When it is time to start spraying the orchard, what conditions you must meet, what to do with the treatment and how — here is some important information for those who grow fruit trees, which you can find, in short, in this article. Find out how to take care of your trees to give them rich fruit and keep them healthy, regardless of the season.
If you have faced aphids, mites or leaf swarming at least once, you already know that once the disease or parasites have taken over your orchard, it is harder to fight them. This is why most people who grow fruit trees tend to spray 5 or 6 times a year, when they know that trees are vulnerable to certain pathogens. Below we offer you some important information that helps you to effectively manage your treatments, so that you can enjoy well-developed fruits and a healthy orchard.
When we sprinkle
The factors that are taken into account for choosing the moment of spraying with phytosanitary solutions are: the season, the stage of development in which the trees are and the meteorological conditions. Thus, you can easily divide the year into four periods in which you must apply the treatments.
The first is spring, at the end of February and the beginning of March, before the trees are cleared, when the temperatures start to reach 5 o C. more and more often. It is time to use oil-based solutions, which form a film on the bark of the stem and branches, preventing the penetration of pathogens.
The second stage is the vegetation stage, in which you will treat the trees both before the buds appear, and after the flowers have already shaken their petals. Specialists indicate the use of anti-rape formulas, combined with insecticide and antibacterial solutions, during periods of heavy rainfall. Then follows a period of pause in which the fruits grow and you pick them.
The third period in which you will need an atomizer is the autumn period, when you will spray after you have harvested the fruits and the fallen leaves, when the vegetative break begins.
You don’t stay in vain even in winter. Somewhere at the end of the cold season, when the weather starts to soften, it’s time to splash again. It is time for disinfection with copper-based solutions, such as Bordeaux mixture that is good to apply during periods when the temperature has stabilized around 10 degrees Celsius, as well as insecticides that include vegetable oil. Finish by cleaning the dry or disease-affected branches to prevent spreading to other trees.
Apart from these indicative periods, you can spray disinfectant or protection solutions even in moments with large changes in temperature or humidity.
How do you spray
Although it is a fairly simple activity, spraying trees involves certain rules that guarantee the efficiency and safety of the one who does it. First of all, it is important to dress properly, taking care to completely cover the skin, to avoid the deposition of sprayed chemical solutions. Wear a coverall, long gloves, boots, breathing mask, goggles and hats.
Make sure there are no children, animals or other people in the area you plan to spray. Reschedule treatment if it is a day with strong winds or rain.
Always orient yourself in the direction of the air currents, in order to avoid the situations in which the wind brings the insecticide particles towards you, and pay more attention to the stage of fuel supply and phytosanitary solution.
Use the right device for the surface you have to treat and the type of solution you will apply. You can choose a manual pump for a small garden or you can use an atomizer with battery or heat engine, if it is a slightly larger orchard. The height of the trees also matters. In the case of seedlings, the low height will not be a problem with the manual pump.
For slightly larger trees, however, you will need an automated system that creates enough pressure to raise the solution to height.
What are you spraying with
During the autumn, the so-called black spray is made, with insecticides and acaricides based on horticultural oil, meant to control pests such as aphids, mites, lice from San Jose, etc. From this category the most popular substances are considered Emerit Oil and Confidor Oil.
Next comes the blue stop, which is made at the end of winter, without overlapping with the black one, which uses copper-based solutions such as Curzate Manox, Bordeaux juice, eggplant, Funguran OH 50WP, Champion 50WP. It is important to apply this type of solution when it is 5 o C outside, there is no high humidity or fog and the tree has a dry surface. To get the best results you need to bathe the whole tree in phytosanitary substance.
Spring spraying, before budding, is done with horticultural oil, to destroy mite eggs and lice larvae, and with soaking sulfur, which protects against powdery mildew. Once the buds have sprouted, it’s time to spray with fungicides for powdery mildew and rust, such as Champion 50WP, Bravo 500SC, Folpan 80 WDG, Shavit 72WP or Dithane M45, and contact insecticides (Reldan 40EC, Decis 2.5EC, Faster 10CE) .
During the pink or white floral bud period, treatments are made against moniliosis, rape and other diseases using systemic fungicidal solutions such as Curzate Manox, idomil MZ Gold, Topsin, Aliette 80WG and insecticides (Calypso 480 SC, Vertimec, Nissorun 10 WP, Mospilan 20 SG, Talstar 10 EC, Actara 25 WG). After almost three quarters of the tree flowers have fallen, it is time to apply insecticide and fungicide treatment (Systane, Reldan, Calypso) to the mining larvae, mites, wasps, powdery mildew, moniliosis and rape.
When the fruits have grown to about 0.5 cm you can spray once more with insecticides (Mobilspan, Reldan) and fungicides (Shavit, Merpan, Folpan), and after fruiting you should treat once every 2–3 weeks with fungicides, acaricides and insecticides. , depending on needs. The last treatment is done at least two weeks before the fruits ripen.
