permaculture

[Kevin Topek <ktopek@bellsouth.net>]

    Since you ask...Jack. I thought about this problem when
it first posted. Here's my two cents. This is for Birgit Ferran Eichmann
and her organic cherries under attack in Spain.

    The best resource for Integrated Pest Management information is the IPM Practitioner, I think it is published in Davis, California. Ag Access or someone out there will have the address.

    Chickens have been used historically to control ground dwelling beetles and weevils, coleopterans. Dominique chickens from Europe are the classic example used to control plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar). The larvae are scratched up and eaten during their dormant life stage in the ground. I am not sure whether Dominick chickens (Barred Plymouth Rocks) will do the same. My experience is that Dominickers do not possess deep intellects and are subject to heat stroke in very hot climates, due to the dark feather coloration. The Rare Breeds Council may be of some assistance and Bob Randall in Houston may have a file on said organization.

   I am not familiar with Capnodis tenebrionis, but chickens may be able to root them out and destroy most if they have a ground dwelling stage. Plums and cherries are both Prunus, so I will go out on a limb and assume both coleopteran pests have similar lifestyles. My wife, Mindy, says geese may also work.

    If the the pests are burrowing into the bark, then a toxic barrier may be workable. I am not real comfortable with this recommendation, but sulfur or copper solutions may do the trick. The key is repeated application during the period of greatest host vulnerability. This method only solves the immediate problem, but does not address the imbalance at the root of the problem. It is also a bad idea to prescribe solutions without observing the patients, their environment and history.

    If anybody out there has another answer, I would love to read it. Best of luck Birgit!