Fruit trees should be sprayed in early spring before the bud opens in order to kill overwintering insects/insect eggs nestled in the crevices of your fruit trees. However, in order to safeguard your health and that of the environment, consider using one of the environmentally safe natural or organic fruit tree sprays which are every bit as capable of killing overwintering insects and insect larvae. Any of the following organic and natural fruit tree sprays will do the job: a lime sulphur/horticultural oil mixture, a horticultural oil/water mixture, and a homemade spray made up of natural ingredients.

Organic Fruit Tree Sprays

The first type of organic fruit tree sprays, the lime sulphur/horticultural oil mixture, can sometimes be bought premixed, but you can also buy a kit and mix the two. The lime sulphur is a natural fungicide which kills dormant fungus spores or bacteria. The horticultural oil smothers all overwintering insects and/or eggs.

This combination spray must be used early in the spring before the buds swell and break open; otherwise you risk burning the new leaf. Also, it can be sprayed only if the temperature remains between 0 degrees Celsius (32 F) and 20 degrees Celsius (about 70 F) for at least 24 hours because the oil part of the spray needs time to smother insects or their eggs. A cold night will break down the oil before it has a chance to be effective. However if it happens to freeze after the 24 hour period, there is no harm done.

Spray when there is very little or no wind, and no rain, snow, or sleet in the forecast. Read instructions carefully and cover yourself well because it can be a messy job when you spray your tree from the top down until it drips. In addition, the lime sulphur has a strong smell, so wear clothes you can wash.

A second type of organic fruit tree sprays, the horticultural oil/water mixture, can be used not only in early spring but also throughout the summer as long as the spraying is done early in the morning when the weather is cooler and the tree has cooled off. This mixture is far less messy than the first one.

Natural Fruit Tree Spray

You can always opt out of this messiness by making your own mixture with natural ingredients from your kitchen cupboard or bought at a gardening center. One spray mixture which is easy to make and which can be used in the spring or at any time during the summer months includes liquid seaweed (found in plant nurseries) blackstrap molasses (the kind you use for cooking), apple cider vinegar, and Murphy soap - all added to a gallon of water.

The seaweed and the molasses not only fight fungal disease in the garden but also feed the plant through the leaves (called foliar feeding) especially if you are spraying really early in the morning when the leaf pores are still open.

You needn't worry about the molasses attracting bugs. The plants absorb the molasses instantly. Boom it's gone! The fruit trees just love it!

The acidity of the vinegar helps kill black spot on roses, powdery mildew, brown patch, and other nasty fungi.

So instead of spraying your fruit trees with poisonous insecticides/pesticides, you may want to consider using the dormant spray combination of lime sulphur and horticultural oil, the dormant horticultural oil/water mixture, or a spray made up of natural ingredients, a spray which not only smothers the insects/insect eggs and fights fungal diseases but also feeds the tree.