Spring fruit tree maintenance

Fresh fruit picked straight of the tree is a real treat! With good watering, feeding and cultural practices fruit trees will provide an abundance of fruit, and reduce the need to spray.

Keep your fruit trees thriving with our spring maintenance guide. 

KEY TASKS

• Be vigilant, walk the garden regularly and observe! If you see a problem or a potential problem, take action to prevent it spreading.
• Fertilise fruit trees in early spring using a general garden fertiliser or specialty fruit fertiliser like Tui Enrich Fruit, Citrus, Tree & Shrub Controlled Release Fertiliser.

FUNGAL DISEASE

Warm, damp spring weather is the ideal breeding ground for fungal diseases. The soft new growth and emerging flowers are vulnerable to diseases such as leaf curl (peaches and nectarines), black spot (apples and pears), botrytis (berries), and bacterial blast (stonefruit).

• Preventative sprays of copper in spring help protect trees against disease. If it rains, spray the tree again. Once flowers emerge, stop spraying with copper until later in the season so you don't burn any soft new growth.
• Collect up any fallen curled leaves to prevent the disease spreading in the soil.

insect pests

Watch out for insect pests such as aphids, scale insect, passionvine hopper, whitefly, mites and mealy bug!
Codling moth are active in September/October. Guava moth don't have a seasonal cycle, they move from host to host all year round.

• Use spraying oil at regular intervals to break the life cycle and control insect pests. Alternatively, you can try a safe low toxicity insecticide.
• Sometimes the easiest way to control passionvine hopper and white fly is to hose them off at regular intervals, especially on citrus.
• Place pheromone traps in pip fruit trees to capture the male codling moth and break the lifecycle. Grease bands can also be used around the tree to prevent larvae climbing up the trunk from hibernation.
• Hang guava moth traps in feijoas and citrus as soon as the fruit sets. Replenish traps and keep them hanging until the fruit is harvested.

If you spray, check the time between spraying and being able to consume the fruit (the withholding period). Even natural controls can have withholding periods. And always wash fruit before you eat it!

Accept that sometimes the weather can be against us, but there is always next season, so don’t give up!

Discover our full seasonal guide to fruit tree maintenance >