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Kathy’s Garden Writing |
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APPLE REBELLION Many of us have heard that home orchardists can’t grow apples organically. So we’ve often been forced to choose disease-resistant varieties like Enterprise, Freedom, Jonafree, Liberty, and Primus -- and sacrifice taste. But the lure of crunchy-sweet or tart-crisp home-grown organic apples cannot be denied. Fortunately, there is a new weapon to defy the naysayers. Since 2000, kaolin clay has been available to large apple growers and home gardeners alike -- a treatment approved by both the USDA and the Organic Materials Review Institute. This mineral is probably already in your home, perhaps in your pantry or medicine cabinet. Kaolin is a jack-of-all-trades -- an anti-caking agent in processed foods, and an additive in health care products. Now researchers have discovered that it also serves as a very effective particle barrier between apple trees and pests, when sprayed on in a water-based mix. Appropriately named Surround, it is available through several e-commerce merchants. Seven Springs Farm offers a great price, at $27 for a 25-pound bag (1-800-540-9181 or 7springsfarm.com). Success with this new product requires starting the treatment at petal fall, followed by 6 to 8 weekly sprays, until the insects decide to go elsewhere. Fruit and foliage have to be completely covered (Surrounded), which is easy to judge, as the kaolin deposits a chalky white residue. Commercial apple growers are reporting impressive results with this new product – over 90% control of the fearsome three of apple insects: plum curculio, coddling moth, and apple maggot. And it also appears to suppress some fungal diseases, like sooty blotch, fly speck, and fire blight. If apple scab is a problem, you can spray with lime sulfur, an organically-certified fungicide which mixes compatibly with kaolin. Now what, you might ask, does this ghost-like barrier do to the general health of the tree and fruit? Surprisingly, it actually proves beneficial, increasing fruit yield and coloration. Researchers speculate that the white coating reduces heat stress and thus aids photosynthesis. However it works, home orchardists can now imagine a world of mouth-watering pesticide-free apples. Think ‘Fuji,’ ‘Gala,’ ‘Honeycrisp’ -- and maybe even throw in a few varieties not typically found in supermarkets like ‘Blushing Golden,’ a tangier version of ‘Golden Delicious,’ which keeps in cold storage straight through to spring. So come apple blossom time, load up your sprayer for a snowy blitz of kaolin. If the pests aren’t confused by Christmas in May, your neighbors probably will be. Hopefully, in the fall, an invite for a home-baked apple pie will alleviate their concern. Kathleen Arcuri Published April 6, 2008 – The Danville Daily Item |