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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Apple maggot trap tree

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  • From: "Michael Phillips" <michael@herbsandapples.com>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Apple maggot trap tree
  • Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 11:38:21 -0500

Jim Fruth shared this a couple days back:

I know of a small apple orchard where something surprising is happening.

There is what looks like a Dolgo crab spaced about 20 ft. from the other

trees.  The owner doesn't spray and his eating apples free of apple maggot

while the “Dolgo” fruits have several, to many, maggots in each.  Then, when

the apples ripen, the birds chow down on the “Dolgo.”  Could this be a recipe

for raising organic apples that is easier than bagging?

 

I have a couple comments / questions on what might be going on here.

 

Apple maggot fly is drawn to ripening fruit to both feed and lay eggs. In a “normal” year, the female finds early varieties starting in July, then progresses to mid-season varieties by early to mid August. Late varieties often escape notice in this scenario as by then the waves of maturing AMF have done their thing. Generally speaking, early varieties get hammered more so than harder apples that ripen later in the season. The flies emerge from the soil, where they pupated from the season before. Emergence can be delayed by cool weather and extended dry spells, which is why there’s no such thing as a normal year.

 

We need to know a couple of things about the orchard that Jim describes:

1.      Are the other varieties later ripening, thus increasing the potential draw to the “Dolgo” that much more?

2.      How distant are wild apples and wild hawthorn from this site? AMF subspecies tend to favor one or the other, and it may be that this “Dolgo” appeals to the hawthorn crowd, and apples would be left alone anyway.

3.      I love the bird angle. It would seem that a feeding frenzy would be required however, so that apples are pretty much cleaned up directly off the tree and definitely within a week of dropping. AMF larvae get from fallen fruit to the soil in 3 to 9 days time, and once there, the pest cycle is in place for the next season.

 

I had a confusing year myself as regards AMF. I saw but one adult all season long, and that was on Gala in early August. Signs of damage were for all practical purposes non-existent. I had a couple monitoring traps out but never put out more as there didn’t seem to be a need to make more red balls sticky. I did not make my “usual application” of Entrust (spinosad) in early August as there was no sign at that time of second generation moths. Thus nothing was being done that might hinder AMF. We had a good growing season, with moderate dry spells interspersed with good rains, so while AMF could have been delayed a few weeks in July, things should have been happening in earnest by mid-August. I picked early varieties like Duchess and William’s Pride at the end of August and saw no AMF stings whatsoever (amazing!). September came and I cleaned up the sprayer for the year, not having used it since a nettle / horsetail / unadulterated neem oil application on July 10 (which I think not relevant to this season’s AMF situation). But a curveball was yet to come: The incredibly warm days of this past September allowed AMF to keep at it but the fly limited its activity to feeding stings on one tree, a loaded Jonafree. I saw no signs of any damage to the flesh of these apples, which would have indicated eggs had been laid, but almost every apple had 8 to 20 feeding stings. But again, only the Jonafree (I picked this crop solely for cider and thus prevented any drop presence) and all other varieties were clean.

 

Every site and every year can be so different that it can be nearly impossible to come up with a “one size fits all” plan. Though we should keep trying! Anybody else have AMF observations to share?

 

Cheers.

Michael

 

 

Michael Phillips

Lost Nation Orchard

Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs

859 Lost Nation Road

Groveton, NH 03582

603-636-2286

www.HerbsAndApples.com

 

Adapted illustration by John Bunker, FEDCO Trees -- click for Holistic Orchard Research home page

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