Hi! I am new to Michigan - we just moved to Ogemaw County this February. Our property has an apple tree on it, but the fruits are small and wormy and the tree seems to throw most of them off.
My pastor says there are bugs that get in the flowers and that I need to spray the flowers in the spring. Now, we do not like to use poisons, besides I don't want to kill any hineybees - they are having enough problems without me adding to their troubles!
Is there something natural I can do next spring to help this poor apple tree? How about diluted lemon dish soap?
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Lillian1961
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j3707
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My two cents...read up on codling moth:
https://apples.msu.edu/codlingmoth.htm
Try posting this question in the Fruit Forum!
https://apples.msu.edu/codlingmoth.htm
Try posting this question in the Fruit Forum!
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applestar
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So does the culprit appear to be codling moth?
I've moved the topic to the Fruit Forum (it's best to request a thread to be MOVED than to post a duplicate question) but I believe the Op is looking for organic remedy/solution to the problem and that was why the thread was originally posted in Organic Gardening forum.
I've moved the topic to the Fruit Forum (it's best to request a thread to be MOVED than to post a duplicate question) but I believe the Op is looking for organic remedy/solution to the problem and that was why the thread was originally posted in Organic Gardening forum.
Hi Lillian.
As j3707 says the odds are that your problem is Codling Moth.
Spraying early in the season will not get to these characters as they fly and lay their eggs in the warmth of the summer months ...late June through to end August if the weather is warm.
There are a couple of organic methods to try to deal with the problem.
You can purchase Pheremone traps from any good garden centre. These are specific to the particular moth you are after and they attract the males of the species by copying the scent given out by a female who is ready to lay her eggs. Catching most of the males can act as a disrupter to the cycle.
Another biological method is by spraying with Bacillus theringiensis. This is natural bacterium that the caterpillar ingests and it causes a toxin in the creatures gut to be made that halts the ability for its skin to continue growing....so it bursts.
It has no effect on any other animals and is harmless to birds etc that may eat infected caterpillars.
Sounds gruesome...but as it is a natural product it is recognised as fully organic. The pheromone traps are used then as an indicator that egg laying is about to take place so spraying is usually done 10 days after the first large catch of males. This allows the eggs to hatch but not long enough for them to have had time to bury themselves into the fruit.
Once they have made it inside they are safe until you take that first bite.
' There is only one thing worse than finding a maggot in the apple your eating......finding half of one !!
As j3707 says the odds are that your problem is Codling Moth.
Spraying early in the season will not get to these characters as they fly and lay their eggs in the warmth of the summer months ...late June through to end August if the weather is warm.
There are a couple of organic methods to try to deal with the problem.
You can purchase Pheremone traps from any good garden centre. These are specific to the particular moth you are after and they attract the males of the species by copying the scent given out by a female who is ready to lay her eggs. Catching most of the males can act as a disrupter to the cycle.
Another biological method is by spraying with Bacillus theringiensis. This is natural bacterium that the caterpillar ingests and it causes a toxin in the creatures gut to be made that halts the ability for its skin to continue growing....so it bursts.
It has no effect on any other animals and is harmless to birds etc that may eat infected caterpillars.
Sounds gruesome...but as it is a natural product it is recognised as fully organic. The pheromone traps are used then as an indicator that egg laying is about to take place so spraying is usually done 10 days after the first large catch of males. This allows the eggs to hatch but not long enough for them to have had time to bury themselves into the fruit.
Once they have made it inside they are safe until you take that first bite.
' There is only one thing worse than finding a maggot in the apple your eating......finding half of one !!
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DoubleDogFarm
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Sounds to me like a neglected tree. I would give it a thorough pruning. Open up the interior so you can throw a cat through it. -
Lillian1961
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@Eric, it is definitely a neglected tree. This house sat empty for we don't know how many years before we bought it. The neighbor's children used to shoot the immature apples out of the trees with a BB gun. (How I deal with THAT is another issue - I think promising a nice apple pie if the tree is left alone might work...
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DoubleDogFarm
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Lillian1961
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DoubleDogFarm
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