Q. Sitting on my deck is a Genetic Dwarf Peach in a container that I planted last spring. How do I go about pruning it since it’s a compact and bushy grower?
A. The popularity of genetic dwarf fruit trees increases as gardeners with small yards look to pick homegrown fruit. Their bushy and compact growth habit comes from the space between two leaves, also called internodes, which is very short. They’re also desirable, as you don’t need a tall ladder to manage them; although, some varieties can grow to ten feet if left unpruned. Genetic dwarf peaches and nectarines are excellent container plants on decks, patios, and balconies. They’re often used as a substitute for citrus and make handsome landscape shrubs, and require little pruning each year. Pruning involves thinning the branches to open up the canopy to maintain the tree’s height and spread. You also strengthen limbs by removing entire branches instead of reducing their length. It would help if you had strong branches to support the weight of the fruit. Fruit production occurs on the higher branches’ extremities, so removing this growth is not a severe problem. Besides, you should remove any of the rubbing and crossing branches keeping those branches that best add to the plant’s overall shape. This improves the air circulation, which is essential for controlling disease and allows more sunlight to reach the ripening fruits in the trees’ center. The dead or dying twigs and branches are also removed. This dieback tends to occur in the lower section due to the shading from the dense growth. You remove any unwanted growth and or suckers on an as-needed basis during the balance of the year. And finally, genetic dwarf peaches and nectarines are susceptible to Peach Leaf Curl. You apply a Copper Fungicide starting in late November. Right now. I’d make two applications, with the last one occurring just as the buds are swelling and showing color. This is called ‘the pink bud’ stage.
Q. What is the best spray plan for peach and other fruit trees? What if rain prohibits on scheduled dates?
A. Peach Leaf Curl is the primary concern with Peaches and Nectarines, with a Copper Fungicide being the dormant spray. I suggest you apply a Copper Fungicide dormant spray. You need to start with one application in the late fall after fifty percent of the leaves have dropped off. The next application is around mid-February. You want to wait until the buds are about to open. This is called the pink bud stage or popcorn stage. Rain is a big problem as it will wash the Peach Leaf Curl spores into the open buds and infect them. Hence, you want clear dry conditions when the trees are in bloom. You can spray now, but your first application is best made in the fall. With the other fruit trees except for citrus, one application of a Copper Fungicide made in January-February is sufficient.
Q. I had a severe infestation of Whiteflies last year. Can I spray a dormant spray to prevent them from returning?
A. Whitefly is a summer, pest problem that plagues vegetable gardens, evergreen shrubs, and herbicides plants such as Escallonias, Pyracantha, Geraniums, and Fuchsias. It’s beneficial to make one application of an oil spray to evergreen shrubs during the winter months. It will clean up the over-wintering Whiteflies; however, it will not eradicate the problem from returning. Whiteflies are mobile so that they can migrate in from other yards. Whiteflies are a severe problem on tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplant, melons, and pumpkins. The population starts slowly, and they build up rapidly when the temperatures warm up. When the temperatures are over eighty-five degrees, whiteflies can complete a generation in as little as eighteen days. You must be proactive before this happens. It very difficult to control the Whiteflies once the population explodes. The first thing you need to do is to be diligent in looking for them early on. In April, I’d place several yellow sticky traps in the area where they were a problem last year. The adults are attracted to the color yellow and are then caught when they land in the clear sticky resin. The traps monitor the activity and level of adult Whiteflies in your garden. Once I see Whiteflies in the traps, I then start looking at the underside of the host plants’ leaves. Early on, you can just pick the infected leaves off and discard them. When the population starts to build up, you spray with an oil product. The best time of the day to spray is in the early evening, just before the sunset. Your goal is to keep the population at a manageable level, so you need to be pro-active all summer long. The biggest mistake in a vegetable garden is waiting to do something. By mid-summer, when the population is huge, your best alternative is to dig the vegetable plants up and discard them.
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