Petal fall is a critical time for management of plum curculio, and potentially oriental fruit moth and rosy apple aphid, the latter two dependent on what insecticides or mating disruption products were used before bloom. Also, if an insecticide targeting San Jose scale was not applied before bloom, petal fall to first cover falls in the timeframe for targeting this pest.

It is also important to note that most orchards consist of multiple apple cultivars that have differing times for petal fall, and precautions should be taken to avoid exposing bees to insecticide sprays or residues in flowers.

Petal Fall Sprays and Bee Safety

Minimizing risk of insecticide exposure to bees involves common sense and following restrictions on labels. The following guidelines should be used:

• Insecticides should not be applied before >90% of petals have fallen from blooms. Anytime before this stage risks exposing bees to insecticides. This is especially true when applying insecticides highly toxic to bees (see table below).
• Insecticides toxic to bees should not be applied before hives are removed from an orchard, regardless of the presence or absence of flowers.
• In orchards with multiple cultivars, avoid spraying insecticides until petal fall is complete on all cultivars. Attempting to spray trees that have completed petal fall but which are adjacent to those with blooms still present, will likely expose bees on blooming trees due to spray drift directly or indirectly (i.e., spray drift to flowers can contaminate nectar and pollen).

Insecticide Options for Petal Fall

Insecticide recommendations at petal fall are shown in the table below. Unfortunately, most are highly toxic to bees, especially those recommended for plum curculio – the key target at this time. Hence, the importance of waiting until >90% petal fall to make applications.

Plum curculio (PC): The key pest at this time, and the one which should be a strong basis for insecticide selection.

Oriental fruit moth (OFM): Another common pest, and the first generation can be easily managed with an insecticide applied at petal fall. However, in orchards using mating disruption and where dispensers were in place by before pink, insecticides are probably not necessary.

Rosy apple aphid (RAA): Rosy apple aphid control at petal fall is only necessary if an insecticide effective against this pest was not applied before bloom, at the tight cluster to pink stage.

San Jose scale (SJS): If an insecticide targeting San Jose scale was not applied before bloom, the window for making a post bloom spray extends from petal fall to first cover.

Preventive control of Mites: For those that prefer preventive control of European red mites, petal fall is the optimum timing if using Agri-Mek. The efficacy will noticeably decline the further from petal fall it is applied. If using insect growth regulators (e.g., Apollo, Savey, Zeal) or Envidor, it is recommended to wait until first or second cover.

Relative Efficacy of Insecticides for Petal Fall

(─ no activity, 1 = least effective, 5 = most effective)

Learn more about southeastern apple insect pests at the Apple Insect Management page.

2025 Average Weekly Trap Captures