How to Apply Dormant Oil Spray to Apples

To control populations of insects that overwinter on the bark of your apple tree, spray the tree with a dormant oil spray in late winter or early spring. The term “dormant” refers to the season when you apply the oil spray, not the oil itself. Dormant oil spray will control San Jose scale, European spider mites and rosy apple aphids. Unfortunately, dormant oil sprays do not control most diseases that attack apple trees, or insects that attack developing fruit during the growing season.

Premixed dormant oil spray
Garden sprayer
Malathion
Permethrin
Endosulfan

Instructions

- 1
  Check the weather forecast. Apply dormant oil spray only when temperatures are expected to remain above freezing for 24 hours after application, but temperatures should not rise above 80 degrees before the dormant oil spray has had time to dry. Delay application if rain is forecast.
- 2
  Check the buds on the apple trees to be sprayed. They should still be closed, but it's okay if they are swollen. Strive to spray the apple trees before the buds break open, assuming all other weather conditions are favorable.
- 3
  Fill a garden sprayer with premixed dormant oil spray, or mix a solution following the manufacturer's label directions.
- 4
  Saturate the entire tree thoroughly, from the base of its trunk to the tips of its highest branches. Don't forget to aim the sprayer at the underside of the limbs and branches. Ensure the entire tree is completely covered in dormant oil spray, to the point that the product is dripping off the branches.
- 5
  Discard any unused dormant oil spray following the manufacturer's label directions.

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