Tip. Be thankful for others sharing or trading scions with you and return their generosity. Bill
15 Likes
Bill, even though I’ve never traded with you, I’m thankful for members on here who,like you, always have a positive and supporting attitude.
5 Likes
Don’t store fruit in the fridge you have your scion wood in. The fruit gives of gasses that will kill the buds.
2 Likes
Thank you so much much for explaining what has happened to you. I’m going in for perscription sunglasses due to your information.
1 Like
Do everything with a reason. When i spray i do so with a problem in mind im treating. When im mowing i throw the grass at the base of my fruit plants so they get the nutrients and moisture from the grass. When i grow small apples they are to make cider. Fruit growing is enjoyable and i do it to reap the large bounty of fruit which improves my health and standard of living.
3 Likes
Mrs.G, I’m glad I could help. You just made my day.
3 Likes
I put moth balls around my stone fruit trees over the weekend to combat borers. Not sure if this is the right time to do it, but I did it anyway!
Aren’t mothballs toxic?
That sounds like a great idea! I might try that too. Just drop a couple down the drain tile hose I have around my trunks.
Moth balls does nothing to repel borers.
[quote=“rayrose, post:74, topic:4375, full:true”]
Moth balls does nothing to repel borers. [/quote]
Really?!?!?!
Years ago when one of my peach trees started oozing “sap” I asked about it on GardenWeb ,learned about borers and was told that moth balls would prevent them. I’ve been doing it ever since,and (knock on peach wood), I haven’t had any more problems.
Birds tend to perch on the highest location. One way to keep them off your sensitive grafts or vulnerable areas is to put a stake that goes higher than your scion. Bill
pic 001
13 Likes
I was hoping someone else would chime in on this topic but they didn’t so I’m forced to bump it up!
Is Ray correct about moth balls and borers?
Have I just been lucky all these years I’ve used them and not had any problems? (knock on wood, again?)
If moth balls are just an old wives tale, what’s the best way to prevent borers?
Bart, I’ve posted this info several times over the years, but I’ll post it again.
The borer is a flying insect, that after mating, lays it’s eggs on the scaffolds
and near the bases of stone fruits. There are several different varieties. There is the American plum borer, which attacks plum trees and the peach tree borer that attacks peaches and nectarines. Once the egg is laid, the larva hatches and bores it’s way into the tree, and feeds on the tree. If not found and eradicated, the larva can kill a tree, especially young trees. There are two treatments, one is a prevention, while the other is a hopeful cure, if the larva hasn’t damaged the tree beyond repair. The preventative is to spray the tree, with a good insecticide, during adult mating activity, when the flying insect is most active. In my area, this occurs in August, and that’s when I spray all of my stone fruit trees. Since I’ve started doing this, I have had no borers, period.
The hopeful cure. is to wait until larva activity is found, such as frass and goo usualy found at the base of the tree. Then you have to dig out the larva, without doing too much damage to the tree. Then hoping that the tree will survive. If the moth ball treatment is all you’ve done so far, consider yourself lucky.
’
There are several kinds of borers but the most problematic is the peachtree borer which always lays eggs near ground level. Mothballs work well on those. Personally I don’t like putting naphthalene in my soil so I use raw neem instead. Same good result.
1 Like
Bart,
Mrs.G. swears by Triazicide Once and Done. I used it in the past and now am considering neem paste like Scott has suggested.
Thanks all!!
Scott/mamuang - what do you mean by raw neem and/or neem paste? Is that just undiluted need oil? How/where do you apply it?
Bart,
Use the magnifying glass symbol on the top right corner of the page and type in Low Impact Spray Schedule.
Scott listed his spray programs and products on it. Raw neem is under Sources for products.
It is a great guide for those leaning toward chemical less method. Thanks to Scott.
1 Like
Most of my cross pollinating issues have been due to my Orient pear blooming before my other pear tress. If I was lucky there was a little overlap at the very end of the Orient bloom. On one of my local nursery website they suggested that Kieffer was a good pollinator for the Orient. I planted a Kieffer pear last year and it has a few fruit buds. As of now they appear to be on schedule to bloom at the same time. Another early season source of pollen is grafting in a few buds of the early blooming Callery pear. Bill
1 Like
When you save your scions they keep longer if you squeeze the paper towell out until not a drop of water comes out of it. Wrap your scions in the paper towell and put them in a gallon bag in the crisper. Higher moisture is not better.
5 Likes