Crop Protectant – Formula V (Vegeplus)

Natural Silica & Essential Oil Shield for Stronger, Healthier Crops
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Crop Protectant – Formula V (Vegeplus)

Protect and Strengthen Your Crops Naturally

Formula V is a bio-based crop protectant designed to shield foliage and fruit from harsh environmental stress. When applied, it creates a tough vegetable oil layer that mimics the natural protection of eucalyptus leaves. Enriched with soluble silica, herbal and chilli extracts, and premium Australian essential oils, Formula V helps toughen leaf surfaces, boost plant vigour, and improve overall crop resilience.

This natural formula also supports long-term plant health and nutrition, making it a sustainable alternative for growers who want to strengthen crops while reducing chemical inputs.

Key Benefits
  • Strengthens and protects foliage with a natural oil-based coating.
  • Contains silica for tougher, more resilient leaves.
  • Enriched with herbal and chilli extracts for added vigour.
  • Safe for humans, animals, and the environment.
  • Effective against green vegetable bugs, Curculio beetle, and other common crop pests.
  • Suitable for most crops and foliage (trial on a small area first if unsure).
Application
  • Foliar Spray: Mix 2–3ml per 1L of water.
  • Spray to run-off, preferably late in the afternoon in low humidity and temperatures above 20°C.
Why Choose Formula V

Formula V combines natural ingredients with advanced bio-formulation to deliver effective, environmentally friendly crop protection. It not only protects foliage and fruit but also supports overall plant vigour as part of a bio-nutritional approach to sustainable crop care.
Ideal for growers seeking a safe, effective solution that improves resilience, reduces reliance on chemicals, and promotes healthier, more productive crops.
 
 
Delivery charges apply.
Organica Australia growing through innovation
Features of Formula V (Vegeplus)
  • Forms a natural protective barrier on foliage and fruit, shielding crops from environmental stress while allowing normal plant functions.
  • Strengthens and toughens leaves with the addition of soluble silica.
  • Enriched with herbal extracts, chilli, and premium essential oils to improve plant vigour.
  • Safe for humans, animals, and the environment.
  • Effective against green vegetable bugs, Curculio beetle, and other common crop pests.
  • Supports both foliar and soil health, stimulating beneficial microorganisms for stronger roots and healthier foliage.
  • Supplies essential nutrients and trace elements to boost crop performance, fruit quality, and resilience.
  • Helps improve flowering, fruit set, and seed germination while supporting long-term calcium and mineral availability.
  • Formulated for high uptake, with low salts and chelated minerals for efficient absorption.
  • Provides a sustainable, bio-based solution for growers seeking to reduce chemical inputs while maintaining strong, productive crops.

Sunburn Damage in Olive Trees - What It Looks Like, Why It Matters & What You Can Do

PEST & DISEASES

Sunburn Damage in Olive Trees: What It Looks Like, Why It Matters & What You Can Do

Olive trees are well adapted to hot and dry Mediterranean climates, but even they can suffer from sunburn (also called sunscald) when exposed to intense sunlight, heat stress, or when bark that was previously shaded becomes suddenly exposed. In mature or neglected/abandoned groves - especially those with heavy pruning or thin canopies - the risk can increase significantly. 

Sunburn damage weakens trees, opens the way for pests and disease, slows growth, and in severe cases may lead to branch dieback or decline. It’s worth recognising early and managing before the damage becomes irreversible.

