Week of 01/20/2022 Dormant Spray
With winter upon us, many of us are not thinking about the spring gardening season, however many of the diseases and insects that can attach your fruit and nut trees, grapes and even brambles can be headed off right now. Dormant sprays, which kill overwintering pests and diseases are best applied when plants are in their dormant stage, after the leaves have dropped in the fall and before the leaf buds open in the spring.
“Dormant spray” can be kind of a generic term. (sometimes referred to as horticultural oil), Some Dormant Sprays are refined oils, that smother overwintering insects such as aphids, mites, scale and thrip as well as insect eggs.
Some of the most common trees sprayed with Dormant spray are: Quince, Almonds, Crabapples, Roses, Nectarines, Apricots, Cherries, Pears, Apples and Peaches
Other Dormant Sprays contain synthetic fungicide or copper. Copper and fungicides prevent the spread of bacterial and fungal diseases such as “peach leaf curl, fire blight, powdery mildew, brown rot and shot hole”.
Anther spray made form liquid lime-sulfur is mainly used on small fruit plants. (Raspberries, Grapes, Blueberries and Blackberries). This type of “Dormant Spray sanitizes stems and kills overwintering fungus and bacteria.
When you apply “Dormant Sprays” via the label directions, they are not going to harm humans, the environment or the beneficial insects in your garden. It’s “pet friendly” and very easy to apply.
The next question is how and when do I apply? For the average home garden, it is not needed every year, but if your most recent harvest season was plagued by pests or diseases and impacted the quality of the harvest then that winter is when you should apply the “Dormant Spray”. To be most effective, every inch of the trunk, stems and branches but be coated. Insects and diseases will hide in the cracks and crevices of the bark. Your goal is to completely cover any insects, insect eggs, fungi and bacteria, which will essentially smother them and even disrupt their cellular activity.
Sometimes the “Dormant Sprays” will not completely control an insect or disease but suppress it. It may be necessary to use additional insecticidal or fungicidal sprays during the growing season. (Especially during the warmest summer months)
It’s best to spray when the temperature will be 40 degrees F or higher. Try to avoid spraying on windy days for the best coverage and saturation and hold off if a freeze is coming soon.(This is because Dormant Sprays are often cut with water and the water in it will freeze and that can cause harm to the plant, tree or shrub and harm them.
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