Spring Dormant Spray Time!

It's just about time to begin thinking about a dormant oil and copper spray for your fruit trees! The apple trees are getting ready to silver tip in the orchard here at Royal Oak Farm Orchard in northern Illinois and that is a sure sign that spring has arrived!! It also indicates that just as soon as the nights stay above freezing, it will be time to do a dormant oil and copper spray. The oil (mineral oil) is sprayed for mites, scale and aphids because spring is the time to cover those eggs at the base of the buds before they begin to hatch.  The oil smothers the eggs and they suffocate before hatching.  Below you can see aphid eggs that were laid last fall.

Copper is also sprayed at this time for control of fire blight and to aid in the suppression of apple scab pathogens, both being severe diseases that can destroy a crop as well as the trees. We also have to be aware of the spring critical temperatures as the buds progress in development. Each spring I post the spring critical temperatures chart from Utah State to help you determine at what stage your fruit trees may be at as spring progresses.

Ever wonder how the fruit trees know when it's time to come out of dormancy? Well, the trees won't come out of dormancy until they have endured a certain amount of time with temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the number of chill hours they need is achieved and temperatures warm in the spring, the trees come out of dormancy and resume their normal growth. The number of hours required at cooler temperatures is known as the chill requirement or chill hours. As of this afternoon we had accumulated approx. 751 chill hours from October 1 of last fall. Most apple varieties require 400-1000 chill hours, so most of the trees in our area have met their requirement and will come out of dormancy just as soon as temperatures warm. Growth resumption can be predicted by tracking what we call growth units. Growth units are the number of degree hours above 41 F. For example, if the temperature averages 51 F for and hour, then 10 degree units are accumulated. Bud break initiates after approx 3710 F growth units accumulate, and progresses depending on the temperature. We do our dormant oil and copper spray generally around April 10. The best time to spray is at silver tip....when the buds have that silvery/gray tinted fuzz on them. You can use the chart below to determine the growth stage your trees may be at.

As I mentioned earlier, now is the time to do our fire blight copper spray and our horticultural oil spray.  We want to get the copper on the trees before they reach full 1/4” green and the horticultural oil can be sprayed at the same time in a tank mix or done as a dormant,silver tip,green tip, or 1/4” green spray.  In other words, your oil can be sprayed at any time from silver tip through 1/4” green providing you are using a mineral oil based product such as Superior Oil 70sec or an off the shelf Horticultural Oil such as Bonide’s All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil.  Your copper spray should be done before the trees reach 1/4” green to avoid any phytotoxicity issues.  For your copper spray you can also use an off the shelf brand such as Bonide Copper Fungicide RTU (Ready to Use).  Both of these products should be available at your local hardware store or garden center of from Amazon.com.

A dormant oil and copper spray should not be done until we get at least a 24 hour period that is above freezing at night. The oil cannot freeze on the trees, but it pretty much dries within about 24 hours. Once dry, there is no chance of it freezing.  We usually get at least one 24 hour period above freezing at night before the trees get to 1/4" green. 

This “window of opportunity” for dormant sprays for fruit trees depends on the bud stage of your target fruit tree. You can follow these guidelines:

Apples: swollen bud to 1/4” green
Pears: swollen bud to cluster bud
Peaches/Nectarines: swollen bud to pre-bloom
Apricot: before bloom

When applying, spray trees just until they are dripping to get good application on all the stems and crevices at the buds. If you are using horticultural oil alone, use a rate of 2% (mixed in water) for best results or follow your chosen product’s label rate.  For situations where aphids have been real problems in the past, consider adding an insecticide (such as acetamiprid, etc.) to 1.5 - 2% oil or use one of the Bonide RTU (ready to use) pre-mixes for insect pests.