[nafex] Organic spraying of fruit trees?
Claude Jolicoeur
cjoli at gmc.ulaval.ca
Sat Feb 11 13:55:51 EST 2012
Le 10:56 12.02.11, vous avez écrit:
>Is there an organic (one that will not harm
>wildlife, such as amphibians) solution for
>spraying fruit-crop trees (apples/pears, stone-fruits, etc.)?
>Is paw-paw (Asimina) a legitimate solution? I
>know that even this is toxic to fish (and I have no doubt toxic to amphibians).
>Anything I can do? If I don't spray, will I be
>able to cut away damaged parts, and still eat
>the fruit. No extra-protein jokes lol!
As others have mentioned, this is not so simple...
1- you need to identify the pest.
2- you need to read and understand the life cycle
of the pest - the better you know your ennemy,
the best are your chances to win the battle (old saying on wars).
3- you need to establish a strategy, in where an
eventual spray will only be an item. For example,
you would need to trap the insect to find out how
many they are and when they are in your orchard.
Then you migh have some repellent strategies
(like Surround), or use some sexual confusion
hormones, or use some predatory insects. All
these tools could be part of your strategy, and
it's only a global strategy that will give you chances to win the battle.
For my part, I didn't have the time and
involvment to get into all of this, so I made a
deal with the insects - I told them if they leave
me enough fruit to eat, I won't have to kill
them. Believe it or not, it works. And the fruit
that is damaged by the insects can still be used for cider.
Claude Jolicoeur
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