As spring nears, it's the perfect time to use horticultural oil. Also known as dormant oil, horticultural oil is used at this time of the year (in late winter/ early spring) as an effective, all-natural insecticide to help keep insects at bay (especially insects that will damage plants). It's also useful to eradicate mites and scale.
We use horticultural oil on nearly all of our outdoor plants here at the nursery and love it because it is all-natural, organic, and doesn't hurt our pollinators. We always try to protect and grow our pollinator population here at the nursery. Horticultural oil is also safe to spray around children and pets.
Horticultural oil can be used on all plants in your landscape and will give your gardening beds an early layer of protection against insects that overwinter in the leaves and brush under your plants. Such insects include aphids, mealybugs, mites, leafhoppers, and eggs and nymphs. Using horticultural oil on outdoor plants will help you use insecticides much less later in summer. It is especially essential to use horticultural oil if you have fruit trees.
To spray, pick a day (morning is the best time to spray) where we do not have any rain projected in the forecast for several days. Also, choose a day where temperatures are mild. You do not want to spray on a day that it is hot or you can burn the leaves of the plant. Follow the directions on the back label and spray on leaves or stems, under foliage, and on the ground right around the plant. You only need to spray once during the year, so this is not an application you will repeat several times throughout spring or summer.
We offer horticultural oil here at the nursery. Ask us any questions and we look forward to seeing you this spring!