A beautiful, well-groomed garden that brings a rich harvest is the dream of any gardener. And it can bring joy not only in spring because of the beautiful flowering and aroma, but also in autumn during the harvest of juicy and he althy apples.
But the productivity of the garden can suffer due to the infection of trees with various parasites. Then the yield is in question, and a thunderstorm of defeat hangs over the entire garden. One of these pests is the codling moth. This parasite is capable of causing irreparable harm not only to the crop, but to the entire garden as a whole due to its rapid reproduction.
Biological features of the butterfly
The codling moth butterfly has a brown or grayish color. The wings have a transverse shape, a span of no more than 2 centimeters and a spot in darker colors than the body of a butterfly. It is almost impossible to notice the infection of a tree with a pest in the early stages, due to the fact that the butterfly is nocturnal and lays eggs on fruits and leaves at night.
The number of eggs laid by females can reach up to a hundred, of which already after sevendays, light red caterpillars with a brownish head appear. During one season, a butterfly can hatch two generations of larvae, which can destroy almost the entire crop and significantly damage the fruit tree itself.
Life of a caterpillar
Hatched caterpillars enter the fruit by eating the pulp, reach the core, which prevents the fruit from developing properly. As a result, the fruits fall off. Caterpillars of the codling moth can infect not only apple trees, the pest can infect any fruit tree.
Apple codling moth can also infect already formed fruits, which, despite continued growth, can reach maturity earlier than others and fall off under the influence of the pest.
The development time of the caterpillar can reach a month, during this time the insect can damage a large number of fruits. In the autumn months, the pest moves into cracks in the bark of a tree, where it takes the form of a chrysalis and lives until spring. For wintering, caterpillars can choose crop storage areas, barns, cellars or fruit boxes.
Pest control
Pest control can be carried out by various methods, the main task is not to allow insects to breed and not to climb into secluded places for wintering. In the initial stage of the lesion, the method of catching has proven itself well. To rid the garden of insects, the following methods of resistance are used:
- Belts for trapping insects.
- Spraying trees with herbicides.
- Disinfection of storage areas.
If the apple codling moth has bred strongly, control measures must be combined. It also makes sense to carry out preventive work to prevent infection.
Catching insects
You can catch insects with the help of various devices. You can use against the pest (apple codling moth) control measures in the form of a trapping belt. Such devices work due to the desire of the worm to find a secluded place. For the manufacture of such belts, you can use any material at hand: cardboard, paper, newspapers or fabric. Trapping belts are located at a height of a tree up to 30 centimeters from the ground and are a kind of skirt.
A strip of material up to 20 centimeters wide is wrapped around the trunk and fixed with a rope or elastic band on top, and the lower part of the belt remains free. When applying paper, it is desirable to slightly deform or wrinkle it, then you will get a lot of bends, and the caterpillars will freely settle in such a trap without infecting the fruit. The laying of such devices on a tree should be carried out in the last days of May or at the beginning of June. Such devices should be changed once a week, carefully destroying the old pads.
Advantages and disadvantages of the trapping method
The advantages of this remedy for apple codling moth lies in its cheapness and simplicity. What could be easier than tying a piece of material on a tree trunk? With this method, the codling moth is quickly destroyed and measurescontrol do not allow fruits and trees to be treated with chemical compounds, which allows you to get a crop without excess nitrates. Such belts for trapping insects can serve not only against the codling moth, they are quite capable of coping with other types of dangerous garden pests.
The disadvantages are the need for constant monitoring of the traps. Belts should also be changed after rain. Paper tends to disintegrate when exposed to moisture, and film traps are not desirable due to the risk of overheating the bark of the fruit tree on hot summer days.
Spraying trees with insecticidal preparations
The fight against codling moth in the spring can begin with spraying the garden with special preparations. Among them are Decis, Rovikurt, Sonnet, Karbofos, Nomolt, Sherpa, Fastak and their analogues. The codling moth can tolerate preparations of this type without harming itself, so it is better to carry out each subsequent treatment of the garden with a different remedy.
The deadlines for spraying trees should be strictly observed.
- The first spraying is carried out after flowering, but before the first ovaries appear.
- The second spraying is carried out 12 days after the first. During this period, the codling moth can affect already young fruits.
- The third spraying is carried out 10 days after the second.
Spraying should be done in the evening due to the nightlifestyle of the pest at an air temperature of at least 18ºС, because at a lower temperature the chemical may not work properly.
Spraying is strictly prohibited during the fruit ripening period, because the pulp can be saturated with chemicals, and such a crop is unacceptable for human consumption. During such periods, spraying with infusions of wormwood or tops from tomatoes can be carried out. It is the decoctions of these plants that have effectively proven themselves in the fight against the codling moth.
Method of catching butterflies using fermenting solutions
How to deal with the codling moth with chemicals, every gardener knows, but such tree protection can be detrimental to the crop. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to solutions with the effect of fermentation. They are not poisonous and are excellent for killing pests.
Empty containers are filled a third with a solution of apple compote or other ingredient that can cause fermentation. To obtain such a solution, you can use whey from milk, bread kvass, beer or decoctions of dried fruits. For the fermentation process, it is worth adding sugar and yeast to the solution, leave for several hours and pour into containers. Next, hang the resulting bait on a tree. The strong smell of yeast attracts butterflies, they die in the container before they have time to lay eggs with larvae.
Replacement of such traps should be carried out as they are full, but at least once every 3-4 days. Otherwise, the fermentation process will end, and from the adaptation there will be nopush.
Measures against apple codling moth in autumn
If in the spring, despite all efforts, it was not possible to defeat the pest, then a series of events should be carried out in the fall after the harvest. To prevent the larvae from crawling into the bark of the tree, the trunk can be whitewashed with lime. Including whitewashing, at least a quarter of the tree. The solution of lime should not be made liquid, it is better if all the voids and cracks in the tree are filled with it.
It is good to scrape off parts of the dead bark of the trunk and branches with a scraper and get rid of the resulting waste by burning. In the autumn period, deep plowing of the earth around the trees should be carried out, this will help kill the larvae that winter in the ground.
Having prepared a tree for wintering with such methods, it is possible to get rid of the insidious codling moth by spring.
Prevention measures to prevent re-infection
The fruits that fell from the infected tree are of little use for food. But if the fruit is large and the tree has not been treated with chemicals, then such fruits can be recycled, taking into account the complete destruction of the resulting waste.
After picking the carrion, unprocessed fruits should not be left for storage at night. The codling moth will crawl away due to the principle of its nocturnal activity and there is a risk of re-infestation of the tree or damage to other trees located near the house.
Harvest containers should be chosen from even and smooth materials, preferably ceramic or plastic. Pest larvae will not be able to clog innooks and crannies, as in wooden boxes. After processing, such dishes should be thoroughly washed and treated with any disinfectant.
The described methods really contribute to the fight against garden pests. Help save crops and prevent damage to trees in the garden. When using preventive measures against infection, the garden will be fragrant and delight its owners for a long time.
