Fruit trees should be sprayed in early spring before the bud opens in order to kill overwintering insects/insect eggs nestled in the crevices of your fruit trees. However, in order to safeguard your health and that of the environment, reconsider using one of the environmentally safe natural or organic fruit tree sprays which are every bit as capable of killing overwintering insects and insect larvae. Any of the following organic and natural fruit tree sprays will do the job: a lime sulfur/horticultural oil mixture, a horticultural oil/water mixture, and a homemade spray made up of natural ingredients.
Organic Fruit Tree Sprays
Organic Fruit
The first type of organic fruit tree sprays, the lime sulfur/horticultural oil mixture, can sometimes be bought premixed, but you can also buy a kit and mix the two. The lime sulfur is a natural fungicide which kills dormant fungus spores or bacteria. The horticultural oil is used to smother all overwintering insects and/or the eggs.
This combination spray must be used early in the spring before the buds swell and break open; otherwise you risk burning the new leaf. Also it can be sprayed only if the temperature remains in the middle of 0 degrees Celsius (32 F) and 20 degrees Celsius (about 70 F) for at least 24 hours because the oil part of the spray needs time to smother insects or their eggs. A cold night will break down the oil before it has a opportunity to be effective. any way if it happens to frost after the 24 hour period, there is no harm done.
Spray when there is very puny or no wind, and no rain, snow, or sleet in the forecast. Read instructions determined and cover yourself well because it can be a messy job when you spray your tree from the top down until it drips. In addition, the lime sulphur has a strong smell, so wear clothes you can wash.
A second type of organic fruit tree sprays, the horticultural oil/water mixture, can be used not only in early spring but also throughout the summer as long as the spraying is done early in the morning when the weather is cooler and the tree has cooled off. This combination is far less messy than the first one.
Natural Fruit Tree Spray
You can all the time opt out of this messiness by making your own combination with natural ingredients from your kitchen cupboard or bought at a gardening center. One spray combination which is easy to make and which can be used in the spring or at any time while the summer months includes liquid seaweed (found in plant nurseries) blackstrap molasses (the kind you use for cooking), apple cider vinegar, and Murphy soap - all added to a gallon of water.
The seaweed and the molasses not only fight fungal disease in the orchad but also feed the plant through the leaves (called foliar feeding) especially if you are spraying well early in the morning when the leaf pores are still open.
You needn't worry about the molasses attracting bugs. The plants discharge the molasses instantly. Boom it's gone! The fruit trees just love it!
The acidity of the vinegar helps kill black spot on roses, powdery mildew, brown patch, and other nasty fungi.
So instead of spraying your fruit trees with poisonous insecticides/pesticides, you may want to reconsider using the dormant spray combination of lime sulfur and horticultural oil, the dormant horticultural oil/water mixture, or a spray made up of natural ingredients, a spray which not only smothers the insects/insect eggs and fights fungal diseases but also feeds the tree.
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