Storkace,

I used footies instead of plastic bags because of (possibly misplaced) concern about what might be leaching into the fruit from plastic bags that have been in the sun all summer. Nylon should be immune to this difficulty.

But as you say, footies in and of themselves probably aren't as good at the job. I do find, however, that if spinosad is sprayed then the combination is fairly good. I think. So far. The next question is whether spinosad would be as effective without the footies. I don't know the answer to that one either.

As for the pheromone traps: I use them, but they don't capture the females, which are the ones you really need to stop. They only attract the males, and not enough of those to prevent the females from becoming fertilyzed and laying egss. The pheromone traps are useful to determine how active the bugs are, but that's about it. They help you time your other efforts.

I've been part of a pheromone disruption project this year. The county extension agent made pheromone treated twist-ties available very cheap, and a number of my neighbors and myself tied them into trees. The idea was to confuse the males into thinking their mates were everywhere when they weren't. I haven't been impressed yet. We'll see.

A discouraging aspect in my sitution is that there are so many untended fruit trees around here that no matter what one does there's a constant replenishment of bugs to move in. Arrrgh!!

Sorry to be discouraging! Just to deliver the coup I'll observe that I haven't been impressed with Surround, either ... Not only does it make the trees ugly and unpleasant to work in (Don referred to the "ghostly white") I think it just serves to provide traction for the CM.

Well, live and learn, I hope.

Cheers

:-)M

Thanks for the great reply, Marknmt. This is my first year with a significant production from any of my trees. As for the pheromone traps, do you have one on every tree? I know this wouldn't be realistic in a commercial orchard but I just have a dozen trees.

It appears that the codling moths really preferred my Chenango Strawberry to any of my other fruit-producing trees. Basically they got about 18 of 20 fruit on that tree (all dwarves in their 3rd growing season).

Knock on wood, they left my Ashmead's and Newtown Pippen alone. Just a few apples on those to begin with.

I agree with you, it's very frustrating to have untended trees in the neighborhood. I have a neighbor with a large Cortland that they don't do much with. Nice people but I wish they'd take care of that tree.

Stork: having both bagged apples and put footies on peaches, I can say there doesn't seem to be much difference time wise once the baggies are prepared. If anything, the baggies are quicker in the field.

Michael

Footies are useless for CM control on apples. There is potential for Apple Maggot control, but who cares if CM is so prevalent. Some of us in the PNW went thru the whole footie experiment two years ago with great hope, and great disappointment. Sandwich bags had their own problems too, notably earwigs. But by cutting a stem groove into the zipper it may be possible to exclude them. I'm trying that next year.

Hi again Stork.

I only have one apple tree, and I put one pheromone trap in it, as well as a pheromone twist tie. I also put a twist tie in my pear, and across the street in my neighbor's crab.

About CM not selecting one tree- there's been enough comment here to that effect that I think there may be something to it. But I think that if you have CM (and a constant fresh supply to boot!) that you probably need to do everything that helps even a little.

One thing you can do is to be very diligent about picking up drops and culling out fruit that shows frass. Should help control the size of succeeding generations. And I think one needs to be agressive about sprays, if using: if you're gonna spray, do it a day or two early rather than a day or two late, and if you have to fit in one more spray late in the season, well, so be it.

Good luck,

Mark

Thanks for all of the replies:)

Is there any benefit to a dormant oil spray before blossoming occurs in terms of codling moth control?

I had to chuckle as I enlisted my visiting family to place footies on my many apples in the orchard, and now I too discovered they are pretty worthless in keeping coddling month at bay...and then there's the apple maggot to contend with as well. I think folks only do the footie thing one season and move on to a more effective means of control..whatever that may be.

Mark, I think you need a lot more than one twist-tie to get any results. I have CM disruption lures all over my property, even in places where there are no apples. Probably 30 or so total. You want to create enough false scent trails to confuse the males from finding the real ones. I am doing much better this year than last in my first year with mating disruption - no bagging and getting pretty reasonable fruits. I also did a few sporadic spinosad sprays (any tank leftovers from the peaches spraying went to apples). My main problem this year is the low # of blossoms and fruits, something last year really cut into the setting of flower buds for this year.

storkace, dormant oil helps for mites and scale and thats about it.

Scott

Hi Scott,

Yes, I'm sure that's a part of the problem too. We used the number recommended by the county extension agent, who organised and pushed the deal. Over an area of about a square mile she/we had people hanging hundreds of them, but evidently not densely enough. If you're able to reduce your spinosad sprays to sporadic and still get a reduction- well, that's just wonderful and gives me hope.

I'm trying to imagine what might have caused your problem with flower buds and I hope you post the answer when you figure it out. I'm curious to know.

Thanks and best,

M

Thanks for the reply regarding dormant oil, Scott.

Looks like I'll be getting a bunch of lures next spring!
Do you typically place these before blossom?