I have used ziplocs. Too much plastic in the earth already.
I have used the fruit sox. I have about 1000 apples. Too much work.
I just bought Surround kaolin clay mixture to spray on the trees.
Has anyone else used it?
I tried just spraying clay on them last year. It was a dismal failure.
Any advice on how to use Surround? Any other techniques?
Thanks,
JohN S
PDX OR
I've got a good size bag of it that I haven't used yet. I don't have much time or patience for spraying, and our weather hasn't gotten the memo.
Maybe a couple of sprays in July during the dry season would be worth the return if they discourage successive generations of apple maggot.
I did not bag my apples this year, and the damage from coddling moth and apple maggot was high. One interesting thing, Jonagold was ruined - every apple was badly damaged. Liberty was unaffected. Others were mixed.
According to WSU, Surround can help but must be applied weekly or every other week until harvest. Footies are supposedly effective. I will try paper bags this year. I bought them last year but wasn't up to it when needed. For coddling moth, they say remove debris under the trees, and wrap trunks with corrugated cardboard to trap them as they climb up the tree. They don't mention using Tanglefoot. That works great for stopping ants from climbing into figs, so i imagine it will help. The corrugated cardboard traps have to be removed, I think. I think I'll try the tanglefoot for apples (coddling moth not maggots).
This is the reference I read.
I had a lot of apple sunburn damage due to the hot spell. I bought a bag of surround to spray in case another super hot spell comes. The white coating reflects some sunlight.
UMinn extension claims that kaolin is effective. I would think that after rainy season, it would stay on the tree for most of the summer and not need weekly application.
My plan for 2022:
1. Prune for height I can reach without ladders. I am doing that anyway. The challenge is finding a sweet spot between what I can reach, but deer don't. That also means, no long branches, which droop to within deer range when loaded with fruit even if too tall for thinning and bagging an May/June.
2. Superior oil spray during winter. That reduces insects and scale that overwinter in bark.
3. Bag what I can, when apples form and after thinning.
4. Surround spray as often as I can manage, every one or two weeks until dry season starts.
5. Tangfoot - in May, I guess.
I do remove fallen fruit in fall. The problem is, I don't want to remove mulch, which has too many benefits.
Edit: More fromWA State extension. Surround At Home every 7 to 14 days starting in June.
I also found an article aboutbeneficial nematodes. They are<a href="