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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Cut down apple trees?

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  • From: Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Cut down apple trees?
  • Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:52:19 -0400

Carrying on with the thought, I once knew a peach grower who had a bad problem with tarnished plant bug and oak bug (he was near a stand of oak trees), and he decided to spray the vegetation on the orchard floor with Cygon (a systemic insecticide). He went from considerable tarnished plant bug damage all through the season, to negligible damage early in the season and a much reduced amount later.

I don't know if it is Mark's situation now, but if one had a single cultivar (in one's own orchard or nearby) which was much more subject to codling moth than the others, it might be somewhat useful to spray it with Cygon and then destroy the fruit after the moths stopped flying.

There is also the old technique of scraping the bark and then wrapping the trunk or scaffold limbs with burlap or cardboard which is burned or otherwise destroyed often enough to catch the pupae.

Some years ago I noticed a letter in "Fine Gardening" which said that the writer had controlled codling moth in a garden planting of apples by
putting in the trees plastic jugs with small openings (openings pointed horizontal or down to prevent dilution by rain, and alignment with light) and putting in the jugs a solution which would ferment (maybe molasses and apple juice, I forget the details). The moths went in but not out. I haven't tried it, not having any apple trees these days.

Then there is planting to provide hosts for predators and parasites of apple pest insects. Russian peasants used to plant dill and buckwheat in their orchards for this purpose.

Canadian foresters found that only in those stands of red pine which had wild carrot ( = ornamental flower Queen Anne's lace) (or to a lesser extent wild parsnip), both introduced European Umbelliferae/Compositae/Asteraceae, an introduced parasitic wasp from Europe gave effective control of the European pine shoot moth. Elsewhere the wasp was not present in large enough numbers.

I read in a Canadian entomological journal of a study by scientists in the northeastern U.S. who found that Ilex verticillata (common winterberry, a shrub which likes moist or wet soil, can take some shade), I think I. laevigata (smooth winterberry, greater tolerance to drier soil) and I. glabra (inkberry, sandy or peaty soil, prefers sun)
were alternate hosts for a predator of apple maggot (apple fruit fly, related to cherry fruit fly) and their presence was associated with reduced numbers of apple maggot. I think I. opaca (tree to 50 feet, moist soil, shade) also worked but I am not sure.

Scientists in California found that wild blackberry provided an alternate host for a predator of a grape pest (sorry, can't recall the details offhand).

K. Leius, a Canadian entomologist found in the 1960s that in some abandoned orchards in Ontario which he studied, a rich orchard floor flora with many flowering plants was associated with reduced codling moth infestation.

In general, providing nectar and pollen sources through the season is a useful aid to the fruit grower, and it also helps if you have bees.

Plants with small flowers hospitable to tiny parasitic wasps (the adults of which usually live on nectar and pollen) but not to the spiders which may prey on them (often present in flowers) are especially useful. The Asteraceae usually have such flowers, the mountain-mints also. Swamp milkweed is a handsome plant adaptable to a garden soil when competition is controlled, and I have seen many parasitic wasps on sunflower. Heliopsis helianthoides (sweet ox-eye), cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum), Joe-Pye-weed and boneset have the right type of flower and are robust plants adaptable to garden soils, not too dry for the latter three.

For sources of herbaceous native plants (wild ecotypes typically have more nectar) see
http://www.nanps.org , link to sources. Local associations will also have source information.

The catalogue of Prairie Nursery
http://www.prairienursery.com is useful for native plant descriptions and habitats.

Anything which is good for butterflies is likely to be somewhat helpful, although they are not so dependent as parasitic wasps on small flowers. Similarly bee plants.

A good book for flowering periods, cultural and propagating information on woody plants for the east is "Trees, Shrubs and Vines for Attracting Birds" by Richard M. DeGraaf and Gretchin M. Witman, U. Massachusetts Press, 1979.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada



ROBERT W JUDY A HARTMAN wrote:
Mark,
If it is codling moth and/or apple maggot that is the main problem with one or more varieties I'll tell you a little story. One person in our area told me that he had a number of trees in his small orchard and every year the apple maggot or codling moth was very bad in his Chehalis apple tree and not very bad in the others around it. So since he wasn't getting any use from the Chehalis tree he decided he would take it out. Well, guess what happened to the other trees in his orchard? Since the flies for the worms didn't have the Chehalis to go to the other varieties were much worse. He didn't gain anything by taking the Chehalis out. Just something to think about.
Bob

----- Original Message -----
*From:* mddorogi@comcast.net <mailto:mddorogi@comcast.net>
*To:* North American Fruit Explorers <mailto:nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
*Sent:* Thursday, April 03, 2008 12:12 PM
*Subject:* Re: [NAFEX] Cut down apple trees?

Thanks for the responses, all, here's what I can add.
Regarding bugs, we have them all, since I'm surrounded by old
crabapples, wild apples, hawthorns, cedars, etc. I think I have the
worst case: a few small heirloom trees in the midst of acres of
great habitat for all these bugs and fungii. One year the curculio
were so numerous I couldn't believe it; the next year, I almost
didn't see any.
Last year I had my best results with three sprays (as I recall) of
malathion/captan up until the apples were about nickel sized, then I
bagged them with baggies. Previously I used sulfur and Surround
with not as good results, since more spraying is required and I have
trouble keeping up with it (kids, job, etc), particularly in the
summer. I intend to keep going with the bagging; I'd like to get
away from the malathion/captan though.
I think the biggest bug problem is codling moth. The curculio are
bad but are only there for a while; but I'm assuming that the
codling moth have several generations that cause problems later in
the year for the later ripening apples. Oriental fruit moth are
around too, since they are all over my peaches, but I don't know if
they are bothering the apples. I don't think that apple maggot are
a big problem typically. One year I sprayed a fair amount of Bt; I
didn't seem to get good contol of whatever lepidoptra were there though.
Jim - the trees are kind of lawn trees: they are in a lawn, but in
their own raised beds of ~ 4' diameter with cobblestone borders. I
did this since the soil conditions underneath were crummy (clay). I
don't fertilize the lawn much, but I guess once or twice a year I do
spread some organic fertilizer (milorganite). At the beginning of
each season, I usually mix in a few shovelfuls of compost and some
balanced organic fertilizer under each tree. I did have the soil
tested last year but I don't have the results with me. It came back
"OK" as I remember, nothing stood out. I had been curious as to
whether there were any soil parameters that would affect water core,
since not only Tompkins King gets it, but also the Lymans Large
Summer to a lesser extent, and I've even seen it in some of the
other trees occasionally.
I'll read up on topworking and grafting; I hadn't considered that
option. I have Michael Phillips' book which I think covers it to
some extent, but I've glossed over it in the past.
Mark

[snip]




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