Protect Your Plants!

Right now trees are budding out. It is time to put dormant spray on fruit trees, roses, and any trees or shrubs that were a problem last year! In other words, prevent the problem before it starts. You want to put the dormant spray on before the blossoms or leaves come out. It is important to follow the directions carefully. Notice the day and night temperatures you need before you spray. You want them to dry off before night and freezing temperatures.

If the night temperature is above the freezing level for 5-7 days, the flowering buds will start to open and will be susceptible to freeze damage. If the temperature falls to 26 degrees or lower, you are likely to lose the fruit for that year, particularly on peaches and nectarines. Some in more protected areas may survive, particularly if there is a breeze coming through and flowing downhill away from the tree. Another factor determining whether there is damage is how long the temperature is at 26 degrees. If it is only that temperature for a short time in the morning at 6am-7am, there might not be as much damage to the buds.

What can you do to prevent damage? It might be possible to cover small trees, but that isn’t always practical. Many times in the orchards, heat, misters, or wind fans are employed. Some homeowners are able to work out fans or sprinklers. If this doesn’t work, try to defrost blooms before the sun hits them. The early morning hours between 5am-8am is when the most damage is done. If you are using a water spray, try to turn the spray to mist. Some years you just can’t win, but still try! Those luscious peaches are worth it!

At the same time, you might want to hit early blooming blueberries, other fruit or early annuals with water before the sun hits them. You may see nurseries using the same technique on tender plant material that hasn’t been hardened off enough, or has blooms on them that could be damaged by freezing temperatures.

Some varieties of plants are less susceptible to freeze than others. For example, Duke Blueberries are both a little later blooming and are early maturing. The blossoms are small and are wind pollinated. Don’t forget that you need two varieties to cross pollinate. They should be 60’ or less apart for best results. Blueberries need organic material in the soil and supplemented with iron to acidify the soil at least twice a year. If you see lighter colored leaves with dark green veins, it means that the available iron is tied up by the alkalinity in the soil.

Blueberries are a favorite, so for best results, be sure to put 3-6” of bark or wood chips around the base to keep the roots cool. Otherwise they just sit there and sulk! The bark around the base not only keeps the roots cool, but also keeps the weeds down. I can’t overemphasize the importance of mulch around your plants.

I’ll cover more ways of keeping the weeds down in the vegetable garden next time. Good luck out there!