North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Jackie Jameson" <jacqueline.jameson@gmail.com>]

I really like the idea of recruiting more wasps to do the job.  Why do you use forsythia over other plants?  Bloom time, easy to grow?

On 2/14/07, BRosholdt <rosholdt@erols.com> wrote:

>
> Subject:
> Re: [NAFEX] Wrapping trees for protection
> From:
> list@ginda.us
> Date:
> Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:32:49 -0500
> To:
> North American Fruit Explorers < nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>
>
>
> On Feb 13, 2007, at 8:32 PM, BRosholdt wrote:
>
>> Barb here in Zone 7a(?), central Virginia  (couldn't prove global
>> warming at my orchard - we just had two weeks with temperatures
>> dipping to the single digits more than twice, and maybe more to  come
>> - all with no snow cover whatsoever!)
>>
>> The real nuisance in my orchard is the Japanese Beetle. . . .
>
>
> Have you tried milky spore?  Or hormone traps?
>
> I put down milky spore when I moved in.  Most of my neighbors treat
> their lawns for "grubs" with one poison or another.  The result is a
> very manageable number of japanese beetles that don't do much damage.
>
> Years ago my father tried a trap.  The downside is that you attract
> beetles from all around (you really want to talk your neighbor into
> doing this) but he bagged pounds and pounds of beetles with little
> effort.
>
> Ginda
>
> ------------------------

I am sorry I wasn't more forthcoming about my Jap Beetle history.  I
have put down Milky Spore several years ago, and have not seen much
benefit, but we have heavy clay, are surrounded by woods and they seems
to come out of the woods, too.  Last year I spread beneficial HB
nematodes all over everywhere under almost perfect conditions.  We have
clay soil, with compost on top (slight incorporation) following
fertilizer apps.  Perhaps the Milky Spore was old/not well placed.  I
could believe I need to redo that.  I am currently working on planting
Forsythia to lure more Spring Tiphia wasps (Jap Beetle parasitizer) down
from the Tulip Poplars, feed 'em and get 'em working harder!  In spite
of all of this, I am losing all peaches and plums, some raspberries, and
the beetles totally defoliate the apple orchard by August.  Not good.

Traps don't bring more or cause less damage, but since I am only there
on weekends, they are less effective.  I have several ideas.  Surround
has been a temporary help, but at some point you have to not spray on
the fuzzy fruit so the white stuff wears off sort of, before harvest.
Bagging fruit doesn't seem to prevent the JBs eating foliage.  Extension
says the beetles are out of balance and I am going to need to spray
something like Imidan (?) but I am concerned about the effect of a
general insecticide spray on my HB nematodes.  They were a little
expensive to just kill off, even in patches, and I can't really spray
the everbearing raspberries.

Has anyone ever tried any of these:

1.  Japanese Beetles (JB) blended with water in a blender, let sit for a
few hours, strained and sprayed the result (an old Organic Gardening
remedy) on the plants.
2.  Completely wrapping the trees in something.  Especially the very
young trees that have a very negative response to defoliation (limb
extension, disease, and/or death).

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