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oriental fruit moth
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Chris
3 Posts
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1
January 15, 2016 - 9:31 am

Please help, I have two Elberta Peaches with what looks like a bad infestation of oriental fruit moth. Less then 10% of the peaches did not have grubs in or around the pit last summer, with quite a bit of tip flagging. The neighbors on either side have peach trees one of them sprays, and the other doesn't maintain her yard... I would like to branch out into better varieties of soft fruit, Am I fighting a lost cause, or is it possible to grow quality fruit? 

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
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January 16, 2016 - 7:10 pm

I have heard a few pieces of advice on this.  One was from a very pretty entomologist who suggested that spiders eat SWD and other problem bugs.  She said if you don't use toxic sprays, and have a yard with differing heights of plants, like nature, spiders will set up their webs and keep flying pests in control.  

People at nurseries told me that if your soft fruit ripens before August 1st, it is usually not a problem with SWD.

John S
PDX OR

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Larry_G
185 Posts
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3
January 16, 2016 - 8:06 pm

Chris, Oriental fruit moth is a type of tortrix moth and its larva are caterpillars. Grubs are the larva of beetles.

As for spiders and SWD, I have plenty of each in the berry patch and have not noticed any encounters between the two.

SWD tend to stay right in the foliage and fruit area whereas spider webs tend to span the open distance between plants or branch spacings.

 

Hey, I got an easy math problem for this posting: 3+1. It's those 2-digit problems that take a while.

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
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4
January 20, 2016 - 11:03 pm

Another thing that I've heard is that yellow jackets eat caterpillars.  I don't like yellow jackets, but I don't like caterpillars either.  Snakes and newts eat beetles, I believe.  Jafar mentioned that he has Alligator lizards, which I'm sure eat beetles. Probably a lot of the rest of us have them too, because they are nocturnal, we wouldn't see them.  Cultivating nature is a great way to stop any pest from over taking your yard. Works for me.

JohN S
PDX OR

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Chris
3 Posts
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5
January 21, 2016 - 11:22 am

Thank you for the responses, I live in Eastern Washington and have not observed SWD (yet) in my raspberrys, cherrys or blackberrys. Larry G. I used the wrong description these are definitely not beetle grubs, but small (approx. 3/8 inch) light brown caterpillars, with a darker head. I have observed tip flagging on much of the new growth, and there are    3-4 caterpillars either inside the peach pit or immediately around the pit itself, not in the flesh of the fruit. 

I'm not trying to raise visually perfect fruit, just delicious. But I'm at the point of are peaches worth growing... This fall I found Peach Tree Borer holes at the base of both trees.

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jafar
764 Posts
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6
January 21, 2016 - 11:54 am

John S said
Another thing that I've heard is that yellow jackets eat caterpillars.  I don't like yellow jackets, but I don't like caterpillars either.  Snakes and newts eat beetles, I believe.  Jafar mentioned that he has Alligator lizards, which I'm sure eat beetles. Probably a lot of the rest of us have them too, because they are nocturnal, we wouldn't see them.  Cultivating nature is a great way to stop any pest from over taking your yard. Works for me.

JohN S
PDX OR

I didn't know they are nocturnal.  That's pretty cool.  We saw ours in the daytime, but I think that was after we upturned its shelter - an old rabbit hutch.

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
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7
January 22, 2016 - 8:10 pm

Sorry. ALligator lizards are diurnal and crepuscular, which is one of my favorite adjectives meaning more active at dawn and dusk. My bad.

John S
PDX OR

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MarshallBennett
2 Posts
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8
August 10, 2018 - 11:34 pm

It takes a lot of efforts to keep your cultivation protected from the pests attack. You may also use sticky traps and folded cardboard to get rid of moths. Also, horticultural oil can also be sprayed on the stems and leaves of fruit-bearing trees and plants to get rid of moth larvae and insects. Many pest control companies support organic gardening pest control which is an excellent way to protect your fruit-bearing trees and plants from pests and the result you gain will be enormous! The professional help can also be taken for any suggestions.

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ErikaDeanda
1 Posts
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9
May 31, 2019 - 2:03 am

Design your orchard area as a poultry feed system that turns damaged fruit into eggs and helps control a variety of pests, including oriental fruit moths. Do not introduce poultry into young orchards because poultry will scratch the cover and expose the roots.

In order to kill fruit moths, pheromone sticky wing traps were used to monitor the mating activity of the oriental fruit moth. They allow you to know when the moth is active and the timing control program is correct.
If you don't want to control with toxic chemicals, cut and burn any infested branches early in the season. Trees are trimmed annually to avoid intensive growth, as this growth will limit the entry of birds and other predators that help control.

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DanielW
Clark County, WA
519 Posts
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10
June 12, 2019 - 6:14 pm

John S said
Sorry. ALligator lizards are diurnal and crepuscular, which is one of my favorite adjectives meaning more active at dawn and dusk. My bad.

John S
PDX OR  

I tend to be crepuscular too.

Peaches are so challenging here.  Leaf curl, canker, insects...  If I was 20 years younger, I would grow more genetic dwarf peaches, just in containers, put them into a shed for the winter, cover with netting in summer.  That's the only thing that worked for me.  But in hot weather, container peach trees need watering twice daily, which is a lot.

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