tii ' T5 otrotrotrAA9rAAA9rAAAAAAAAAAAAAA otrAAotrotrAotrA9r9r9rAAAAAAA9r9rAAA9r By MARK CULLEN Special to the Oakville Beaver As a nursery- man, I get asked a lot of questions pertaining to fruit tree production and problems. It would be impossi- Preventative maintenance key to healthy fruit trees ble in one article to go into all the various diseases and insect prob- lems of fruit trees, so let me just give you a few tips on how to keep your crop as trouble free as possible. In home orcharding, as with all other aspects of garden- ing, preventive maintenance is the primary key to good health; and healthy plants are far more resistant to insects and dis- eases than sickly plants. A good preventive mainte- every 7 to 10 days. when you do water, you should soak the ground thoroughly so that the water pene- trates down to the roots. Light sur- face waterings encourage feeder roots to develop too close to the surface of the soil. nance program for fruit trees includes a regular spraying program, proper watering and fer- tilizing, as well as thinning and prun- ing at the proper time of year. Early in the spring, before the leaf buds showed any green, you should have applied a dormant oil/lime sulphur combination spray. Then after blos- soming, you should have start- ed spraying every two weeks with Wilson's Fruit Tree Spray to combat insects and diseases. If you‘ve missed these first impor- tant sprayings, it is time to play catch- up, especially if you‘ve noticed any problems set- ting in. Wilson's Fruit Tree Spray can be applied right up until a few weeks before harvest according to package instructions. Fruit trees should generally be watered no more often than Save' page 5