Humans are not the only ones who love fruit. Bugs and fungi like fruit, too, and if you are not careful, they will get to your fruit before you do. The easiest way to prevent these pests from overtaking your fruit trees is to spray those trees with insecticides and fungicides. Here are a few tips to help you do that effectively.

1. Choose one general-purpose spray.

You could separately spray your fruit trees with insecticides and fungicides, but it's hard to do this. If you put them on too close together, one may interfere with the other's action. If you wait too long to apply one or the other, bugs or fungi may have time to invade. It's a lot easier to just choose a general-purpose spray that repels bugs and fungi. These sprays are formulated to ensure the ingredients don't interfere with one another. Plus, you only have to do the work of spraying once.

2. Spray very early.

Often once spring comes, homeowners will be waiting to spray their fruit trees. But waiting is often the wrong choice. It's better to spray too early than too late, and you really won't spray too early unless it's still the dead of winter. The perfect time to spray is as soon as buds appear. If the leaves have started to open just a bit, you're still on time. But you don't want to wait until the leaves are fully opened, as this gives fungi a chance to start replicating before the spray is applied. Once fungi start replicating, they are much harder to get rid of.

3. Start at the top, and work your way down.

The lower branches are easiest to reach, so many people spray these first. But this is a mistake. It's too easy to knock the spray off as you pull up a ladder to reach the top of the tree. Plus, as you spray the top, more spray will settle on these lower branches. Spray from the top down, and you will find that you don't have to directly apply a lot of spray to the lower branches.

Follow the tips above for a more effective fruit tree spraying session. If you have trouble finding a spray that will work, reach out to a tree care service near you. Most will spray fruit trees for a small fee.

To learn more, contact a tree spraying company.