Lets Talk about why we want to spray our fruit trees, fruit bushes and rose bushes with Dormant Oil, we are protecting then from certain overwintering pests and fungal diseases. Its giving the trees a head start in the spring without the pest or fungal pressure.

Timing is Crucial On a calm dry day, with no rain or snow in the forecast for the next 24 hours, but ideally 48 hours before or after a very hard freeze in late winter or early spring, BEFORE buds break, we want to give them a good spray for full coverage.

Tip, if you are in the right timing for pruning your fruit trees, you are in the right timing to do your dormant oil spraying!

It does a fine job on pest control including aphids and spider mites by creating a protective coating on the tree, it does its job not by chemically killing them but by smothering them with the oil coating and it can also break down and kill eggs from hatching.

However for us, the main reason we use it is and use it heavily on the plum trees is that it can inhibit certain fungal disease, including reducing our plum pocket fungal issues, it is also very helpful to reduce powdery mildew and apple scab, fire blight, peach leaf curl among others.

Your trees should be well coated, and look evenly wet when done, its better to do a larger spray then a fine mist, as the larger droplets can catch and cling to the tree more effectively then the fine spray does.

A properly timed dormant oil spray can mean the difference between reduced spraying needed later and also increased tree health and fruit production!

Remember to wear your safety gear and fully clean your sprayer thoroughly after use

Have you already done yours? Still waiting for the right timing?