North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Eddie Earles" <jas39a@earthlink.net>]

> Eddie,
> In spite of your disease and insect pressure, I still envy your zone 7a
> or b climate.

 

Mine is particularly good in one respect:  I have a very long growing season.  Our county is a peninsula that sticks out into the Bay, and we have tidal water on three sides.  It takes a long time for us to cool off in the fall; I usually don't have a killing frost until the second week in December.  I pick apples fresh off the trees past Thanksgiving.  Fall gardens are a snap here.  I'm only 30 miles from Washington, DC, but have about 6 weeks more growing season than DC!

 

> My point is, that if this is true, having neglected apple orchids in the
> area would not actually increase the number of curculios on your
> property. In fact, the apples would function as a trap crop to draw some
> of them away from fruits that they actually reproduce in. Having said
> that, I doubt the apples do enough good to say so. We can reopen the
> curculio/apple discussion if need be. Have you ever found a maturing
> curculio larva in an apple?

No, I haven't.  We also have lots of wild cherry trees here; they may be a reservoir for the curculios.

 

I'll be moving to Kentucky in a few weeks, and starting all over.  I hope the insect/disease pressure won't be as great there.

 

Eddie Earles