Fruit Trees & Bushes
Fruit Tree Ripening Schedule
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Fruit Tree Spray Schedule
1. PRE-PINK STAGE (just before buds swell)
ferti•lome Horticultural Oil Spray - Kills overwintering stages of insects & mites
ferti•lome Broad Spectrum Fungicide - Prevents Peach Leaf Curl
2. PETAL FALL (most petals have fallen)
ferti•lome Fruit Tree Spray - Spray every week until fruit shows
ferti-lome Spinosad - Worm killer, treat every 2 weeks until harvest
3. COVER SPRAYS (after fruit set)
ferti•lome Fruit Tree Spray - Every week for four weeks, then every two weeks until harvest
4. DORMANT SPRAY (after leaves fall)
ferti•lome Horticultural Oil Spray - Kills overwintering stages of insects & mites
Pruning Young Fruit Trees
Young fruit trees should be pruned to begin developing a strong structure of the main or scaffold limbs. This will help prevent limb breakage over the years when the scaffolds carry a heavy fruit load. Apple, apricot, cherry, plum and pear trees generally are trained using the central leader system. The growth pattern for these trees is for a center branch to be dominant.
Peach and nectarine trees are normally pruned using the open center method because they do not have a strong tendency for one shoot or branch to dominate the growth of other shoots or branches. In this system, the tree is pruned to a vase-like pattern with no central leader.
Regardless of the system used, the three to four scaffold branches should:
• Form wide angles (about 60 to 80 degrees) with the trunk.
• Be distributed on different sides of the tree for good balance.
• Be spaced about 6 to 10 inches apart on the trunk with no branch directly opposite or below another.
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