Spray Fruit Trees -- NOW

Now is the time to spray your fruit trees so you aren't fighting insects on your trees or later in your harvested fruit.  You need to spray your trees when they have buds, but the buds are not yet open.  Where we live, that time is right now and will soon be too late.  Our apricot tree has already blossomed, but all the others are still perfect for spraying.  

We have had good success spraying a mixture of dormant oil, Malathion and fixed copper.  To prepare, follow the instructions per gallon for each.  Soak each tree until the spray almost runs off.  Soak the entire tree including the trunk and each branch.  Spray in the evenings so you do not harm your local bee population.  This spray will kill the bugs and eggs that are waiting to infect your tree as they come out of dormancy.  This spray is also good for raspberries, blackberries and grapes.  

Spraying your tree is definitely worth the effort.  There is nothing worse than picking beautiful fruit in the fall only to find that it is infested with little critters!

For more information on spraying dormant oil, check out the recent newsletter put out by the Utah Extension Service by clicking HERE.

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Have you sprayed yet?  When harvesting, do you wish you had?

Time to Prune

It is time to prune!  That includes fruit trees, raspberries, blackberries and grapes.
 

As a general rule for fruit trees, you want to open up the center to get light and you also want to prevent branches from criss-crossing.  Apples and pears produce fruit on last year's growth so you'll need to leave enough new growth for next year's crop.  Fruits like peaches and almonds produce fruit on this year's growth which usually results in more to cut back.  When determining what height you'd like the branches to start, keep in mind whatever height the branch is from the ground it will never get higher.  The growth of a tree is all from the top.  When deciding how tall to let your tree grow, just determine how high you want to harvest fruit.  It is important to prune every year.  If you wait too many years and try to make up for it, it may shock your tree into not producing fruit. 

For raspberries you need to determine if you have June-bearing or ever-bearing.  For ever-bearing you get fruit off this year's growth so cut all stalks about 3 inches from the ground.  For June-bearing raspberries, fruit is produced on last year's stalks so you need to cut out any stalks that produced berries last year.  

For blackberries, cut out all stalks that produced berries last year.

Good-luck on grapes.  I have no sage advice.  I just hack ours back every year and they seem to thrive.

For me, it works well to use 3 pruning tools.  A small hand held pruner is the handiest to use for most of the pruning, especially if pruning is maintained yearly.  A two-handed lopper works well for branches up to an inch and a quarter.  A pruning saw is used for anything bigger.  

For more information, check out the pruning videos done by the USU Extension Service by clicking HERE.

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Any pruning tips or pruning frustrations to share?

Insect and Disease Newsletters

The USU Cooperative Extension provides free newsletters with current insect and disease issues affecting Utah plants.  We have found the newsletters helpful to know what to watch for and what to do when we see specific bugs or diseases.  You can click here to sign up to receive the free newsletters via e-mail.  This is the website's description for their newsletters:  "Plant pest advisories provide information on current pests in landscapes, fruits, and vegetables, and how and when to manage them.  They are delivered periodically through the growing season to your email inbox as links to an online newsletter."  When you sign up for the newsletters, you choose which newsletters are applicable to you and that you'd like to receive.

Even if you don't live in Utah, you may find it helpful since many things like squash bugs certainly are not isolated to Utah.  The squash bugs are bad in our garden right now and have even killed a couple of our plants.  Are you fighting squash bugs too?  Read how to treat squash bugs in the latest pest advisory newsletter for small fruits and vegetables by clicking here.  

 

Although probably the best attack we've found is giving our boys the job to hunt and squish the bugs!  My boys really don't seem to care, but I give them latex gloves because it just seems like a good mother thing to do!

How do you fight squash bugs?  What resources do you use to learn about pests and diseases?