 



What Causes Sunburn to Olive Trees 


Several factors often combine to cause sunburn:


  • Sudden exposure of bark: If a tree is heavily pruned or loses branches, parts of the trunk or limbs previously shaded may be exposed for the first time to intense sunlight. This sudden change can shock the tissue.
  • Heat stress during dry periods: High temperatures, especially coupled with drought stress, reduce the tree’s ability to cool itself through transpiration, making bark and inner tissues more vulnerable.
  • Reflective heat / radiative load: In orchards with bare ground or light-coloured surfaces (rock, white gravel, concrete), heat can amplify and radiate back toward trunks and lower canopy, increasing the load on bark tissues. 
  • Thin bark or young growth: Younger trees or new branches often have thinner bark, which offers less protection from temperature extremes.
  • Water deficit: When the tree is already stressed by lack of water, its tissues are less resilient and more vulnerable to sun damage.
Once sunburn occurs, the damaged bark may crack, dry, peel, or become sunken. Underneath, the cambium (growing tissue) may be killed in patches, reducing the tree’s capacity to transport water and nutrients through that section.


Sunburn Damage to Olive Tree Trunk -The image above shows classic symptoms: cracked, peeling bark and exposed wood.

Recognising Sunburn Damage in Olives

Here are key symptoms to watch for:

  • Bark becomes discolored (straw, pale, or bleached areas) compared to healthy bark.
  • Cracking, peeling or flaking bark, sometimes exposing pale wood beneath.
  • Sunken or collapsed bark patches where the surface is depressed.
  • In severe cases, sections of bark slough off entirely and expose dead wood.
  • Cankers or lesions forming in the affected areas.
  • Reduced leaf vigor, scorching or browning of leaves, especially near the canopy edges.
  • Fruit drop or shriveling if the tree is already bearing. High heat stress may trigger olive abscission.
  • Over time, branch dieback or trunk weakness in the sunburned section may appear.

One important effect is that sunburned bark is more vulnerable to pest and fungal invasion, such as wood-boring insects or opportunistic pathogens that exploit the compromised protective barrier. 

Because olive trees often live many decades, even older trees can sustain recovery—provided the damage is not too extensive and you intervene early.

Why Sunburn in Your Olive Grove Is a Concern

  • Reduced growth and productivity: Damaged bark and cambium reduce the tree’s ability to translocate water and nutrients. The tree may divert energy to healing instead of growth or fruiting.
  • Structural weakness: Sunken or damaged trunk areas may become weak points, prone to breakage or cracks later, especially under wind stress. 
  • Higher susceptibility to pests and pathogens: Exposed or cracked bark invites insects (borers) or fungal pathogens to colonize. 
  • Delayed recovery: If large patches are affected, the tree may require a long time to compartmentalize the damage, and growth may be permanently affected in that area.
Given your background (older trees, clay soils, variable canopy coverage), sunburn may not be your primary challenge, but it can aggravate other stresses (nutritional, water, disease) and slow the recovery process.

Preventative Measures & Remedies

Here’s a set of strategies you can apply now or over seasons to protect your olive trees and help heal existing damage.

1. Maintain or restore shade to the trunk

  • When pruning, retain lower branches or scaffold limbs that offer partial shading to the trunk. Don’t prune so aggressively that bark is suddenly exposed. 
  • Use ground covers, mulch, or low shrubs around the dripline (but not touching the trunk) so that radiant heat from bare soil is reduced.
  • If possible, plant shade species (small trees or shrubs) in-line rows or adjacent to blocks to break sunlight incidence midday or afternoon.
2. Apply protective coatings or wraps
  • Whitewashing or painting the trunk with a light, water-based paint (often diluted limewash or similar) helps reflect sunlight and reduce temperature extremes. Many growers use this method on sensitive or newly exposed trunks. 
  • Use tree wrap or reflective sleeves on trunks, ideally on the side facing intense sun (often western or northwestern exposure in Australian climates). Wrapping material should allow air movement—avoid tight plastic wraps that trap moisture. 
  • In olive orchards, kaolin clay sprays (e.g. “Surround” brand or similar) are sometimes used on foliage and trunk to reduce radiant heat absorption and protect against sun and heat stress. Some trials report yield improvements by reducing fruit burn and drop under high-heat conditions.
3. Manage irrigation and soil moisture
  • Ensure the tree is not already under water stress. Provide adequate soil moisture during hot seasons (without overwatering).
  • Use mulches (organic materials like prunings, compost, bark chips) to help moderate soil temperature and reduce evaporation, which helps maintain a stable microclimate for roots.
  • Avoid practices that leave the soil bare and hot—bare clay can retain and radiate heat back onto trunks.
4. Gentle healing & care for affected trees
  • Remove loose or dead bark carefully, but don’t over-prune or cut live tissue aggressively. Let the tree compartmentalize the damage naturally.
  • For deeper or cankered sections, consult a tree health specialist to assess whether you need to trim back to sound wood or apply wound dressings.
  • Monitor the area over seasons; the tree may form callus growth around the margin of the injury and seal it internally if conditions are favorable.
  • Avoid additional stress (drought, nutrient deficiency, pests) in damaged trees so energy is available for healing.
5. Ongoing monitoring & orchard layout improvements
  • As you rehabilitate your grove, assess tree spacing, row orientation, and tree height to reduce reflective heat loading.
  • Avoid creating large expanses of bare, reflective ground under rows. Maintain a cover crop, grass alley, or soil cover to diffuse heat.
  • Track which trees show signs of sunburn after pruning or canopy changes. Use careful pruning patterns that don’t suddenly expose shaded bark.

