caring for apple trees

heirloomer08 · December 16, 2008

Ok, first and formost. When it comes to caring for an apple tree I am a dummy. I have a friend that has 6 apple trees and never takes care of them so they are buggy. I asked him this winter if I could take care of them and pick the apples off the trees and he agreed that I could.
So, with that being said, now comes the question. What should I be spraying on these trees to get them under control so that I may use the apples? These trees are completely loaded every year and nobody ever does anything with them. I know that I should be doing something at blossom time and then a couple times after that but at what times and with what spray. I am open to any suggestions. If there is anybody out there that can help me please post here or send a PM.
Thanks, heirloomer08

amideutch · December 16, 2008

heirloomer, there is a whole bunch of info on the web. Plus you need to decide if you want to go the bio route or chemical route. My tomatoes I do the bio but as of yet have not done so on my fruit trees. I've used Dormant Oil spray after harvest and Bonide Fruit Tree spray in the spring. Here is a link that might give you an idea. Ami

http://www.scenicnursery.com/archives/000054.html

Here's a link to a fruit tree spray that is more earth friendly I came across the other day that I may try next year.

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/fruit-tree-spray.html

LenaBeanNZ · December 16, 2008

I have two apple trees that are very badly affected by coddling moth. One tree I still manage to pick a few apples and eat carefully, the other I dont bother with. I thinned the apples last week, targeting the ones showing worm damage. Is there anything else I can do at this stage? Apples are golfball size already.

redbrick · December 17, 2008

You can try "sacking" the apples with paper bags or nylon bags, but I'm afraid that the damage is probably already done for this year. Maybe someone else will have some other suggestions?

Medbury Gardens · December 18, 2008

The kids and i get great pleasure out of driving around our back country roads checking wild apple trees that grow on the side of the road from someones discarded apple thrown out of car windows.I estimate that probably 9 out of 10 of these trees have fruit that are small bitter and bug ridden, so bitter that it just about makes our house cow cringe, but the odd tree that we have mapped out plus time when ready, can be very nice apples, one thing we have learnt is that some of those trees are prone to coddling moth,some are not and its probably the same with some of the commercial varieties also.

What i know about the coddling moth is that the moth itself does not travel far from its host tree and that the grubs that are in your trees now LenaB will go on to reinfect your trees next season.

There are three means of control that i know of (1) is to invest in pheromone traps that trap male moths before they can gain access to the females, from now onwards is the optimum time to install in your trees.

(2) is to wrap double layered cardboard around the trunk of the tree, come end of season the adult moth climbs down to find somewhere to hibernate for the winter,some will end up in the older bark lower down, others will end up in the soil below.The idea of the cardboard is that they end up crawling into the hollow sections that can be later burnt or buried etc.The more you kill this season before reaching hibernation the less infestation the follwing season.

(3) The use of poultry is one of the best controls methods,any adult moth hiberating are consummed by having chocks free ranging in and around your trees, but also fertilizing at the same time

LenaBeanNZ · December 18, 2008

Thanks for your ideas. At which stage do the adult moths emerge? The larvae dont travel from apple to apple do they? So if I removed and destroyed as many damaged apples as I could, maybe I would prevent alot of the grubs from completing their lifecycle. Then wrap the trunk in cardboard to catch any that esacaped my apple raid and hatched into adults. I really should have done this years ago.

Medbury Gardens · December 18, 2008

Here in NZ the adults emerge mid November till about mid Jan which is also the egg laying period,no the larvae dont travel from one apple to another.
I read an article recently of someone using fly papers layed flat around the base of the tree, when the emerging adults crawl back up the tree in spring,they become stuck.
Most Garden centers will have those Pheromone traps, start with these now, cardboard later on and then fly papers or even grease covering some material tied around the tree in the spring and there should be a noticeable reduction in next season crop,....we hope

LenaBeanNZ · December 19, 2008

OK thanks, Ill see if I can get a trap. Just hang it in the tree?

December 16, 2008	#1
heirloomer08 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Iowa Posts: 89	caring for apple trees Ok, first and formost. When it comes to caring for an apple tree I am a dummy. I have a friend that has 6 apple trees and never takes care of them so they are buggy. I asked him this winter if I could take care of them and pick the apples off the trees and he agreed that I could. So, with that being said, now comes the question. What should I be spraying on these trees to get them under control so that I may use the apples? These trees are completely loaded every year and nobody ever does anything with them. I know that I should be doing something at blossom time and then a couple times after that but at what times and with what spray. I am open to any suggestions. If there is anybody out there that can help me please post here or send a PM. Thanks, heirloomer08

December 16, 2008	#2
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	heirloomer, there is a whole bunch of info on the web. Plus you need to decide if you want to go the bio route or chemical route. My tomatoes I do the bio but as of yet have not done so on my fruit trees. I've used Dormant Oil spray after harvest and Bonide Fruit Tree spray in the spring. Here is a link that might give you an idea. Ami http://www.scenicnursery.com/archives/000054.html Here's a link to a fruit tree spray that is more earth friendly I came across the other day that I may try next year. http://www.planetnatural.com/site/fruit-tree-spray.html __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!' Last edited by amideutch; December 16, 2008 at 09:05 AM.

December 17, 2008	#4
redbrick Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lebanon PA, zone 6 Posts: 45	You can try "sacking" the apples with paper bags or nylon bags, but I'm afraid that the damage is probably already done for this year. Maybe someone else will have some other suggestions? __________________ "Any man may count the seeds in an apple, yet who can know the apples in a seed?" --Chinese Proverb (paraphrased)

December 16, 2008	#3
LenaBeanNZ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 114	I have two apple trees that are very badly affected by coddling moth. One tree I still manage to pick a few apples and eat carefully, the other I dont bother with. I thinned the apples last week, targeting the ones showing worm damage. Is there anything else I can do at this stage? Apples are golfball size already.

December 18, 2008	#5
Medbury Gardens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Medbury, New Zealand Posts: 1,881	The kids and i get great pleasure out of driving around our back country roads checking wild apple trees that grow on the side of the road from someones discarded apple thrown out of car windows.I estimate that probably 9 out of 10 of these trees have fruit that are small bitter and bug ridden, so bitter that it just about makes our house cow cringe, but the odd tree that we have mapped out plus time when ready, can be very nice apples, one thing we have learnt is that some of those trees are prone to coddling moth,some are not and its probably the same with some of the commercial varieties also. What i know about the coddling moth is that the moth itself does not travel far from its host tree and that the grubs that are in your trees now LenaB will go on to reinfect your trees next season. There are three means of control that i know of (1) is to invest in pheromone traps that trap male moths before they can gain access to the females, from now onwards is the optimum time to install in your trees. (2) is to wrap double layered cardboard around the trunk of the tree, come end of season the adult moth climbs down to find somewhere to hibernate for the winter,some will end up in the older bark lower down, others will end up in the soil below.The idea of the cardboard is that they end up crawling into the hollow sections that can be later burnt or buried etc.The more you kill this season before reaching hibernation the less infestation the follwing season. (3) The use of poultry is one of the best controls methods,any adult moth hiberating are consummed by having chocks free ranging in and around your trees, but also fertilizing at the same time

December 19, 2008	#8
LenaBeanNZ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 114	OK thanks, Ill see if I can get a trap. Just hang it in the tree?