North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[John Barbowski <jbarbowski@gmail.com>]

Another question. Why is it called Plum Curcullio (PC)?  I have a Golden Delicious (GD) apple 10 feet away from a Damson plumb. The plum has borne (50+ fruit) for the last couples of years (delicious and sweet!). I have yet to see a PC on the plum, whereas there are a multitude of attacks on the GD. 

What was also nice was seeing dead PCs with their proboscus still in the GD. A few days before bagging, I spray using malathion mixed with a Wilson's commercial spray.

A couple of years ago, a NAFEX'ER suggested  to dig out the PC egg with a thumb nail (or ?) when you see the scar on the apple. I have been doing this with some success. The apple usually does not develop properly in this area, but I do not market apples. However, I do have an insect free edible apple - in fact, I am down to my last half dozen from last year.

jb
Thornhill, Ontario
Canadian Zone 6B - just north of Toronto

On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Jim Fruth <jfruth@tds.net> wrote:

   I haven't found that to be true here in zone 3.  But I really do wonder
what is the alternate host for curculios.  I bag the apples and pears, and
there are no wild apples within miles.  There might be hundreds of infected
plums one year followed by a zero crop the following year followed by
hundreds of infected plums the next year.  What do they infect during the
no-plum-crop year?

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
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