Orchard Spray Rates
How to Determine the Amount of
Pesticide and Water to Use in Your Orchard

Bulletin 892-01

Calculations for Dilute Applications,
How much water is needed for a dilute application?

If you want to make a standard dilute application, then use 400 gallons of water per acre.

Because most orchards do not need as much as 400 gallons per acre, you can customize the spray to a volume that is best for your orchard. Even if you never make dilute applications, you need to determine what your dilute volume should be, because it is the basis for calculating the amount of pesticide to use for concentrate applications.

Determining your dilute volume per acre means determining how many gallons of water it should take to cover one acre of your trees to the point of runoff, which is when water begins to drip off the leaves. This number is your dilute volume; it is likely to be in the range of 100 to 200 gallons per acre for modern types of apple trees.

You can determine your dilute volume of water per acre by any of three ways:

Method 1. Experience.
Method 2. Use a tree-row volume chart.
Method 3: Tree-row volume equations.

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