Gardening Q & A

Safe spraying for fruit trees

I have my first fruit tree (a late-flowering sweet cherry), started last spring as a 6-foot bareroot. It branched over its first summer. My neighbor said I need to spray the tree before it leafs out, and gave me Dexol Liquid Fruit Tree Spray to use. It contains methoxychlor 12 percent, malathion 6 percent, carbaryl .3 percent, Captan 11.74 percent. When should the tree be sprayed? I notice no bugs. The instructions say start at dormant and repeat at 10-day intervals until bloom, then spray after petal fall, wait 10 days, spray, and then spray at 14-day intervals after that until 14 days before harvest. I am wondering if these suggested intervals are applicable to the Spokane area, or if this is the proper spray to use.

– Joni Knoell

In general, sprays for fruit trees are usually intended to keep diseases and bugs from attacking fruit. Your year-old cherry may not have fruit for several more years. I wouldn’t worry about spraying it until then and then only if you encounter a problem. When you do, have the condition properly identified and then apply nonchemical integrated pest-management principles first. Use chemicals only as a last resort.

I wouldn’t use this product at all. For one thing it is not on the Washington state Department of Agriculture’s current registration list, so there’s a good chance it is an old product. Secondly, it contains carbaryl or Sevin, which is extremely toxic to bees. Bees are critical to pollination of all kinds to fruit and vegetable crops, and their numbers have been decimated by diseases and mites across the country. Lastly, I wouldn’t use it because it is an all-in-one product that has you applying three insecticides and a fungicide when you may need only one. Instead, apply the product that is needed for a specific problem only when it’s needed.

Early slugs

I must tell you that last night (Feb. 22) my husband and I saw our first slug of the season. Now, we are talking freezing weather with snow on the ground. The only explanation I have is that it was on the south side of our house and next to the foundation. Maybe I’ll have a bumper crop this year.

–LeAnn Adams

Ah, yes, slugs. If it’s warm enough, they will come out of hiding at any time in the late winter. If you are seeing them already, make a point of cleaning up around their favorite plants very soon. Cultivate down a few inches to disturb eggs and overwintering adults and then get an iron phosphate-based slug bait down as soon as possible. The best defense with slugs is a really good offense. Read the label directions and reapply as needed.