What are your thoughts on whitewashing the trunks and branches of fruit trees to protect them from sun damage? It seems this is common practice in some orchards, in particular with avocado trees.
My intuition tells me that nature grows trees in a certain way and that no tree in nature ever paints itself to protect its bark - so I wonder if it’s really advisable to do this. It seems to me like painting over a tree’s bark is the equivalent of painting over our own skin - it doesn’t sound like a good idea! But maybe there are certain circumstances or varieties of tree (like avocado) where it really is best practice?
Also, how much of a difference does it make using an organic product for this like the IV Organic product, compared to just regular old water based latex paint?
I was looking at the IV organic product called “3 in 1 plant guard” which also claims to have added ingredients which repel insects and rodents - that does seem like an added bonus. But a quick look at the ingredient list shows that the repellents used are just a few different essential oils, and here in my climate at least I’ve never found essential oils to be effective against insects except for a very brief period after application.
So unless the latex paints actually harm the trees, or cause toxicity in fruit, I’m not sure it makes sense to buy a product like this?
Anyone here do whitewashing, and do you think is best to use and what has your experience been?
Paint on apple bark is akin to zinc oxide sunscreen on your skin. Or maybe even on your clothes since the outer layers of bark are dead. It’s a good idea. There are some caveats. Like interior latex paint diluted 50:50 with water.
My take is that Mother Nature allows trees to grow where She thinks they should grow. Humans, on the other hand, want to grow trees on their farms, in their backyards, etc. often not where those trees are intended to. Then we learn from our mistakes and have tried to wise up and learned to protect our “misplaced” trees.
I have used interior white water-based latex paint mixed 50/50 with water to paint my fruit trees for over 10 years. I don’t do it every year, every 3-4 years in my small backyard. We have had snowy winters when blinding white snow reflection (on sunny days) could add damage to a freeze and thaw cycle of unpainted trees.
I’d say it isnt useful at all, with a few caveats. It’s a must on avocado trees when they are young and most tender growth which is exposed to sun. It’s so prone to sunburn, and the only trees I routinely paint. Lost one my first year and almost lost all 3 from not painting.
Interesting to see this brought up again. I bought IV organics and have been planning on painting only the trees I keep on my scorching full sun deck, since to @mamuang point, nature never intended for a tree to survive there. These are currently citrus and pomegranate (though unsure how I would paint pomegranate).
I found the following paint at a local store: “Rust-Oleum Painters Touch Semi-Gloss White Water-Based Ultra Cover Paint Exterior and Interior.” Does it sound like it would work? It’s definitely latex water based. But how do we find out if the paint contains any toxic additives?
Ive only used the IV organics also. But with avocados anything green I coat. They can’t handle sun until they brown over. When I do paint them I typically hit the trunks of my stone fruit and loquats just because they are easy. I don’t paint any of my citrus as their foliage does a great job shading them all. Plus I don’t have any pest pressure on them. The stone fruit I do for any possible pest pressure in the form of borers. Granted it won’t stop them but maybe deter them slightly. But with avos more is better, no wrong thing to paint basically. I didn’t paint anything yet this year as last years hasn’t worn off completely and they are more densely covered in foliage. I do need to slap some on the avocados, this is a good reminder after we had well over 90* today.
Here it’s a good ideal to paint anything under the foliage exposed to the hot sun. If you do get any latex just go to a paint store and ask for a no label can in the back. I went to Sherman Williams mentioned it was for my fruit trees and got a gallon for $20 last time instead of $80.
IV Organics. The essential oils don’t last in the heat and sun so it’s just VERY VERY Expensive latex paint with great marketing.
I pay $20 per 128 ounces (1gallon) of very clean and top quality latex paint compared to $34 for 3.5 ounces for IVO. Ouch on this math. Tbf I think they offer gallons now for a few hundred bucks.
It gets into the 100s here, which is why I started painting trunks, but I have also noticed less rodent chewing, and I am hoping fewer borers(that could be a coincidence).
Where white-washing really is necessary, is for trees that have recently been reduced in height by removing one or more upper limbs, This exposes lower limbs to sunlight that they have never experienced before, and they can almost be guaranteed to suffer sunburn or sunscald. I’ve done this on apple, cherry, and plum trees, and they all lost the bark and cambium layers on exposed limbs. This resulted in fungus infections in some of those limbs, which eventually results in the loss of the tree.
I even white-washed one of the trees but only did it once, immediately after cutting off the upper limbs. I should have done it every year for at least a few years, because that tree still got sunburn and fungus rot; it will be cut down this year after I harvest the crop of sour cherries.
I lost every peach tree to Peach Borers until I started painting the trunks and major branches with diluted white indoor latex paint. It confuses the moth that lays the eggs in the bark and it’s the grubs that bore in and wreck the cambium layer. Works really well as long as I get out there and do it early enough in the season (Wester MA zone 5). Don’t know about sun scald, etc as that is not an issue here.
I live in an area with a lot of large commercial orchards as well as smaller, acre sized ones. Im in 6b with harsh winters. Ive never seen a trunk painted. For what its worth.
Was born and raised in SoCal citrus country. New trees had a roll of white braille newspaper wrapped around them. Kept sun and rodent damage from young trees.
I actually wrote an article about whitewashing trees a couple of months ago. When you add a just a touch of Bordeaux mixture or copper salts, the copper helps the antimicrobial and antifungal properties of the lime.
Personally I’d rather whitewash than use paint because I don’t want to deal with discarding extra paint, while with whitewash, you can paint all kinds of stuff like rocks and your deck with it to give it a luminous glow. The Art of Whitewashing Your Fruit Trees - Gardening
Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed your article. This also sounds like something I’d much rather use than paint. I don’t really like the idea of applying paint to my trees, even diluted 50/50!
This seems to be a product not as easy to find as garden lime though. I tried searching at various home improvement/garden centers in my area for “slaked lime” and “calcium hydroxide” and nothing came up at all. Finally I tried searching for “hydrated lime,” and that was the ticket. Found a few options.