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I've been told to follow up an infestation of apple scab by composting any leaf litter on the orchard floor to destroy spores. I plan to haul away most of the leaves to my garden composter but a 5% urea solution is indicated for the orchard floor. How much should I need per mature tree (10 ft diameter drip line) and are there any safety concerns with preparing the solution in a sprayer tank?

I figure 5% urea solution is about 2 lbs (pounds) urea in 5 gallons. It comes from my coop in 50 lb bags of prills.

Lorem Ipsum
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Erik Olson
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  • Where did you get your information from? I'm not questioning it, I just think being able to read through it (plus maybe other information that's there) might help people give you a better, more informed answer... – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 17:34
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    Does your compost pile get hot enough, 120°F (49°C) minimum for 2 weeks minimum (those are absolute minimums), to kill the spores? If no, you should dispose of those leaves via some other method (IMHO). – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 17:48
  • Straying off topic from the core question, but in response to Mike's temperature concern: In the article I linked in my answer, note that scab spores rarely travel more than 100'. If the garden composter is this far away from the orchard, it seems like there's a low risk of spreading scab from even a cold compost pile as long as you don't intentionally spread it in the orchard and follow reasonable hygiene procedures. Also: collect the leaves by mowing w/bagger, they will break down much faster (reducing spore count by 85% according to the article, and they assume you aren't hauling away). – bstpierre Oct 11 '11 at 18:49
  • @bstpierre I would say it really comes down to personal (horticultural) viewpoint if "low risk" is acceptable or not... – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 19:14
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    Info comes from a class I took last March and a verbal reminder from a local farmer to use 5% urea at this stage. – Erik Olson Oct 11 '11 at 19:38
  • @ErikOlson From my afternoon reading on the subject I'd say ["bstpierre" answer](http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/2395/how-to-prepare-urea-for-orchard-composting/2396#2396) is a good one. Cleaning the orchid floor the best you can, then flail mowing, followed by spraying a 5% urea solution over the complete orchid floor seems to be a pretty "standard" method for dealing with (late identification of) apple scab... – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 22:01
  • @ErikOlson Another "standard" recommendation seems to be applying a second application of 5% urea solution over the complete orchid floor in early Spring, 2 to 4 weeks before the buds start to push. Apple IPM, Saving Early Season Scab Sprays: http://youtu.be/4WAuPPBZHFo – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 22:07
  • @ErikOlson From my limited afternoon reading on the subject I've not come across any safety concerns with preparing the urea solution, therefore I'm left to believe (rightly or wrongly) if you follow any (safety) instructions that come with the urea & apply good common sense (judgment) there shouldn't be anything to worry about... – Mike Perry Oct 11 '11 at 22:13

1 Answers1

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According to UMass, you should spray 100 gallons per acre, or .00229568 gallons per square foot. A 10' diameter circle is 78.5 square feet, thus requiring .18 gallons. If you make one gallon of solution, you can treat 5 mature trees.

If you have the trees planted in rows in an orchard, the orchard will cover more space than just adding up the trees. (E.g. 10 trees in two rows of five with a uniform 10' spacing will use more than 785 square feet of space.) This is because of the gaps between the circles -- and you'll want to treat those gaps as well.

A 50 lb bag of urea will make about 125 gallons of solution, or enough to treat 1.25 acres of orchard.

Note that the article linked above suggests the use of feed grade urea as it dissolves better.

I'm not qualified to comment on the safety aspect.

bstpierre
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