North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

Bruce,

When you have too many trees to use the wire method, as we do, I follow the 
method used at http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/pdf/FSA-7503.pdf 
which is  adapted from the commercial orchard low spray program for peach 
trees. The same methods will work for apple trees instead of using a Lorsban 
spray on the trunks, which is a commercial approach.
"Where spraying is delayed until borers have entered the tree trunk, use 
Paradichlorobenzene (PDB) moth balls to fumigate borers. PDB may be 
purchased as peach tree borer crystals. Apply in October. When properly 
used, PDB is effective and inexpensive."  This is one of the easiest ways to 
make sure the borers are taken care of in addition to the wire method.  hope 
this helps!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hélène Dessureault" <interverbis@videotron.ca>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 8:42 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock


> Hi Bruce,
> Those worms are borers. There was extensive mail on this subject, 
> including
> photos of the adult and the larva stages, on this list two summers ago.
> Basically, the adult lays eggs in the bark at the base of the tree. The
> larva feeds on the soft tissues of the tree underneath the bark where it
> dugs a tunnel. The entrance hole is obvious because of the rusty colored
> mash of chewed bark.
> Eventually, the larva makes it way to the roots where it spends the 
> winter.
> Sometimes in the Spring, dead little trees have no roots left.
> The consensus to deal with those obnoxious pest organically seems to take 
> a
> semi rigid wire and push it into the gallery as far as possible. Often, 
> you
> embroach the larva on the first attempt.
> If there is still new rusty sawdust the next day, you know that the larva 
> is
> still well and still at work, so you can repeat the operation.
> I had noticed the phenomenon over a few years but was clueless as to its
> cause. The larva does quite a lot of damage as the galleries are sometimes
> dugged laterally and wreck the sap system of the tree.
> When I finally woke up to the problem and learned the wire method (on this
> list!), I found as much as three inhabitants on one single tree.... I can
> report that since there are only one or to a year on all my trees, so I 
> had
> an infestation that had been building for some years. The adult flies and
> goes from tree to tree, but seems to prefer weaker trees.  I killed one 
> last
> week with a wire on one attempt.
> Sometimes the larva are too far from the entrance so the wire does not 
> reach
> far enough.
> After two unsuccesful attempts, I use a small seringe full of organic
> pesticide and inject it into the hole, and that usually marks the end of 
> the
> problem.
> Good luck!
> Hélène, zone 3-4a
> north of Ottawa
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "bruce" <rural@threeriverwb.net>
> To: "Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>; "North American
> Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 5:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock
>
>
> > Dennis, thanks. This wasn't in the roots -- was in the stem. I wonder if
> > it's the same worm?
> >
> > Dennis Norton wrote:
> > > Bruce,
> > >
> > > Sounds like a borer larvae.  Check out
> > > http://www.ento.vt.edu/Fruitfiles/Prionus.html which is the prionus
> borer
> > > that likes to attack apple tree roots.  Hope this helps!
> > >
> > > Dennis Norton
> > > Royal Oak Farm Orchard
> > > http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
> > > http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "bruce" <rural@threeriverwb.net>
> > > To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > > Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 9:34 AM
> > > Subject: [NAFEX] Worm in apple rootstock
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >> Yesterday I was making some grafts. On one rootstock, I made a 
> > >> vertical
> > >> cut down the stem for a chip bud graft. When the cut piece fell away,
> > >> instead of a healthy looking interior, the cut was covered with what
> > >> looked like a layer of sawdust. At the base of the cut, there was a
> small
> > >> hole and I was able to extract a small worm from the hole. It looked
> > >> somewhat like a white grub, but it was diamond shaped and flat instead
> of
> > >> round, about 1/4" long. I'm assuming the rootstock will eventually die
> > >> from this damage, but I'll just leave it to see what happens. I should
> add
> > >> that the rootstock has been in the ground for over a year and is not
> fresh
> > >> from the nursery. Any ideas of what this worm might be?
> > >>
> > >> Thanks,
> > >>
> > >> bruce
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
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