BAD APPLES

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by danjo, Mar 22, 2006.

  1. danjo

    danjo Junior Member

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    HELP!! Cottling moth invasion !! How can I save my apples? :(
    :evil: Little buggers! any advice would be greatly appreciated.....
     
  2. Bluerose

    Bluerose Junior Member

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    apples

    If they are already in your apples, it's too late for this season, but you can start to prepare for next year.
    Female moths that are allowed to complete their life cycle lay up to 130 tiny eggs on apple leaves or near apple clusters. These eggs hatch into voracious larvae that squirm into a nearby apple. When the larvae have eaten their fill, they crawl under the apple bark or into the soil to change into adult moths.
    In cool climates larvae develop slowly, limiting moths to only one generation per year. Larvae hide in the soil during cool winters then reappear as mature moths in the spring, ready to produce another generation. In warmer climates, the moths may produce as many as five generations of hungry larvae in a single summer.
    "...to control the coddling moth population, use pheromone (sex hormone) confusion. Ordinary twist ties infused with the sex scent of the female coddling moth are attached to the fruit trees. The male coddling moth gravitates to these twist ties and become confused, thereby disrupting the mating cycle!..."
    Also you need to pick up and dispose of any fallen or infected fruit. You can wrap sacking around the trunk and trap the larvae when they try to climb the tree trunk. Feed them to your chooks, and let the chooks scratch around the trees and pick off any larvae from the dirt. Keep the grass short under the trees.
     
  3. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day danjo,

    there are some suggested effective organic controls, one i heard on gardening australia (abc) was to wrp something around the trunk near the base the moths gather under there then you collect them daily i think?

    anyhow it was a peter cundle episode so maybe a search of their archives might turn it up? you may have to subscribe (free no spamming).

    do the grubs destroy all the apple? i always had the impression they only realy affected the parts directly around the seed core? same with stone fruit i pick them just before they ripen fully that way i get the fruit in some edible form before the f/f larva all but destroy it. me just sticking with citrus now less thngs to compete with for a good feed.

    maybe to save some of the crop pick them before they ripen and then stew them and preserve them?

    len :)
     
  4. Bluerose

    Bluerose Junior Member

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    larvae

    The cloth or hessian is to trap the larvae as they make their way up the trunk.
     
  5. danjo

    danjo Junior Member

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    cheers, guys!
     

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