Organic Fruit Tree Care For Central NJ & PA

apple

A Complete Organic Fruit Tree Program to Maximize Production

More and more, people are getting interested in planting trees on their property that are not only beautiful, but also productive. Our goal is to help you grow healthy, nutrient dense fruit that is free of toxic chemicals, tasty, and as locally grown as you can get – right in your own back yard!

OPC’s expertise includes a proven Organic Fruit Tree Program that focuses on building fruit tree health as an integral part of managing pest and disease pressures. Whether you have several fruit trees or dozens, we can develop an organic program tailored to your needs.

The Organic Plant Care approach to fruit tree care includes the following:

  • an assessment of the soil and nutrient levels
  • regular pruning for tree health and fruit production (including dormant fruit tree pruning)
  • pest and disease prevention (and organic treatment when needed)

We also offer an Orchard Health Program for properties with many fruit trees.

Organic Fruit Tree Care

Soil Analysis & Amendments

If your fruit trees experience any of the following, important soil nutrients are probably out of balance:

  • bud and shoot dieback
  • fruits dropping form the tree before they ripen
  • malformed fruit
  • yellow leaves
  • early leaf drop
  • decreased overall health

We recommend a professional soil analysis when starting an organic fruit tree care program with us and then every year or two, depending on the lab analysis and recommendations.

Organic Fruit Tree Care

Fruit Tree Pruning

Regular and proper pruning improves tree vigor and fruit growth, especially with apples and pears, which develop on second-year wood.

Annual fruit tree pruning is done to:

  • develop good scaffold structure,
  • allow light to penetrate into the center of the tree,
  • selectively encourage new branches develop to replace old wood in future years, and
  • encourage ongoing fruit bud development.

Most of the structural pruning and major pruning cuts are done during the dormant season in late winter or early spring before any signs of new growth. Summer pruning is reserved for more minor cuts. 

For more details on the best timing for fruit tree pruning, see our article here.

Organic Fruit Tree Care

Pest & Disease Prevention & Treatment Program

Our integrated approach to managing problems provides nutritional and microbial support, as well as treatment of specific issues.

Treatment is tailored to the fungal and pest pressures present at various stages of fruit development, such as quarter inch green, pink, petal fall, etc.

Treatments generally begin in late March and continue through fall, depending on your needs, and are targeted to suppress apple maggot, aphids, mites, apple scab, powdery mildew, sooty blotch, fly speck, black rot and white rot, rust, fire blight, saw fly, tent caterpillars, plum curculio, and codling moth, among others.

Complimentary Fruit Tree Care Quote

Contact us today or call 908-309-6611 for a free estimate. We'll take a look at your fruit tree(s) and suggest the best options to increase production, tree disease and control pests.

Get Your Quote

Tree & Shrub Care Resources

"We love working with Organic Plant Care. They’re very reliable and provide excellent service and quality work."

Lara Tar

Organic
Fruit Tree Care

Let us help you grow healthy, tasty and chemical-free fruit!

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Building Orchard Health

Honeybee pollinating at full bloomAt Organic Plant Care LLC, our Orchard Care Program embraces supporting the natural biology of an orchard ecosystem.

Fruit trees, as with all trees, prefer more fungal-based soils (versus bacterial) – see our article on compost tea (soil conditioner) for more details. Consider how they would grow in a non-cultivated natural woodland environment: leaves, branches, and woody matter fall to the ground, decompose and then these nutrients eventually cycle back to the tree with the help of all the members of the Soil Food Web.

In a cultivated orchard, we ensure that the proper nutrients are available via the soil and foliar applications. This allows a tree to be able to realize its full genetic potential and to express natural defense mechanisms.

Our organic fruit sprays serve as much to build health as they do to prevent problems. In spring, early summer and fall, actively aerated compost tea, fish hydrolysate, seaweed extract, molasses and pure neem oil help supply essential nutrients and fatty acids to feed not only the tree but also the beneficial microbes in the soil and on the foliage. These probiotic sprays serve to help build a healthy immune system and keep microorganisms in balance.