Winter fruit tree care.

Franklin Laemmlen, Ph.D.

During the next few months - late December, January, and early February - fruit trees should be pruned and then sprayed for dormant period control of insects and disease. Apples, plums and pears that had leaf curl caused by aphids should be sprayed with dormant oil. Peaches and nectarines that had leaf curl disease should be sprayed with copper fungicides or calcium polysulfide. Dormant oil sprays will also control scale insects on fruit trees. If you have citrus trees with aphid, scale or mealybug problems, summer oil should be used, as dormant oil may be phytotoxic to the leaves of citrus.