Chemical Pesticides

While one goal of the SIR Program is to reduce the need for chemical pesticides, there are situations where chemical intervention may be required.

Backyard Trees

Whether you apply the spray yourself or hire a Professional Pesticide Applicator, spraying should start about two weeks after petal fall (petal fall is when most of the trees flower petals have fallen from the tree, usually early June) and continue until near harvest.

Many factors impact the success of a spray program, including: the product used, spray residual, timing, spray coverage, weather, irrigation, and the level of codling moth pressure.

The BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands provides information here on managing backyard fruit trees, including the use of pesticides.

Be aware that spraying alone may not control codling moth infestation. It is important to properly prune your trees, thin the fruit clusters, and remove and destroy all infested fruit throughout the entire growing season.

Orchard Trees

SIR Program staff can provide information to growers on what infestation has been found (if any) and what wild codling moth traps have recorded in specific orchards and nearby areas.  This information can help growers plan what codling moth control measures are necessary, including the use of chemical pesticides.

Orchardists should contact their field consultant for advice on how to control codling moth on their orchards.  Control of codling moth can often be combined with control for other pests.  Packinghouse field service staff or consultants have the expertise to advise orchardists on appropriate control measures.

The SIR Program appreciates the use of spray warning notifications by growers so that staff can safely deliver services to orchards.

Spray records - All growers are reminded to keep accurate and up-to-date records of all pesticide sprays applied to the blocks they manage. You can use the forms developed by the Okanagan Tree Fruit Company (OTFC) in the Integrated Fruit Production Guide or use your own record-keeping form that reports the same information as the OTFC form. If you ship to the OTFC, you must keep spray records in order to ship to the packinghouse as part of the on-farm food safety requirements as prescribed by CanadaGAP. The SIR Program, OTFC fieldmen and private advisors also need these records to uncover possible reasons for failures in codling moth control, and to also determine if growers are eliminating or reducing the number of cover sprays according to codling moth numbers in their blocks.

The BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands provides further information on codling moth monitoring, and control.

Pesticide Resistance Management - It is well known that many pests can develop resistance to pesticides over time.  To avoid development of resistance, growers are reminded to follow a pesticide resistance management (PRM) plan based on rotation of chemical groups.  A step-by-step guide to help in developing a PRM plan is available here.