Scaper: I used the footies for the 1st time last year and had zero damage. The footies were put on 2 weeks after shuck-split and 1 spray each of malathion and permethrin. The permethrin went on 2 days before the footies.

One unexpected benefit I believe of the footies is they may have deterred some bird pecking damage.

If I don't have to continue spraying through the following weeks prior to harvest for insects that would be fine with me.

Michael

I had a fair amount of moth damage with the footies so I decided to spray. I am doing no footies or bagging of any kind this year except I plan to bag my grapes to keep the birds from stealing them. Oh last year a few of my peach varieties the birds really liked and I footied all of them as they were ripening to keep the birds away. I'll probably do something similar this year but hopefully there will be more peaches and the bids can peck at a few without any big problem for me.

Scott

Thanks for the info guys,
I tried footies last year too late and the moths ruined my crop. The birds didnt seem phased at all though and they ate right through the footeis. This year I decided not to footie because of time to install and I have used sprays instead. I sprayed carbaryl and pyrethrin alternatley and I must have missed a spray somewhere because I can tell I have moth damage again this year. Not near as bad as last year as I have some nice peaches but I definateley have quite a bit of moth damage. I can tell I need to get much more serious about a spray schedule if I am to have success at all. Next year I am considering giving surround a try. I think it may help. Funny thing is I grow another peach at a diffrent property and I dont have damage on it at all.

On another note, I netted very early this year and the birds have not touched the peaches this year. Not a peck. I figure each year I can get a piece of the puzzle fixed and maybe then I can get a good crop of peaches. Thanks for the posts.

Scape

I have yet to spray anything or cover my peaches (Contender) for 3yrs now but my problem is someone beats me to them at harvest. This year I will have to come up with a plan so I can eat the peaches. So even if you get past the diseases, you have to deal with hungry critters. It's very easy to get discouraged if you are not a fruit fanatic!

Let us continue to fight the good fight...

Scaper,

I think you'll find if you have very many trees, bagging becomes more and more difficult. Don (Jellyman) has confessed of visions of bagging fruits in his sleep (if he ever does sleep?)

In terms of peaches, sn advantage of spraying is that a fungicide can be applied with the insecticide to get fungal control as well.

What is this moth damage you speak of on your peaches? Today i witnessed something i haven't seen before, and that is Rose Chafers (Scarab Beetles)feeding on my baby peaches, while having sex (I swear they have orgies, while others watch on)... I actually would find 4 or more beetles (these things are good size, in the cavity of my peaches. Thank God the peach tree is overloaded with fruit and can use a thinning. I'm going to keep my eye on them from now on, but maybe in the future i may have to protect them better.

Its a never ending cycle with these bugs/critters.

Olpea,
Last year I bagged all my apples, lots of my pears (bagged for bird control not bugs), and my peaches were footied. To top it off my footies were applied to late and the whole crop was destroyed anyway. I too was seeing bag visions and I dont think I have near as many trees as Jellyman. I dont know how he does it. But this year the thought of footying all the peaches again was more than I could stand so I switched to sprays. By and large it has helped a lot but there is still some pretty signifigant moth damage so I know I need to tweeek my sprays and be more diligant about reapplying. Thats were I messed up. I went to long between sprays I think. I still have some out standing peaches but still some damage too. Next year I may give surround a try. Franktank I am afraid my moths arenot near as entertaining as your beetles. It sounds like they put on quite the show for you! The oriental fruit moth deposits eggs on fruit and they tunnel into it and ruin it and a bead of pectin forms. Thanks for the posts guys.

Scape

Just read some research on Surround... Looks like in this study they only did one application of it... It was worthless for the most part, but it sounds like you need repeated applications? For the cost of that stuff it isn't worth it for me... I'll try footies next year, given i have flowers/fruit. I'll never have more then a 100 or so fruit with my climate.

Scaper,

Around here pest pressure is pretty high (may not be as bad where you are). A commercial peach grower in this area relies mostly on Pounce. He sprays bout every seven days and alternates every now and then with Imidan. I've been spraying every 7-14 days with various products, depending on the rain. I've read an inch of rain pretty much washes off all residues. Surround is probably not as rainfast as the pyrethroids, but may be the only solution if you want to go organic. Otherwise, you may try Triacizide- Once and Done. It is a synthetic pyrethroid, like Pounce, and should last 10 days to two weeks, depending on rain. Alternating it with carbaryl would be an option. Peaches don't seem to get the mite outbreaks with pryrethroids, the way pome fruits do.

Within reason, I dont mind using whatever works at this point. The pest pressure is ridiculous in my back yard. The moths are crazy as are the squirells. I really appreciate the info Olpea. Tonight I picked the rest of my june gold peaches and there was still a good bit of damage due to moths. The funny thing is squirrels ignored the peaches this year totaly while they are feasting on very imature pears no matter whatI do. I cant explain it. Is this typical?

Scape

Hi Scaper-

FWIW I'll be spraying my apple with spinosad/surround this coming week (we're having a delayed, cool spring) and then slipping two nylon footies over each apple. One hopes two footies work better than one. I hope they are reuseable- nylon should hold up pretty well.

We're tracking codling moth by trapping in pheromone traps, and although it's too early to spray there are some in the traps every day now. We also use pheromone disruption in an experimental program that covers several blocks.

I'll resort to malathion if I have to but have doubts about its efficacy, although in past years it has helped.

I used Surround once, but disliked it because it's unpleasant to do anything in the tree once Surround is gritting everything up. So I'm going to try again, hoping codling moth feel the same way. I'll need to be more diligent about keeping it on there, too.

Good luck,

Mark

Mark-

Delayed? WHat spring? ISn't it snowing in MT today? I see the Black Hills of SD could see snow this weekend and Hayward, WI area had temps of 26F last night!

:-)

Well, here in the western part of the state it isn't as bad as it is in the eastern part (affectionately called Western North Dakota locally), but it is only hitting the middle 40's at the minute and is supposed to drop into the 30's tonight. We'll get a little snow above 5000 feet, I suspect, but here on the valley floor (3200 feet) it's not expected. Never know, though.

W did have two days of spring back in May. I put out my tomatoes and peppers, and a few days later I put 'em in again.

Good luck in Wisconsin. I'm glad I don't have to deal with your extremes!

M

You should cover and protect your crop with footies.

Now you can get your footies at 'Factory Direct Price'.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.mallcm.com