In my yard if I don't pick them up every day, some creature nibbles on them during the night which provides access for ants and wasps who consume the rest.
I dry most of mine so I just cut out any nibbled or bruised spots. Also for drying they don't have be be 100% ripe.
I have also wetted down some of my trees (the leaves). I think the trees can quickly take in water through their leaves unless the leaves are already dead. Just to help them get through these few days of "desert winds".
Also my heart goes out to any of you who are facing evacuation due to the fires. Here is a photo of all the smoke - a solid band from Astoria to San Diego.
Hey Dave M,
Good idea on the wetting of the trees. This is about the driest time of the year anyway.
Sometimes I will gather up the fruit that has fallen to put it in the compost. Sometimes I will just throw it under an unrelated tree.
If they are really gross and rotten, I will put them in my biochar as part of my inoculation process. If you put out biochar that is "raw", it will decrease production until it has absorbed enough nutrients to be part of the flow. Then I usually dig it into the dripline of the tree.
John S
PDX OR
John S said
If they are really gross and rotten, I will put them in my biochar as part of my inoculation process. If you put out biochar that is "raw", it will decrease production until it has absorbed enough nutrients to be part of the flow. Then I usually dig it into the dripline of the tree.
Thanks John, I hadn't thought about using them with biochar. I have a big bag of it inoculating right now that I can throw the bad ones into.
One thing I have thought about doing for quite some time is replacing my early japanese pear falls with apple falls from somebody else's tree. I get the idea that codling moth begins to become habit formingly adjusted to a particular crop. For example my pears codling populations don't follow the same population cycling in the same months as they would normally with more mid-season apples.
These codling moths originated with yellow transparent apples in the yard right next to me and are mine with the japanese pear. This means both these yards have specialty codling moths that date each other on different days than other areas do and since 1995 when the yellow transparent pollinator (a mid-season gravestein) got taken out.
I wouldn't suppose I am the only rare observer of bug habits out there(?) Because I think bugs can be outsmarted by trading windfalls to and fro between organic orchard-to-orchard (early pear - regular apple) situations in such a way to present challenging circumstances for them.
As they say "break the perpetual cycle" just once. ...in effect you are killing one of the 3 generation bug broods to any the steps taking the food supplies away as long as you move the dates away.
I would reduce my populations by taking in other apple windfalls and still stay organic and also retain my parasitic predators.
Thanks John. Were the idea not true then it would only be because females migrate, but they don't. Typically males of everything migrate. They figured this all out in both plants and animals recently based on this;
Inheritive (epigenetic) Erasing of Males Memories
I've been out raking up windfalls, just this week. If I get on it, I can bake them into pies. Ashmead's Kernel.
Speaking of Codling moth; that is why most of my apples have fallen. Infected apples, know they aren't right, and they rush to ripen and fall.
For my Green Gravenstein, this was never a problem. The apples were so early, they came and went, before codling moths had much of a shot at them.
Gave the tree away, long ago. What was I thinking? Oh, well.
I have an excellent full-face gas-mask/respirator. Air quality hereabouts may be in the 200-400 hazardous range, but with my gear on, every breath is fresh and sweet. Viral particles or soot particles... All the same.
Available fairly inexpensively, if you know what to buy and where to look. Ask me if you are looking. I'll point you in the right direction.
The apples with coddling moths do seem to ripen earlier and fall quicker. Most of the apples on the tree now have the fruit sox over them and most of the apples have no moth holes. Last year I am not sure If I got one back of coddling moth free apples. This year I will get a least a grocery bag full. I had only one or two apples fall during the high winds! So overall I am pleased with the fruit sox. My only comment, and I know this involves $$, would be to have a drawstring so you can prevent the apple from "slipping out" as it ripens and grows. Also, maybe make them out of a tougher material so moths have a hard time getting to the apples.
Thanks DaveM for the heads up about windfall apples. I try to clean mine up but time gets away from me.
I don't mind if deer eat them. More bothersome is they might be host for insects that spoil next year's apples.
And they are favorites of yellow jackets. That's also a reason to be very careful picking up windfall apples. Yellow jackets tunnel into them and catch me off guard coming out of the apple. This year I was stung by one and developed cellulitis - a skin infection requiring antibiotics.
My ducks like eating wind fall apples. That's one good thing.
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