Revised March 2005

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Contents

• How to use this guide
• Cultivar selection
• Application equipment
• How much pesticide?
• Pesticide safety
• Common insecticide and fungicide brand names and days between last application and date of harvest
• Measuring and mixing

Fruits

• Apples and pears
• Blueberries
• Cherries
• Gooseberries and currants
• Grapes
• Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots
• Raspberries and blackberries
• Strawberries

Related pages

• G1917, Personal Protective Equipment for Working with Pesticides
• G6020, Fire Blight
• G6021, Home Fruit Production: Apples
• G6026, Disease-Resistant Apple Cultivars
• G6085, Home Fruit Production: Grape Culture

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Extra

Pesticide recommendations are subject to change at any time. Before purchasing any materials, make sure they are still approved for recommended use.

Missouri Poison Control Hotline
800-392-9111

All Poison Control Centers in Missouri are coordinated through Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital in St. Louis. This facility has a 24-hour Poison Control Hotline staffed by professionals. The Center will refer you to your closest Poison Control Hospital for treatment.

In case of accidental poisoning involving a pesticide, follow the first aid directions printed on the label of the container and consult your physician immediately. Additional information concerning treatment and course of action can be obtained from your nearest poison control center.

Pesticides in this publication are listed by common name. Some brand names usually available in Missouri are listed in the chart. Undoubtedly, other brand names are available. No discrimination is intended, and no endorsement is implied. Consult the labels for appropriate rates.

Fruit Spray Schedules for the Homeowner

Strawberries

• Prebloom sprays
• Bloom sprays
• Postbloom through harvest sprays

Strawberries
Prebloom sprays

Apply when new leaves are expanding and blossom buds are visible.

Strawberry clipper

A key pest
or pest complex

• Material
  carbaryl
  or methoxychlor
  or permethrin
• Comments
  Stems of developing buds are clipped so that the buds hang down by a thread or fall to the ground. If such damage is present (3 or more clipped buds about every 3 feet), apply insecticide when floral buds first become visible.

Tarnished plant bug

A key pest
or pest complex

• Material
  malathion
  or endosulfan
  or permethrin
  or insecticidal soap
• Comments
  Damaged berries are misshapen, often with the seeds grouped at the tip -- referred to as "button berry." Apply insecticide when buds first become visible, and make a second application just before the first bloom opens.
  Controlling weeds in and around the planting helps to reduce tarnished plant bug populations.

Spittlebug

• Material
  carbaryl
  or malathion
  or endosulfan
  or methoxychlor
  or permethrin
• Comments
  Masses of white, frothy foam ("spittle") on leaves, petioles and stems. Usually not a problem pest. Early season sprays for tarnished plant bug are usually adequate in controlling spittlebug infestations.

Leaf spot, scorch, blight

• Material
  captan
• Comments
  Apply first spray when plants resume growth in the spring, just as soon as the mulch is removed.

Strawberries
Bloom sprays

Apply at 7- to 10-day intervals from early bloom through harvest.
Do not apply insecticides during bloom period.
Most varieties are self-fruitful; however, bees are essential for optimum pollination.

Fruit rotting, foliage diseases

A key pest
or pest complex

• Material
  captan
• Comments
  Apply at 7 to 10 day intervals from early bloom through harvest. Captan is also slightly effective against leather rot

Strawberries
Postbloom through harvest sprays

Apply at 7- to 10-day intervals from when flowers are gone through harvest.

Strawberry leafroller

A key pest
or pest complex

• Material
  carbaryl
  or malathion
  or pyrethrins and rotenone
• Comments
  Infestations may develop in spring and early summer, usually 2 to 3 generations each year. Low levels of infestation (less than 20 percent of strawberry leaflets attacked) do not warrant control.
• Days between last application and harvest
  Table 2

Slugs

• Material
  metaldehyde
• Comments
  Apply to soil or mulch surface around plants. Do not contaminate edible parts or foliage.

Leafhoppers, spittlebugs, aphids

• Material
  carbaryl
  or malathion
  or neem
  or pyrethrins and rotenone
  or permethrin
• Comments
  Leafhopper feeding damage causes leaves to become yellow between the veins and to curl. Treat only when symptoms become apparent.
  Several species of aphids attack strawberry, most damage is caused by aphids transmitting viruses from infected to noninfected plants. Such viruses are best managed by using virus-tolerant cultivars or planting certified virus-free plants.
• Days between last application and harvest
  Table 2

Tarnished plant bug

A key pest
or pest complex

• Material
  endosulfan
  or malathion
  or permethrin
  or insecticidal soap
• Comments
  See comments in "prebloom spray" section.
• Days between last application and harvest
  Table 2

Mites

• Material
  dicofol
  or malathion
  or insecticidal soap
• Comments
  Severe infestations result in slight mottling to a bronze discoloration on upper leaf surface. Silken webbing may be visible on lower leaf surface and between stems. Apply a pesticide when mites first appear, thorough coverage is needed.
• Days between last application and harvest
  Table 2

Japanese beetle

• Material
  carbaryl
  or permethrin
  or pyrethrins and rotenone
• Days between last application and harvest
  Table 2

G6010, revised March 2005