Tweet
I have only 2 apples left on my tree , thats less than last year . I started with loads and then they got codling moth in the fruitlets , so I picked the affected ones off . That leeft 9 apples , then the june drop finished me off and now I only have 2 . Can anyone tell me how to prevent codling moth next year . I'm worried that now the tree has had them once they will always be there. Where do I get winter wash , can I get it at wilkinsons , and how do I use it . I will try anything to rid the tree of this pest . The russet next to it wasn't affected very much at all .
-
It has two chances , up or down. -
The best way to get rid of codling moth form your Discovery?
Plant the apple variety "Scrumptious" next to it - my Scrumptious draws nearly every Codling moth. My Ellison's Orange is also very appetising fro the moths.
Codling moth aren't very interested in my russets.
James Grieve and Discovery are quite appealing to earwig nibbling, but the nibbles usually heal-up into a brownish scar and the fruit can continue to develop fairly normally.
Codling and other pests have their favourite varieties, which tend to have the following features:
Early-Mid-season.
Thin skin.
Large fruit.
Crowded fruit.
Crowded branches.
Already colonised with Codling moth maggots.
If your tree is young, the moths will probably get all the fruits. As the tree produces more fruits, there will be enough to sacrifice some to the moths.
Once you start spraying for one pest or disease, you also start affecting beneficial insects, mites or beneficial fungi. They either attack or compete against attacks by other pests on your tree. Without the "normal" life forms, a vicious circle of pest damage will develop.
I manage to have good control of codling by sacrificing certain varieties to the moths and by destroying "holed" fruits and by picking up dropped fruit.
Since I don't spray my trees, I don't want to give too many suggestions for anti-Codling chemicals, but winter wash is unlikely to be fully effective if the moths are flying-in form nearby trees. I suspect that only fortnightly-ish insecticide spray from the end of May through to the end of July will give adequate control (make sure that you follow the instructions exactly; sprays are harmful).
Sprays will not penetrate into crowded branches - and overcrowded branches are the number one favourite of pests because it gives them a damp, shady hiding place.
Many people use bands of corrugated cardboard tied around the tree trunk. The codling larvae hide in them for winter hibernation. Removing (and burning) the cardboard during the winter will destroy the larvae before they hatch into moths the next spring-summer.
Apparently, in ancient times, chickens around the base of apples trees would find nearly all the codling larvae and eat them!
.
Comment