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Apple problems

suehudson1000suehudson1000 Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
I have had lots of apples this year, both Codes and cookers, but the majority  have been burrowed into. Any ideas how I can stop this next year, please?

Posts

  • suehudson1000suehudson1000 Posts: 3
    Sorry, Coxes.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    The most likely culprit, if what you have are brownish tunnels in the fruit, is the larva of the codling moth.  (The rest of the apple will be perfectly edible, but obviously they won't store if they have holes in.)  You could look on line and see if the damage looks like codling moth grubs.

    You need to clear away all fallen apple leaves and fruit to reduce the number of critters for next year.  You can get a pheromone trap which will catch - I think - the female moths; and tying a band of corrugated cardboard round the trunk in autumn, to provide a convenient resting place for the pupae to set up home.  Once a month you're recommended to remove the corrugated cardboard and replace it with fresh, burning the old piece (plus any pupae).
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    edited September 2018
    You could also spray the tree with a Winter Wash in February. This is a fairly reasonably organic horticultural soft soap.
    The pheromone traps are really only an indication of when you should spray the tree with a suitable insecticide to kill the moths. Not keen on spraying fruit myself though.
    The sticky cardboard bands on the tree are to catch the grubs as they crawl down the tree to pupate in the soil underneath. Not a lot of use once the bugs have already left the fruit as they appear to have from your posting. They are better put on earlier than autumn before the grubs start their downward track.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    @Berghill - I agree about not spraying, and anyway there's very little now approved for gardeners to use on fruit.  The corrugated cardboard traps:  you're right, sorry, they should be tied on the tree in July and removed for burning in September (though one website suggested that grubs emerging from fallen fruit can climb the trunk in autumn to pupate, so it may be worth replacing the cardboard until winter).

    I was wrong again.  (Memo to self:  check facts before posting...)  Pheromone traps attract the male moths, not the females - but recent research suggests that the traps do have a significant effect on the amount of fruit damage.  Worth a try, I'd think.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    Very much worth a try with the traps. Bit expensive these days, but they definitely do reduce the amount of damage.
    I never got round to doing it this year on our Plum trees and there are no clean fruits at all.
  • suehudson1000suehudson1000 Posts: 3
    Many thanks for this. I will certainly be trying all the methods advised. Interestingly, when I started throwing 'dirty'water at the tree during the drought, it seemed to improve things.
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