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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Curculio / Surround adhesion question

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  • From: "Mark & Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>
  • To: <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>, "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Curculio / Surround adhesion question
  • Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 09:26:54 -0500

Dennis,
 
I had some questions about curculio. I think I've seen the buggers on the trees, but the info on the web says they are about 5-6mm long.  The snout beetles I see on the trees are no longer than 1/8 inch, about the size of small lady beetles (significantly shorter than 6mm).  They act like curculio, in that they drop and play dead, but I'm confused about the size.  Do you see curculio 1/8 inch long?  Do you ever see them larger?
 
Secondly, why spray at petal fall?  I know it's the recommendation, but I don't understand it.   Since the fruit is at such an early stage of development there's nothing to sustain the eggs.  If the eggs, or adults, kill a few fruitlets, so what.  Doesn't the fruit need thinned anyway?  Why not wait till the fruitlets get large enough to sustain the larva before spraying?  What am I missing? 
 
Thanks,
Mark
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Curculio / Surround adhesion question

Stephen,
 
I devised a pheromone trap for plum curculio this season and it worked very well for us.  I trapped about a half dozen PC total, but one is all that is needed.  If you trap one, you know they are in your trees.  I placed 1 trap per block in our orchard for a total of 7 traps.   I trapped one PC in each trap and had ovipositing on 3 mm fruit from each of the trees where the traps were located.  The first PC appeared May 8 at 250 GDD when we were at pink.  Bloom was on May 12 and petal fall was May 18.  Our biofix for codling moth was May 10 and we hit threshold on May 18.  I found that plum curculio were in the orchard before bloom, so I could do my spray as soon as petal fall.  The traps showed me that the PC were in the trees about 2 - 3weeks before we had 3mm fruit.  Even without traps, the spray at petal fall is still the best defense against PC because they will usually enter your trees before bloom.  For now, we use a 2lb/acre rate of Imidan instead of the 4lb/acre rate for codling moth and use Rimon for codling moth.  Rimon is one of the newer growth inhibitors and is supposed to work on PC also.   
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 2:17 PM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Curculio / Surround adhesion question

Though curculio is not a problem out here, I still try to keep an eye on control methods.  The reports of good control are isolated.  Some growers like Surround plus Neem; some use trap trees; some burn the underlying plants.  I think it’s most likely that a combination of methods would work best.  I’m hoping for more effective pheromone traps, which would not just monitor the presence of the wee beasts but trap them out or interfere with mating.  IPM (integrated pest management with limited pesticide use) is an understandable choice vs. organic when dealing with curculio.  Our coop carries only organic produce, but I think we lose business by not having local IPM crops available hen there’s no organic alternative.  Then again, being strict does create a demand for more all-organic crops.  But we’re spoiled.  Right now we don’t have pests that can’t be controlled organically. 

 

~ Stephen

 


From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lee Reich
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 6:48 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Curculio / Surround adhesion question

 

I sprayed Surround on my apples for about five years, beginning right after petal fall and then every week or two or whenever it rained about an inch. I got good coverage using a gasoline powered Stihl backpack sprayer. In those five years, I harvested almost no apples and would often see curculio scars on the fruits the day after I sprayed!

 

Lee Reich, PhD

 

Books by Lee Reich:

The Pruning Book

Weedless Gardening

Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden

A Northeast Gardener's Year




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