In the Fruit Garden & Orchard
While your fruit trees may not be actively producing right now, next year's crop yield is entirely dependent on the care and protection you provide to the trees during this critical downtime.
Dormant Pruning & Spraying
It is officially time for pruning and spraying your fruit and deciduous trees. Pruning while plants are dormant and the weather is cooler makes it far less likely that the bugs that infect the trees will be active.
Nonetheless, winter spraying remains a vital step. Traditional spraying patterns in winter have heavily relied on harsh Copper, Oil, Sulphur and Thiram sprays with considerable environmental toxicity We recommend switching to our organic certified spray, Lost Coast Plant Therapy, to keep your deciduous trees in pristine health without the synthetic chemical footprint.
Orchard Sanitation & Pest Control
Begin by clearing the ground. Any unusable, fallen fruit lying under the trees should be collected promptly and added to your compost heap to destroy potential pest breeding grounds.
Even in cooler weather, small, soft-bodied pests like aphids, whiteflies, and scale insects will continue to cling to the wood, draining vital sap and reducing the trees' overall vitality. A thorough application of LCPT keeps these pests completely off your orchard infrastructure.
Beating Peach Leaf Curl Early
Peach Leaf Curl is a highly prevalent, aggressive fungal disease affecting all cultivars of peaches and nectarines. It severely impacts blossoms, fruit, leaves, and shoots, typically becoming glaringly evident within just two weeks of leaf emergence in spring. Infected leaves exhibit severe curling, unsightly discoloration, and distinctive wart-like growths that frequently trigger premature fruit drop.
The secret to beating Peach Leaf Curl is timing. Right now, is the ideal window to apply your first preventative spray application to ensure the fungal spores are eradicated before they take hold. LCPT serves as a highly proficient prophylactic and treatment option—providing an incredibly effective alternative to traditional copper sprays while safeguarding plant health.
Setting Up Your Strawberry Beds
The next two months are the prime window for preparing and planting your strawberry beds.
Propagation via Runners
Look back at last season’s performance to source your new plants. Remove the runners, specifically selecting those from the parent plants that provided the most abundant, high-quality fruit last season.
- If the runners have already established substantial roots, they can be planted directly into the bed.
- For runners with smaller, immature root systems, plant them into potting mix first to establish themselves before transplanting.
5 Rules for Premium Strawberries
- Soil Quality: Strawberries demand well-drained soils rich in organic matter.
- Spacing: Space your plants roughly 30cm apart to allow for adequate air circulation.
- Sunlight: Ensure your bed is positioned to receive 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily during the growing season.
- Mulching: Apply a layer of pea straw mulch to retain soil moisture, limit weed growth and keep the developing berries clean and off the bare dirt.
- Energy Management: Limit the number of runners to no more than 4 per plant. This forces the plant to direct its core energy into producing large, delicious fruit rather than excessive foliage. Excess runners can be saved for next year’s crop rotation.
The Ultimate Strawberry Shield
Strawberries are highly susceptible to an array of devastating fungal and insect threats. Aside from slugs, Lost Coast Plant Therapy is the ultimate all-in-one answer to common strawberry ailments:
- Grey Mould / Botrytis: Fuzzy white or grey growth on leaves, stems, and fruit that thrives in wet, humid conditions.
- Powdery Mildew: White, powdery coating on leaves and fruit that thrives in dry, warm air.
- Anthracnose: Causes dark, sunken lesions on both the fruit and stems; spreads rapidly via splashing water.
- Leaf Spot: Purple spots on leaves that eventually turn a tan colour in the absolute centre.
- Aphids & Spider Mites: Soft-bodied pests and tiny mites that sap the plant's life or cause stippling and webbing.
Application Guide:
- As a Preventative: Spray your crops at a 12.5 mls per litre every 2 weeks.
- As a Curative Treatment: Manually remove the heavily infected plant material first. Then, spray the remaining plants thoroughly with LCPT every 2 days for a total of 4 applications to completely eradicate the issue.