wormy apples

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by soccerdad, Aug 28, 2007.

  1. soccerdad

    soccerdad Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    515
    Likes Received:
    20
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, Dunbar area
    I have an Elstar apple tree which bears fruit, an Ambrosia which will bear nicely next year, an Empire on which are grated Golden Delicious and Cox Orange Pippin, and a Poppy's Wonder and Lord Lamborne that are still very young.

    In the past I sprayed for insects with some success, although worms usually got the Golden Delicious.

    But this year I decided to be more ecological and sprayed nothing except some bacteria spray.

    Now every apple on every tree has got one worm or the other in it.

    I know from my old food co-op days that organic vegetables are identifiable by the fact that they are blemished and insect riddled, but this is ridiculous. Are there any organic products that will alleviate the worm situation?
     
  2. growest

    growest Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    682
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Surrey,BC,Canada
    My Spartan is similarly infested this year...and I've never sprayed it for the past 17 years...this is the worst ever! Like you say, almost every fruit has that brown bit from a coddling moth larva.

    If only I could keep chickens here, apparently they will pick over the area under apple trees and get pretty well all the pupae before they hatch next spring.

    I believe there is a pheromone trap that could be used during the moth flying/breeding time in spring...I'll get more serious if this becomes a yearly plague.

    I also hate to spray, well actually I just won't since we can buy sprayed apples pretty cheap if that's what we want to eat! If you add up all the costs of an apple spray program as a homeowner, you may find those non-organic homegrown fruit are pretty pricey after all...
     
  3. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

    Messages:
    10,574
    Likes Received:
    615
    Location:
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Share This Page