For those who have tried codling moth traps, anything work particularly well? The kind where they drown in a molasses mixture, not the pheromone trap. This is the first year I’ve saved up plastic jugs ands and am wondering what size hole to cut or what molasses recipe works well.
This is my plan…YMMV.
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“Vinegar Traps” don’t work for me. They will catch a few moths (and probably attract a bunch more), but not enough to trap out all the fertilized females laying eggs. That would require lots of traps. Doing it right would require you to replenish the vinegar periodically throughout the season, too.
BTW, does anyone see this recipe on an authoritative site?
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I’m managing my daughter’s apple trees for the first time this year. I plan to buy one commercial trap and use it as an indicator as to when to spray. And also to judge effectiveness of spray.
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The best remedy I know of is the bug zapper. Once they are roasted by the zapper they can’t do much more! I plug mine in on-a timer set 1 hour before until after dawn and dusk. Also clear out most mosquitoes as an extra benefit. I start my zapper when fruits are about the size of a quarter about same time I apply first coat of Surround wp. Zapper controls moths and surround controls apple fly maggots
Dennis
Kent wa
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After watching the vid above from the miracle farms dude… i went to walmart and found some cheap containers… and some molasses.
My 5 trees that are producing fruit this year … each one has 2 traps in place now.
Hope that helps.
Stefan said to make the holes 1/4 inch.
That looked small to me… i made mine 5/16.
After drilling 4 holes in each trap… i used a chainsaw file to smooth it out a bit and ruf up the area around the hole so the CMs can get a grip to climb in.
Cut my molasses with about half water.
Those containers were 1 buck each.
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I remember hearing an apple orchard care presentation, and he put forth this idea of having a sacrificial tree, to which all of this particular pest would be drawn, and then having his chickens out underneath it to eat the larvae. I don’t know, but would that apply here? I think you use Kaolin clay on all the other trees except that one.
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Wow, Dennis! That’s a great idea!
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I’ll be curious to see if these are a success. Great idea, Trev. I wonder who else you’ll catch in those?
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If vinegar is a solution to moths in the home, could it also be a solution to moths in the orchard?
I know that the Japanese hang wood vinegar in their trees, and it repels birds.
Maybe wood vinegar would be a good solution to birds in an orchard, as well.
23:20 of this presentation
I would be grateful for first-hand experience with the end-result of the attractant traps for the coddling moth – did your apples stay worm-free?
I read somewhere that pheromone traps for Japanese beetles, while indeed catching lots of them, also attract them from the entire neighborhood so in the end you don’t reduce the damage. Anecdotally, a neighbor complained these beetles stripped her roses bare despite having the traps out. So, I am worried the same might be true of coddling moth.
(I can see how zappers may be effective but am concerned about the by-kill. Last year, we tried yellow sticky traps for cucumber bugs and had all sorts of bees and butterflies stuck on it.)
As I understand it, codling moth traps are for assaying the presence of mating adults, not for trapping them out. Pheromone traps do not attract bred females.
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I see, thanks.
Nice. We saved up 1/2 gallon milk jugs this winter. I hung about three dozen traps around my acre yard two days ago. About a third of those were on non-target trees like paw paws and medlar. Maybe a little zone defense will work? That said, I hope it works. Making a few dozen traps took me substantially less time than bagging and spraying surround did last year.