Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - RE: [NAFEX] Surround Questions; trap crops; cherry fruit fly

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>
  • To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [NAFEX] Surround Questions; trap crops; cherry fruit fly
  • Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:51:13 -0700

There seem to be two schools of thought about having pest-tempting plants
nearby. One is that they provide the pests habitat, and the plentiful pests
are more likely to invade one's crops.

The other is that presence of preferential plants - trap crops - satiate the
pests and make them less likely to invade the garden.

One recommended application of trap crops is to surround the valuable field
with them and use controls on the trap crops - this is the 'poisoned fence'
strategy.

Another is to use attractive trap crops and make the valuable crop
unattractive by the use of treatments which annoy (or kill) the pests.

Trap crops are recommended for large operations, but I've had successes
trapping on a very small scale. I've had great bird control - and
pollination - by using small, inedible, bright red cherries growing nearby
my yellow-fleshed variety. The birds were more attracted to the bright red
color, and left the red-blushed yellow fruit alone.

In another instance, in a cottage garden I had one single Brussels Sprout
that was an aphid magnet. Controls on that plant were useless. It was
covered deeply with wall-to-wall ahpids. I kept the plant, and nothing else
got aphids that season. I did burn the plant, aphids and all, at the end of
the season - no need to assist their population in increasing, but the tiny
experiment was interesting.

Yes, there are large scale studies that support use of intentional trap
crops; I just found it interesting to see it work in a suburban yard
setting.

There are cherry fruit fly traps (not crops) available. I would count on
them for only partial control. There are several insecticides that have
shown success: spinosad (Success and Entrust) and some nicotinal types
(Provado). Frequent timed spraying of pyrethrums (Pyganic) shows some
success. Summer oil sprays are effective, but the fruits' appearance dulls.


I don't know of successful trials with Surround.

Stephen Sadler, Ph.D.
USDA 9, AHS heat zone 8,
Sacramento CA - Mediterranean climate


-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Dean Kreutzer
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 11:04 AM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [NAFEX] Surround Questions

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone has used a sticker/spreader with Surround so
that not only the tips of the leaves hang on to they Kaolin clay coating.

Also, has anyone used Surround in an attempt to control cherry fruit
fly? The Apple Maggot fly which is supposedly a close relative, is
supposed to be thwarted by Surround.

I am doing a test this year on 1 row of my cherries using Surround, to
see if it has any affect on the number of cherry fruit larvae in the
fruit. Unfortunately, my orchard sits beside a wild stand of
Pincherry; a natural source for the pest.

Dean Kreutzer
www.overthehillorchards.ca
Regina, Saskatchewan Canada
USDA zone 3








Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page