Spadework: It’s time to take care of your plants before they sprout

Deciduous plants like peach and plum are without leaves at the moment and you might not have noticed any bud sprouting, but the swelling says it’s almost time! However, I would like to warn my gardener friends about the appearance of aphids on such plants. In case of peach and plum, the common malady is the curling of leaves, so much so that the plant looks very sick with almost all the leaves twisted beyond recognition.

Aphids appear at a time when there is bud swelling, which is now. Spray the plants with some systemic insecticide, the one that goes into the system. One such chemical is Rogor, which can be sprayed at one-and-a-half ml to a litre of water. You may ask why it should be sprayed at a time when the leaves have not yet sprouted. Well, this is the correct time, as the eggs are simultaneously laid by the aphids with the swelling of the buds and, normally, one is caught unawares.

Keep an eye and spray the same chemical in the same quantity after about a week or 10 days. Even after this, if you find any leaf or twig infested, it would mean you missed that part of the plant. Time is almost running out for sowing of such plants, as these are planted when still dormant. Once they start sprouting, they cannot be carried bare-rooted or without the earth ball and planted. The chances of mortality in that case increases. Another thing important for peaches is that only those varieties should be planted that are early ripening, as the late ripening types are prone to fruit fly attack. Most of the early ripening varieties give fruit before the middle of May, well before even the pre- monsoon showers.

Now, a very tricky question. Why some trees bear profuse flowers but fail to give fruit? This will keep happening till you make sure you are getting specific varieties. There are two types. One is suitable for hills and other for plains. If the hill varieties are planted in plains, their chilling hours’ requirement is not met, with the result that they flower profusely but fail to give fruit. The varieties meant for plains are low chilling types, so these flower and fruit as well, profusely.

(The author is the Chandigarh-based horticulturist)