Signs of sunburn in olive trees

Sunburn appears as pale, bleached bark patches on exposed trunk surfaces, cracks or peeling bark, and sometimes sunken or depressed bark areas. In advanced damage, bark may fall off, leaving wood exposed. Leaves near the margins of canopy may show browning or scorching, and fruit may drop prematurely under heat stress.

If you can, have a sample branch punched from just beyond the edge of the sunburn area so an arborist or consultant can evaluate whether live cambial tissue remains. Also, map out which exposures (north, west, etc.) in your grove tend to show sunburn more often—this helps plan protective shading or wrap strategies.

As you re-establish your grove’s health in other areas (soil fertility, drainage, pest and disease management, good pruning), protecting against sunburn becomes part of the maintenance process rather than a standalone issue.

References

  • UC IPM (University of California): guidance on whitewashing trunks to prevent sunburn/sunscald on trees. 
  • The Olive Centre: overview of sunburn damage in olive trees, risk factors (water deficit, heat), and vulnerability to borers.
  • Tessenderlo Kerley technical note: kaolin (Surround) particle film reduces heat load/sunburn and can improve olive yield/quality under high-radiation conditions.
  • Peer-reviewed study (Horticulturae/MDPI): mineral clay particles (incl. kaolin) evaluated on olives for effects on yield and oil quality.
  • Research summary (IPB/Portugal): field experiments with kaolin 5% on ‘Cobrançosa’ olives under rainfed and deficit irrigation; particle film proposed to reflect heat/irradiance. 
  • Australis Plants (AU olive resource): practical tips—white water-based paint (50:50) or trunk wraps on young/renovated olives; risk after hard summer pruning.
  • NSW DPI (citrus reworking guide—general orchard practice): after heavy cutting, paint exposed trunks/limbs with diluted white water-based paint to prevent sunburn (principle applicable to olives after renovation pruning). 
  • Agriculture Victoria (orchard recovery): recommends whitewash/diluted white paint on trunks/large limbs to minimise sunburn following canopy loss—relevant where olive canopies are thinned or defoliated. 
  • Australian Olives (Olives Australia) tutorial: Peacock spot factsheet (context—sunburned tissue predisposes to disease; useful companion reference for disease pressure in humid regions).

Understanding the Curculio Beetle (Apple Weevil) in Olive Groves

The Curculio Beetle (Apple Weevil) is a destructive pest in olive groves, attacking leaves, shoots, and roots. This guide explains its life cycle, damage signs, and proven control strategies. Learn how pruning, sticky barriers, poultry grazing, and organic sprays like Formula V can help protect olive trees. Explore integrated pest management methods to safeguard your grove and reduce costly losses.
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