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Plums

granmagranma Posts: 1,933
in Fruit & veg
We have a full and ladened plum tree "Marjorie seedling"
Every plum we have picked has a pink grub and mess around the stone .very unappetizing. This is the first year We have had this .
Can grease bands help do you think ? please 

Posts

  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited August 2018
    Plum moth. Bad this year, not a single clean plum or damson for us.
    So grease bands trap the larva as they crawl down the tree to pupate in the soil.
    Otherwise you need to spray the tree in February with a Winter Wash. This is horticultural soft soap and reasonably organic. It kills any overwintering ones on the bark. Then if you have enough fruit to make it worthwhile, hang pheromone traps in the tree in Spring.
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    My Victoria plum is just the same, hardly a fruit worth eating.
  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    Me too lost about half the crop. We also had pigeons demolishing the blossoms and working down the branch nibbling the leaves off. tried using CDs with some success. 

  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    House sparrows on my tree, but they left the flowers alone @ZeroZero1.
  • granmagranma Posts: 1,933
    I've  picked quite a few today , it's odd that the ripe  plums are affected .they have a tiny hole at the base of the plum.after cutting the fruit near the hole it's as though the grub has got in from  here .in the under ripe plums there is no sign of anything is wrong .it's strange.
    Is this same as everyone elses?
  • granmagranma Posts: 1,933
    The plum moth lays its eggs under the bark  not sure if this happens in the spring or if they are overwintered.
    Me thinks more checking up needs to be done , to hopefully get a grub free crop next year.
  • ColinAColinA Posts: 392
    I had a disasterous crop this yer due to the plum moth maggots, it got to the stage that out of 12 plums picked only 2 were edible so I pulled all plums both ripe and green off the tree and binned them. I spoke to a representative of Kew gardens at the Harrogate Autumn flower show and he recommended the moth traps for next spring, I also think I might give the tree a winter wash as well
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