Castanet

two_shoes1mit wrote:I saw several different combination varieties at Dogwood Nursery in Westbank.

I bought two trees 2 years ago with multiple varieties at Dogwood, in their "sale" lot. One was peach with 3 varieties, the other was a plum with 2 varieties. The plum tree has done really well in the last couple of years, the peach not quite as well, but both have produced fruit which I've plucked early because I think the trees are still too young. I love Dogwood's sale lot.

I love Dogwood's sale lot too. I have a questions about the plum tree you bought that is doing well.
How do you handle spraying, with multiple foods?

Sounds like same fruit on each tree so I would presume the spraying would be the same.

two_shoes1mit wrote:I love Dogwood's sale lot too. I have a questions about the plum tree you bought that is doing well.
How do you handle spraying, with multiple foods?

As Fancy mentioned, the fruits are all of the same "family" and generally all need the same sprays at the same time of year.

It's not quite as simple as that - some varieties may be more susceptible to certain problems requiring spray to resolve. But even when that happens, you can typically spray the entire tree as it won't harm the other fruits and will often benefit them as well. Timing can be a little bit of a challenge. Lime Sulfur for example is most effective when applied just before "bud break". With a combination fruit tree, the different fruits will bud at slightly different times requiring a compromise.

What I find: Combination fruit trees generally exist in backyards by casual growers who don't spray anything except the bare minimum to keep the plant alive and reasonably healthy so it produces fruit. In that scenario, spraying is fairly easy to manage.

Not knowing anything about spraying. What is and what would be the 'bare minimum?"

two_shoes1mit wrote:Not knowing anything about spraying. What is and what would be the 'bare minimum?"

For me, I spray dormant oil and lime sulfur. Nothing else gets sprayed unless I notice a problem which is rare if those two are applied correctly. One of those "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" things.