Filed under: General Blog Entry's, God Bless America, Landscaping & Gardening, Nursery, Outdoor Lifestyles | Tags: Applying Dormant Oil, Carters Nursery, Crepe Myrtle, Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale, Dormant Oil, Dormant Oil Spray, Fruit, Fruit Tree care, fruit trees, Insect control, Insects in the Garden, Spray Program
Question – When do I apply Dormant Oil to my fruit trees & Crepe Myrtles?
I got this question Friday on the radio & wanted to expound on my answer a bit… The name really says it all – Dormant oil… You apply it when your trees are fully dormant, before the buds break in late winter/early Spring. Its the first step in any fruit tree spray program and maybe the most important. When you spray your trees with this product, it will smother overwintering insects like – aphids, scale & mites. It will also kill their eggs. Don’t skimp, wet the tree limbs and trunk down till they are soaking wet & dripping.

Inexpensive and easy to apply, Dormant Oil is your first step in a fruit tree spray program! AND a tool to help combat Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale. | Carters Nursery, Pond & Patio | Jackson, TN
Dormant oil will have an added emulsifier to help it mix with water in your sprayer. But shake it well and shake it often 🙂
Make sure to spray on a day where it will be above freezing for at least 24 hours! The next couple of weeks will be the perfect time to do this here in West Tennessee.
Dormant oil is also a way to help control the Crepe Myrtle Bark Scale (CMBS) that have invaded our area! Dormant Oil is a good first step in a control program for these new, invasive insects! For more info on CMBS click here – https://ag.tennessee.edu/news/Pages/NR-2018-04-CMBSTaskForce.aspx
A little more advice – clean up last years leaf matter, fallen fruit and branches, etc. This will help insure that overwintering insects and fungi are out of the way.
I Hope this helps you get started down the road to better quality fruit and healthier Crepe Myrtles!
Here’s to Spring!
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