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  • From: "Richard Moyer" <ramoyer@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Medlar question
  • Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:07:57 -0500

Chris,
My medlar experience is similar to yours.
After several years enjoying eating the fruit, the insect that found it took over.  Now every fruit is affected and ruined per your description.
 
By picking several fruit early, I found the worm (grub) in there.  Took it to our county extension agent, who sent digital pics to our state entomologist.   Diagnosis was a curculio, but not plum curculio.
 
I have not tried timed sprays or other means of controlling it.  Medlar is still a very nice ornamental tree at our place, but gives us little to no fruit to eat.
 
BTW, anyone near the Corvallis NCGR this time of year and later can sample the medlar collection there.  Impressive.
 
Richard Moyer
SW VA
Native passionfruit (P. incarnata) now ripe.

 
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:38:30 -0500
From: mauch1@aol.com
Subject: [NAFEX] Medlar Question
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <8CB1D5D4B4E0FA4-120C-495@WEBMAIL-DC05.sysops.aol.com">8CB1D5D4B4E0FA4-120C-495@WEBMAIL-DC05.sysops.aol.com>
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Resubmitted to be more reedable:

I planted medlar as it is supposed disease/insect resistant and good to eat.? I do enjoy their
flavor, but I'm having trouble with some sort of insect pest on my Medlar fruit (on the positive
side, I just recently harvested my Medlars and even with 20 -25 F nights the fruit condition
overall is good.)?

Problem:? On a significant number of fruit, some sort of insect has created an entry hole on the side of the fruit about 1/16th of an inch in diameter,? The hole actually looks innoccuous,
but when the fruit is openned the insect has gone into the center and coverted the seeds to
frass.? On an apple when there's core damage, I can cut out the offending portion.? But the
medlars are much smaller and since they've already bletted when I'm trying to deal with this,
it is difficult to separate the flesh from the frass.

Has anybody else seen this?? Do they have a suggestion on what to do about it and when??
Because I had this problem last year, I did spray the medlar with some early season sprays,
but this seems to be attacking the fruit later in the season (at a guess).

On a lighter note, I've been trying to think of a way to promote medlar as a fruit.? So I thought
maybe a jingle, but I'm stuck on:

"MED - LAR.? The fruit you eat when its rotteN."

Just don't think that's going to do the job...?? :-)



Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6
40? 5' N 75? 51'W=0
A~650 ft elevation



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