A few days ago I picked up some white, interior latex paint, mixed it about 1 : 1 with water and slathered it all over my new (this year and last) treelings. They are young: 1 year (?) to 3 years; one foot to 5 feet. Almost everywhere that it got on a starting-to-grow bud it appears to have caused discoloration, growth delay, and general malaise. Granted, I’ve never heard of painting the entire tree (sunny side) but there is no canopy on these small units so I figured the most sensitive to sunburn would be the little twigs. Is this Poor Choice #247 for this year?
I don’t think that will hurt your trees or buds. Maybe a little issue at first growth but I’d expect the shoots to quickly return to normal.
Thanks! Almost everything has been looking really good…even some late-bloomers are ‘showing’; and it’s the first leaf-out after the first overwintering for many trees; plus, some I just planted. Then to see this…I hope it’s minor.
I always painted in fall during dormancy. Buds broke though no problem. Make sure it is not BATHROOM or KITCHEN paint that includes fungicides.
See some of my experience here:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1516623/comparison-of-3-painting-mixtures-for-trunk-protection
Excellent Hungry; thanks. My 50/50 was probably more like 60/40 or so. Nice to know that that is not necessary and not necessarily good. Almost everything appears to be hanging in there…maybe even growing just a bit.