This is Ben Scow with Utah State University Extension down in Washington County.
It's February, and we're getting into March. We've had a really warm winter, and I have a gardening tip. It's a little bit early this year, just because of that warmer weather, and that has to do with everyone's favorite little insect pest: the aphid.
Aphids are little, soft-bodied insects, and there's a variety of different aphids and different plants that they feed on.
For fruit trees, specifically, we see a lot of green peach aphid. It can be, of course, on peaches, but also apricots, cherries, and plums as well.
But this little insect will suck the life out of your tree, and that's kind of what they do. They reproduce really quickly, and oftentimes they get away from gardeners in their backyard orchards in the spring.
So they come around in the fall, and they'll lay their eggs on the trees. They like the little cracks and crevices on the trees to protect those eggs. One of the main places that they lay the eggs is on the new buds and the new blossoms for next year.
They lay them in the scales on those buds, and when the winter weather cools off, the buds will shrink in and protect those eggs. They're exposed again as everything warms up when those buds will start pushing out.
The best time to apply a dormant oil, or horticulture oil, is when you can start to see the color on the tip of the buds. The color is either a pink or a white, depending on the species of tree that you have.
As soon as you start seeing that color, and before they open, is the ideal time to apply dormant oil or horticulture oil.
Neem oil is one that does not work as well. It's not as thick and not nearly as effective. So either dormant oil or horticulture are the ones that are recommended.
Hope everyone has a phenomenal spring as we start to warm up and cool off as we go through our fun Utah weather.
Happy gardening, and we'll talk to you next month.