BonideCaptain Jack's Fruit Tree Spray, 16 oz Concentrate, Insect & Disease Control Spray for Organic Gardening

Really keeps the bugs away

It seems to work well with Japanese Beatles. The Beatles keep coming from somewhere and are a continuing challenge. I apply it with a sprayer on the hose and it works well.

I've used this formulation on my small collection of about 24 heritage apple trees for several years. It works fairly well for insect control, moderately well for fungal problems. I'm not sure what would be better. I'm in the southwestern NC mountains, and we often get late frosts/freezes, as well as rainy growing seasons, so it's a struggle to a crop of good apples. I've been trying for over 20 years now, and don't intend to quit my somewhat expensive and frustrating hobby yet. At 66 years old, I'd probably be better off doing something else-fell off a ladder today, but thank God, nothing broken!

The last few years I have had a problem with Codling Moths on my apple trees. It was to the point that I was only getting about 20% of my apples, the Codling Moth worms were getting the other 80%. I started using Bonide Fruit Tree Spray this spring, and spraying every two weeks until just before harvest. The Bonide totally turned the tables on the Codling Moths worms. There were apples that had signs of attempted entry by the worms, and some apples had entry holes but the worms were dead inside the apple. This gallon of Bonide Fruit Tree spray will last for quite a few years, but the price was too good to pass up. It also helps to put Codling moth traps out to catch the adult moths, and single sided corrugated cardboard around the trunk of the tree to trap worms climbing up from the ground. This triple treatment approach has greatly improved my harvest to about 95%. I also lose some apples to the frickin' birds, but Bonide cannot help me with that.

Mix as per instructions and you will have an excellent bug spray. Works great on my apple tree.

Oriiginal comment: Apples from our various trees were nasty in 2019, with apple maggot the main apparent culprit. I was not sure we would be able to get rid of the problem. I sprayed this three times (though it recommends a maximum of two) in 2020, and our harvest this year is almost perfect.Now, as of 2024, the original Bonide (which contained the active ingredients captan, malathion, and carbaryl) appears to have disappeared from Amazon and most other retailers, having been discontinued by Bonide. Those components can be obtained individually if desired. My understanding is that neem oil is not effective against apple maggot, though it may serve other purposes well.

As per other reviewers, I sprayed my peach trees the maximum 3 times after petal drop, stopping 3 weeks before harvest. 98% of my peaches had worms in them. I will try what other reviewers have suggested and spray every 10d to 2 weeks next year and hope for the best. I have tried various sprays over the years, and never have I been able to walk over to one of my trees and eat a peach without scraping some brown much and the worm out first. One year, spraying malathion weekly, I had partial luck, and my acres stunk like malathion all summer. My chickens benefit from peach season and I am sure they love the bonus worm in each one.

Used on all fruit trees