Wegmans Nursery

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Apricot Trees Care Guide

Prune: Apricots may be divided into three classes according to their fruit producing habits. In all cases, the majority of the fruit is born on one year old wood (last year�s growth). Fruit may appear towards the tips of this growth, in the central section or in the lower section. The fruiting habit of your tree may be ascertained by noting where the fattest buds are located on the one year old branches. The fattest or fullest buds are the flower producing buds and indicate where the fruit will be set. The more slender buds will produce leaves and branch growth only.

In the case of the fruit buds being borne on the tip section as is found in the Royal varieties do not head back the one year branches. In the case of the best fruit buds being in the in the central section, the one year growth may be headed back about one-third. In the case of the fruit buds being in the lower branch section, the one year wood may be headed back from one-half to two-thirds of their length.

The first type will apply in most cases.

Spray: Dormant spray in December or January. Mix together and use Master Nursery Pest-Fighter Year-Round Spray Oil and Liqui-Cop. Follow label directions for appropriate quantities. Always check with your nursery professional to properly diagnose problems before undertaking additional sprays. NEVER use sulfur sprays, such as Lime-Sulfur Dormant Spray, on Apricots.

Shot Hole, Blossom Blight and Brown Rot:

If symptoms of these diseases appeared last year, spray as indicated below in addition to the winder dormant spray.

� Shot Hole appears as numerous to many small holes in the leaves. Holes range in size from 1/16 to � inch in diameter. Spray after leaves fall and twice more before bud swell. Use Liqui-Cop or Ortho Garden Disease Control (Daconil/chlorothalonil).

� Blossom Blight and Brown Rot have similar symptoms. Three things to look for: Numerous to lots of flowers, but little or no fruit, flower petals turn brown and stick onto the tree instead of falling, oozing of amber colored sap from flower spurs or cankers along the branches. Cankers on the branches are brown rot and must be removed and disposed of. If the tree exhibits these symptoms, spray again with Ortho Garden Disease Control (Daconil/Chlorothalonil) or Ortho Rose Pride (Fuginex/Triforine) at the pink bud stage and again at full bloom stage. If cool, moist weather persists, a third application should be applied at petal fall. (See SYMPTOMS and CONTROL on Peach & NectarineTree Care Guide.)

� Sanitation: Remove and destroy affected buds and blossoms during bloom. Remove and destroy maturing fruit when symptoms appear. In August or September, remove and destroy mummies and fallen fruit.

� Fruit thinning: See below�Fruit Thinning. Thinning fruit reduces spread of brown rot spores among fruits.

� Pruning: Prune to allow good ventilation. Remove infected twigs and branches, especially those with cankers (elongated leisions). DO NOT COMPOST.

� Irrigation Methods: Use basin or drip irrigation to avoid wetting blossoms, foliage and fruit. (See Peach & NectarineTree Care Guide.)

Fertilize: Use Master Nursery Fruit Tree & Vine Food twice a year, around Memorial Day and Labor Day. A lawn fertilizer containing iron and sulfur may also be used especially if the leaves show symptoms of chlorosis. If you prefer organic fertilizers, use Dr. Earth Fruit Tree Fertilizer two to three weeks earlier. Water in all fertilizers immediately after application.

Water: At planting, construct a soil basin at the drip line of the tree. As the tree matures, extend the basin to the span of the drip line. Flood weekly during the first year and then at 2 to 4 week intervals when the tree is mature. If a drip system is used, place hosing along the tree�s drip line with emitters on 18 inch centers. This system will also need to be adjusted as the drip line expands. Both flood and drip irrigation is preferable to sprinkler, since they reduce water splash, a common byway of fungal spores. If sprinklers must be used, adjust the heads so that they angle water low and away from the trunk. Keep in mind that a large, mature tree may consume up to 200 gallons of water per week in July and August. Start irrigating your tree(s) by mid-May or June.

Fruit Thinning: thin fruit when it reaches 1 inch in diameter. Leave 2 inches between fruits. Thinning is especially important if the tree is infected by brown rot.

Other Comments: Watch for dieback of twigs and fruiting spurs and oozing, amber-colored gum on branches. These may be symptoms of bacterial canker or brown rot blossom blight. Clear gum is usually not serious. Sudden limb death during summer heat could be Eutypa dieback. Currently, no controls exist for Eutypa; but summer pruning allows wood to callus internally before rains begin, at which time disease spores are most prolific. A grey-brown to black soft spot may rarely occur on the blossome end of tree fruit (Green Rot, Blossom Rot). Remove any old, dead, non-woody growth; prune to open up and let more air and light through; pick up and destroy all diseased leaves and fruit. Spray with Liqui-Cop (3 tablespoons per gallon of water) at 7 to 14 day intervals at flower bud state, the full bloom stge, and at petal fall. When pruning, be sure to destroy all infected wood. Bring several leaf and twig samples to Wegman�s Nursery for evaluation whenever these or other symptoms appear.

Paint trunks and lower branches of young or non-vigorous trees with a one to one mixture of white interior latex paint and water to prevent sunburn injury and reduce subsequent borer infestations. Apply the paint mixture from 2 inches below the soil surface to 3 feet above or to the scaffold branches.

Adapted from Ogawa and English (1991), Diseases of Temperate Zone Tree Fruit & Nut Crops, UC Extension Publication 3345; and from Flint (1998), Pests of the Garden and Small Farm, 2^nd Edition, UC Extension Publication 3332.