Spring - April 26, 2020

Now is the time to begin your preventative sprays and work. The best advice for what and when type of treatments is a recorded message from the Missoula extension service, updated on a weekly basis. We seem to be running about a week behind Missoula this year. 

The number is (406) 258 - 3820

It is the tail end of pruning season if you want to maintain high tree vigor.  If your trees are crowding their available space, you can reduce their vigor by delaying your pruning until around summer solstice (late June). There is more danger of fire blight transmission at that time if you have it. 

The most valuable and harmless spray you can ever make is horticultural oil, right now. Mix 2 % (2 and 1/2 oz to the gallon). If you wait until the leaves are coming out, mix it at half that strength. It poisons nothing, but smothers overwintering eggs of coddling moths and aphids.  Spray to cover as much of the trunk and bud surface as possible, ideally to the point of run-off. The target is usually hiding between bud scales and behind flakes of bark. 

If your apricots look like they were shot with bird shot last year,  you have shothole disease, you should have sprayed copper last fall, but if you missed it like me, spray copper this spring at petal-fall and maybe two more sprayings at one to two week intervals. This might be somewhat effective. 

As soon as your soil is workable is the time to plant. As short as our growing season is, every day counts. A tree planted in late spring will likely die if not watered religiously all summer.