Your trees and shrubs are a valuable asset on your New England property, which is why you care about investing in their long-term health. Many homeowners who want the best for their trees and shrubs choose to invest in a plant health care program for their property.
The best plant health care programs usually incorporate horticultural oil sprays into their program as a way of preventing pest resistance and also sometimes controlling diseases. Horticultural sprays can play a valuable role in promoting a healthy and thriving landscape.
In this article, we’ll explain how using these oils can be an effective component of your plant health care program and answer some of your common questions about using them.
Jump to:
What is Dormant Oil vs Horticultural Oil?
When to Apply Dormant Oil?
What are the Benefits of Using These Oils?
How to Use Horticultural Oil?
Choosing Plant Health Care in Southern NH, Northeastern Massachusetts, and Southern Maine
What is Dormant Oil vs Horticultural Oil?
Horticultural oil is a broad term for any plant-based oil that can be used to control pests and sometimes diseases on trees and shrubs.
Dormant oil is a type of horticultural oil, the main difference being that it is used when trees are dormant as opposed to “in-season” like other horticultural sprays. It’s not uncommon for these two terms to be used interchangeably.
When to Apply Dormant Oil?
Knowing when to spray dormant oil is important to the success of this product.
Dormant oil is specifically used in the late winter (or sometimes early spring) to address pests that overwinter on plants. As the name implies, the product is applied when trees and shrubs are still in a state of dormancy.
What are the Benefits of Using These Oils?
There are a lot of benefits to incorporating horticultural oil sprays into a plant health care program. They can be effective on a variety of insects and mites and work by suffocating them. They can also effectively kill eggs by preventing the exchange of gases required for them to develop.
Horticultural sprays can also be effective at smothering and killing some fungal spores like those from powdery mildew and leaf spot.
Some of the benefits of these products is that they are considered environmentally friendly, leave minimal residue, and they have a lot of versatility.
How to Use Horticultural Oil?
In order to be effective, horticultural oil sprays are typically applied on all plant surfaces, including the trunk, branches, and foliage (especially the underside of leaves). This full coverage helps ensure that the product can work on all pests or fungal spores that might be lurking.
There’s a pretty wide temperature range of when you can apply horticultural oils (usually between 40 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit) but the goal is to allow them to dry fully before temperatures drop too much. You also don’t want it to be excessively hot and lead to leaf scorch.
A plant health care technician will be expertly trained on when and how to apply these products to maximize your results.
Choosing Plant Health Care in Southern NH, Northeastern Massachusetts, and Southern Maine
You want your trees to remain healthy and strong. But sometimes a tree can be declining without you realizing it. Since a tree’s canopy is far from the ground, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to have no idea that there’s trouble brewing in their tree. By the time they notice the first sign of trouble, it could already be in really bad shape.
This is one of the best reasons to partner with a plant health care provider who is going to be keeping a regular eye on your landscape.
At the end of the day, horticultural oil sprays are just one component of a comprehensive plant health care program. Other services like fertilization as well as targeted pest and disease treatments will also help keep your plants in optimal health.
At Seacoast Tree Care, we take the health and care of trees and shrubs quite seriously. We view ourselves as trees’ guardians and believe that it is our role to help nurture and preserve their health. We provide tree care and plant health care services in the Seacoast region of Southern New Hampshire, Southern Maine, and Northeastern Massachusetts.
If you are already dealing with tree diseases or pests, we can determine the best course of action that should be taken. There are curative treatments for many problems that arise. But if you’re just looking to prevent tree diseases (we love your proactive attitude), our plant health care program can help with that, too.
Ready for healthier trees at your Southern NH, ME, or MA home? Request your consultation and have your New England trees evaluated. By making a wise choice, you’ll know your trees are in good hands.
