner rather than later.</p>
<p><strong>Description:</strong> 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, but I’m just including it)</p>

<h3>Summer Holistic Sprays:</h3>
<p><strong>Frequency:</strong> Biweekly applications.</p>
<p><strong>Composition:</strong> Core recipe minus nitrogen-rich fish, including foliar calcium. Consider adding milk for the brown rot of peaches.</p>
<p><strong>Monitoring:</strong> Traps for maggot flies to indicate the need for additional actions.</p>

<h3>Fall Holistic Spray:</h3>
<p><strong>Focus:</strong> Leaf decomposition, hindering scab overwintering sites, addressing insect eggs/larvae.</p>
<p><strong>Components:</strong> Higher rates of liquid fish, neem oil, and increased microbes for better decomposition.</p>
<p><strong>Benefits:</strong> Azadiractins in neem hinder insect development, while good fats stimulate mycorrhizae during the fall feeder root flush.</p>

<h3>Core Holistic Recipe:</h3>

<h4>Ingredients:</h4>
<ul>
<li>2.5 ounces pure neem oil</li>
<li>A generous teaspoonful of soap emulsifier</li>
<li>10 ounces liquid fish</li>
<li>6 ounces mother culture of effective microbes</li>
<li>Up to a half cup of blackstrap molasses</li>
<li>5 tablespoons liquid kelp or 0.5 ounce (dry weight) of seaweed extract</li>
</ul>

<h4>Instructions:</h4>
<ol>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Add 10 ounces of liquid fish and 6 ounces of mother culture of effective microbes to the water filling the spray tank.</li>
<li>Dissolve as much as a half cup of blackstrap molasses into the mixture to launch the beneficial microbes.</li>
<li>Additionally, include 5 tablespoons of liquid kelp or 0.5 ounce (dry weight) of seaweed extract to enhance the overall solution.</li>
<li>Ensure thorough mixing to create a well-blended solution.</li>
<li>Use the prepared mixture in a 4-gallon backpack sprayer, covering the trees until runoff is achieved.</li>
</ol>

[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

[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]

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://groworganicapples.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!

[Josh Willis]

Hi Nicky,
Welcome to the forum. Here are some answers to help get you started.

1. I think you might be confusing “cover spray” with “coverage” or “spray to drip.”

Any spray is usually going to be applied to complete “coverage” of the target area, i.e., leaves, buds, and/or branch and trunk structure, depending on the spray.

“Cover sprays” are traditional orchardist speak, so far as I understand, for “covers” of orchard canopy leaves. So 1st cover spray is usually the first spray after petal fall and the leaf canopy is establishing. Sprays generally are good for ~7-10 days, depending on the ingredients, the weather, and even grower tolerance for fruit damage. So you might have Petal Fall -> 7-10 days later -> 1st Cover Spray -> 7-10 days later -> 2nd Cover Spray, etc. Michael’s system I think just uses this nomenclature up to 4th Cover Spray, and then starts saying “Comprehensive Sprays” and then “Summer Sprays” to distinguish what his goals were. You could just as well call them 5th to 8th Cover Spray, etc. Many conventional orchardists usually say this. It just isn’t as accurate for Michael’s formulations.

As you are probably guessing now, Spring 1-4 are different than these cover sprays. The Spring sprays tend to key in on the phenological phases of bud growth, i.e., 1/4″ green, tight cluster, early pink, and bloom, etc. These sprays are really keyed in to give specific health boosts at the earliest and arguably tenderest moments of the fruit tree’s new growth.

You should have access to the “Holistic Spray Framework” in the Apple Core section of the new website. This should help give you an overview. I would also recommend reading through the issues of the HON newsletter that presumably are on the website somewhere. I think the Holistic Spray Framework PDF even references a specific HON newsletter that gives a great summary of the rationale behind what Michael symphonically titled the Four Sprays of Spring.

2. Meristem launch is another key on the growth process of the fruit trees. My memory is this is when buds develop for *next* year. In other words, it pays to support the tree’s meristem “launch” with specific nutrients to make sure there is good bud development for the next year. But hopefully someone else is able to chime in to confirm my memory on that.

3. I think notes are a great way to learn these spray processes! There used to be a page on the website with Holistic Spray Recipe, but I don’t know if that got transferred to the new website. There is the Holistic Spray Plan, which is designed for larger orchards, but that you could adapt to a backyard orchard. I didn’t double check your write up. But I would just recommend starting to think about the ingredients in terms of percentage of your tank volume. Your recipe is presumably based on a 4 gallon tank. But if you list %, than that helps other growers (and yourself) compare apples to apples, so to speak. For example, is your neem at a 0.5% rate of your total tank volume? Do you usually spray EM-1 at a 2% rate, but could you double it to 4% during Spring 1 or during peak rot infection windows to increase inoculation? These are hypothetical questions, but each year is a new dance with your trees and the weather and your understanding, so it helps to have some firm #’s to track what is in your tank.

Hope that helps!

[Nicky Schander]

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