North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>]

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

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