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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] the apple/dogwood borer and how to fight them

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  • From: <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] the apple/dogwood borer and how to fight them
  • Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 16:00:19 -0500

Seth,
 
A good trunk drench with Lorsban will do the trick for you.  We are in Zone 5 here as well and we do the trunk spray usually the first week of June.  I start picking adults up in my traps at about the same time as codling moth which is around mid-May based on the spring temps.  When the adults emerge in spring, the females lay eggs singly on the bark, preferentially on injured areas. In apple, burr knots are the most attractive egg laying sites. Eggs hatch in about eight to nine days and larvae enter the bark wounds and form large feeding galleries.

It takes approximately a year for larvae to pass through seven instars and the larvae overwinter underneath the bark, so any spray done after the larvae hatch will usually get to any that might have hatched.  They resume their feeding when temperatures reach above 45 to 50°F.  The larvae from the previous spring construct dark brown cocoons of silk and frass near the surface for pupation. Pupal stage generally lasts a month and empty pupal cases remain visibly protruding from the bark.  So if you spray in early June, you are most likely to get the majority that have hatched before they can do much damage. 
 
For 150 trees, it may be worthwhile for you to get 1 or 2 Delta style traps and dogwood borer lures to be sure when flight begins.  You can purchase traps individually at Gemplers, but they no longer carry the dogwood borer lures.  For those interested in other insect pests  you go to http://www.gemplers.com/tech/itraps.htm and  http://www.gemplers.com/tech/ilures.htm you will see the basic fundamentals on traps and lures.  Their table for both is at http://www.gemplers.com/tech/lurestable.htm.  Great Lakes IPM does carry the lures, but they sell the traps in bulk.  You can find them at http://www.greatlakesipm.com.  I hope this helps!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
Office (815) 648-4467
Mobile (815) 228-2174
Fax (609) 228-2174
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
http://www.revivalhymn.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Ed Fackler
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2009 11:46 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] the apple/dogwood borer and how to fight them

Seth:

     Although I'm not familiar with the life cycle of the major apple borer (although I've seen them when visiting years back), the dogwood borer (adult) lays eggs later in the season and while an application of Lorsban will do a decent job, you may have to make 2 seperate applications.

     And the Cornell Entomology folks will certainly give you a date range for egg laying of both I'd think.

     Good luck.

ed, southern Indiana, spring is here....

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 12:19 PM, seth jones <setjon@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a small  (150 tree) orchard which I have been planting over the past 6 years. Trees range from dwarfs on B9 to Antonovka. As the trees were not ready to bear I was following the low input (ie: lazy) techniques of orcharding. I sprayed some foliar nutritives like kelp but was more concerned with four legged attackers than anything else. My intent is to use as little chemical spraying as at all possible.

Last year i discovered borer damage on approximately 40 of my trees. I lost six or seven and had some pretty heavy damage on many others. Spent much of my summer on my hands and knees with an assortment of wires, drill bits, razors, and curses, etc. Treated the opened cavities with pyrethrin and painted the trunks a clay/latex slurry. Pretty certain that many avoided me and are still inside.

As I approach the coming year I am leaning toward an application of Lorsban as a trunk spray just after petal fall to kinda wipe the slate clean. Would like to get input on this. How effective? Tips on usage? Other ideas? I was also considering painting the trunks with the Lorsban rather than spraying to minimize overspray. Any advice would be helpful. Also any other ideas for prevention going forward.
Thanks a lot
Seth Jones
Zone 5 west NY

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