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["Richard Moyer" <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

Patsy,

We've used molasses-vinegar traps, cardboard bands and coddling moth lures in our home orchard of 10 bearing apple trees.  The lures (one source is http://www.biconet.com/traps.html) will be more specific in what you catch, though some beneficials still wander in.  Traps with lures are a good way to ID the moths.  Molasses vinegar traps do bring in some beneficials and butterflies.  Check them the first morning you put them out and you will see some moths if they are active.  Extension info can give you tips on timing your traps.

 

For the cardboard bands, we have used waxed cardboard boxes which hold up for more than one year.   We cut them into strips about 6" wide, peel the two layers apart and put the ridges toward the tree, tying them on with twine or fastening the ends with velcro.  If your trees are larger you can put one band around each major limb and the trunk above that.  Check the bands every 2 weeks in cooler weather, every 10 days in warmer.  Longer than that and some will hatch out into adult moths which lay many eggs.  Our chickens enjoy picking the worms or pupa out of the cardboard band crevices.  Before chickens, we shook the larva or pupa onto the driveway, where our kids rode over them with their tricycles.

 

You are correct that collecting dropped apples is crucial to break the life cycle of the coddling moths and other pests.  Turkeys and toddlers have been our best crew for this daily task.

 

While none of the above gives complete control it definitely holds the numbers down on the second and third generation of coddling moths, such that our late apples are still quite clean and the pressure on late pears remains slight.

 

Richard Moyer

East TN/SW VA

Last pomegranates finished last night