As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
OK so you are a fancy pants entomologist with a degree in gynecology who sips their martini dry, and you call them Edens as my invention of a martini which has an olive, yellow pear tomatoe and strawberry, but all the same it is a Codling Moth for the generic scientific name for the Apple Moth. (Cydia pomonella)
The adult coddling moth (Cydia pomonella), lays eggs directly on developing apples and pears. The larvae enter the fruit, feeding on the flesh and filling the cavity with their droppings. They can cause damage on up to 90 percent of a tree's fruit. Bait traps minimize potential larval infestations by attracting adult moths looking for a place to deposit eggs.
This though is for the record the record of how to keep apple maggots out of your apples.
These are the experts always expert advice, but we folk of the brier patch use liter pop plastic bottles or some of us who drink us liter bottles of whiskey with great effect.
They are ugly bastards though and deserve death and destruction as this is what is the face of worms in your apples.
There are two basic recipes in this, and the experts say to put the trap out early, hang it high and if you have a big problem, put out as many as 3 traps to each tree. There is a secondary help in this, a sort of back door.
Bottle Traps
Collect 1-gallon plastic milk jugs and enough rope or cord to hang 3 traps in each tree. Mix in each milk jug 1 cup cider vinegar, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/8 tsp. plain ammonia, and enough water to make 1-1/2 qt. of liquid for each jug. Using a sharp knife, cut a 2-inch hole in the jug just below the shoulder for the codling moth entrance. Leave the cap on the jug and hang it in the tree. University of California Davis Pest Management recommends using a wide strip of cloth over the tree branch to protect it from the weight of the trap.
And then there is always someone with something else.
Codling Moth Trap Attractant Recipe: 1-cup Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/3-cup Dark Molasses, 1/8-teaspoon Ammonia, 6 drops of Dishwashing Liquid Add enough water to make 1-1/2 quarts of Attractant. 1/8 cup of this Attractant is placed into the bottom of each trap soon after bud break.
This is the recipe which we used.
1 cup apple cider vinegar, ½ cup molasses, 1/8 teaspoon ammonia (This amount is tiny, very hard to do exactly), 4 ½ cups of water.
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 banana peels, cut in strips (I’ve substituted other fruit peels when we didn’t have bananas in the house, and they seemed to work just as well)
The findings of someone who used the recipes was:
So, in my opinion, use the apple cider vinegar and molasses recipe for a lure
This is the back door in you get big boxes from the dumpsters which are not wet, and then cut a 6 inch cardboard strip or strips if you box is not large enough, and then place them around the trunk of the tree or the major branches.
Do this in August, until after freeze up, and then burn the bastards in a hot fire with your other trash in a real yard heat enjoyment, as nothing feels warmer than burning apple maggot pupa.
Trunk Traps
Cardboard bands fastened around the trunks will act as pupation sites to trap the codling moth larvae. According to the University of Kentucky Entomology Department, cardboard strip of 4 to 6 inches wrapped around the tree trunk or major limbs will attract larvae. Fasten trunk traps to your trees in August and remove and destroy them in December. The Ohio State Extension Service recommends scraping the bark to remove any loose pieces before fastening the cardboard strips to your tree.
So that is the get go on this one. The Apple Maggots are attracted to the scent of rotting fruit, which is what marks the tree. It helps to pick up the fruit or have a cow do the munching as we have to save on labor. If more people were astute about this, most of this problem would be rectified in a few years.
Once again, another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
agtG
