How To Spray An Apricot Tree

Apricot trees, like all other fruit trees, need to be properly treated for pests so that you can enjoy a bountiful fruit harvest. Trees that are not treated may have some or all of the fruit crop lost to insects and other pests. Fruit tree pests are best treated in the winter, during the dormant season. Getting rid of the pests when the weather is cooler is a much easier process than when they are rapidly multiplying in the warm summer months.

Step 1

Mix up a dormant oil and water mixture in your pump-up sprayer according to the instructions on the dormant oil bottle.

Step 2

Spray the dormant oil mixture over your entire apricot tree in the winter months after the leaves have fallen. Coat all branches, twigs and trunk with the mixture. Apply in the morning when the temperature is expected to rise during the day.

Step 3

Spray copper sprays on your apricot tree at the bottle's indicated rate before the fall rains begin. Copper will reduce the chance of your apricot tree developing canker.

Step 4

Apply an insecticide to your tree beginning once blossoms drop in the spring and continuing until harvest. Apply at the recommended rate over the entire tree with your pump-up sprayer at seven- to 14-day intervals.

The trees need full sun and well-drained sandy or loamy soil that is at least 4 feet deep. Apricot trees need a cold rain in late winter when the blossoms are ready to open, followed by dry spring weather. In spring and summer use sprinklers every two to three weeks or use drip irrigation daily in the absence of rain. Cut back on watering in the fall. Painting the trunk in the spring with a half-and-half mixture of white interior latex paint and water may help prevent borer infestation and sunburn. Thinning the fruit while it is small helps the tree conserve valuable resources and results in fewer but larger apricots at harvest time. Next, remove up to 20 percent of last year's growth.