This is the opposite of the “No Spray” list.
I noticed one post in that list saying that Redfield attracts plum curculio. It occurred to me that we might plant some varieties as magnets for various pests, then spray only or mostly those trees. Anyone have suggestions for the best bug bait?
It doesn’t have to be apples, of course. Maybe the best bait for plum curculio is plums. Maybe codling moth can’t resist some rose or quince. Even better.
Good idea, but practically may not work due to the plethora of wild hosts around you, not to mention neighbors with ignored fruit trees (I have a lot of these neighbors!).
I have 5 different apple trees and the Gala attracted like 10 times more aphids than the others
Maybe hang molsses traps instead of going thru all that trouble.
Hang plastic traps (empty 2-liter soda bottles) filled halfway with molasses, vinegar, and water, from tree limbs at petal fall.
You can make your own codling moth traps with empty half-gallon milk jugs or 2-liter soda bottles, apple cider vinegar and molasses.
Video
LOL! Yeah, I worried about that.
Many years ago, I hung pheromone traps for Japanese beetles in my yard. I killed thousands. I was emptying quart bags filled with bugs. Sadly, probably 99% came from other yards.
Thanks! I think j I did this by accident last year. I was trying to catch yellow jackets but I ended up with hundreds of moths. At the time I used apple juice with erythritol but then I added vinegar.
I was winging it. I can definitely can use a proven “secret recipe.”
The bait tree works in some cases. Like mulberries and birds. A bait tree for PC and others is a bad idea. You are just giving them a place to breed and spread. I would stick with the traps if you do not want to spray. Also, I found getting rid of the worst helped me when dealing with peach rot and bugs. Bugs really do favor some varieties more than others.
I wrote down that Mount Royal European and Alderman plum tree are PC magnets, but that was probably collected information from this discussion list. I think I have a few other magnets written down elsewhere if I can find them.
Can’t say that I have any apple trees planted as bug magnets although my Stayman tree seems to be the hardest hit. However, I do have a couple planted as “deer magnets” that are about 3/4 mile from my home orchard. Doesn’t seem to be working though. I like to call them “hooved rats”. 
I tried molasses traps in plastic containers just to see what would be drawn to it. Sadly what I found was that the squirrels were big fans and chewed the bottles up rendering them useless. So if that is an avenue of consideration I would suggest glass or metal containers.
Thanks. I’ve got such a huge deer population that all my trees are fenced. If not, there’d be no trees!
This kind of happened to me this year with Plum Curculio, though unintentionally. I have been using the worthless (worthless for PC anyways) Triazicide this spring, and out of a hundred varieties I have, certain ones are clear super magnets for PC; these are Flavor King pluot, Arctic Rose Nectarine, and other low acid white nectarines like Arctic Jay, Arctic Star and Zephyr. Sadly, these are my favorite varieties across the board. Yellow nectarines (acidic or low acid) and acidic white nectarines have less than a tenth of the injury rate the white low acid ones have.
Disclaimer: I bagged my cots and Euro plums early on, so can’t really judge how attractive they are.
Super magnets are real. I’ve been weeding them out for years. You have to wait for it to fruit only to find out it’s a magnet. Even with the best sprays PC still get their share. If you have to fight that hard to get fruit, that variety is not worth keeping no matter how good it taste. I’ve been narrowing my selections down to only the easiest ones.
As to codling moth, I found Liberty & Bardsey, both on EMLA26, irresistible to them. When Winekist stood by Bardsey, Winekist had nary a codling moth worm. Was it the root stock or did those happen to coincide on that stock? Dunno.
Unfortunately these are my best varieties. My plan is to switch to a better insecticide and bag these varieties early. Will see how that works in future years.