Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

Marie McHarry wrote:

> As you know, if you've been keeping track of list e-mails, I've planted a
> number of apple trees. Various sources suggest that to protect young trees
> they should be painted with white or light-colored interior latex paint. 
>
> Yesterday, I wandered into an Ace and found only glossy acrylic interior
> latex paint. Can I use that stuff on my trees? It has nearly killed me to
> plant them (though the long-handled shovel was worth every penny I paid for
> it), so I don't want to do anything that might damage my darlings.
>
> Marie
>
>
>  
I painted Japanese plum trees a couple of times with a simple whitewash 
made of milk and dolomite.  The goal was to get them to bloom later.  It 
turned out that they bore fruit every year anyway, despite blooming in 
late January, so I didn't bother with it further.  It didn't seem to 
cause any harm.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably substitute powdered feldspar from 
the pottery supply store (dirt cheap) for some of the dolomite.

Biodynamicists paint their trees with all kinds of pastes made with clay 
and manure and such (some of which are light-colored), so I would think 
that little harm can come of using these mixtures on dormant trees.

Bill
S. Oregon coast