Chlorantraniliprole for OFM, Coddling Moth, Plum Curc.?

I’ve gotten excellent results against Plum Curculio and fair results against Coddling Moth and OFM using zeta-cypermethrin (newer formula Sevin). However, I’m looking to use something that has fewer negative impacts on bees and other beneficials, which I have a lot of in my orchard. Chlorantraniliprole, which is sold as Altacor, Coragen, Rynaxypyr, and probably others, is listed for control of all these pests and labeled for use on apples, plums, and a lot of other things. It’s identified as “practically non-toxic” by Cornell and “no bee precaution”, their best level, by the University of California. The UCal IPM website recommends this for control of moderate to high populations of coddling moth. Several other university websites also recommend it.

Does anyone have experience using any product with chlorantraniprole, or other thoughts on its use?

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Those pests you are concerned about attack the trees after blooms are gone, and when the risk to bees is almost non-existent. Chlorantraniliprole Is pretty expensive, not worth it in my opinion (probably useful in cases where pests had acquired resistance, or if you live too close to a body of water and can’t use pyrethroids legally).

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That’s absolutely right as far as my fruit trees themselves. However, I’ve chosen to manage my orchard so there are other things blooming from late winter until the next fall’s hard freeze. Right now there are multiple things blooming even though we are still experiencing light frosts, and I’ve already seen honeybees and some other bee species out on those plants (some might call them weeds) on warm afternoons. So, my decision to have a lot of native blooming plants in my orchard significantly raises the chances my sprays will have negative impacts on pollinators, which is a decision I should have thought through better when I made it. Of course, I wasn’t nearly as educated then as I am now about the different types of sprays available and their potential impacts.

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