You need to call your extension agent to find out, when borers are
active in your area. Scott’s are in May, while mine are in August. That’s
the height of borer mating activity. That’s when you spray for them. Spray all of the lower scaffolds and drench the soil. Clear away all mulch from around the bottom of the tree and expose the soil, so that all of the drench penetrates the soil and doesn’t just wet the mulch. Keep the base clear, so you can better monitor what’s going on with your trees. IMHO I don’t think neem oil is the right product to use. I
prefer a heavy contact insecticide like Malathion or Spectricide. That’s the only way you’re going to KILL the grubs and better yet, the mating adults.
I only spray once in August, and I’ve never seen a borer, since I started doing this.
I don’t think it’s been yet mentioned on this thread, but moth balls supposedly prevent borers from laying eggs on trees. I’ve not tried this myself, but many have claimed good results.
For some reason one to two timed sprays of a good insecticide(whether Scott’s neem program, or synthetic) seems to do a good job controlling PTB. I’ve used a synthetic insecticide whenever I see borer goo at the base of a peach tree, and had good results.
Hi Scott,
I tried to find pics of what the borers look like when they first come out of the eggs, but I haven’t found anything. The things I saw are very thin, but not to long (not longer than a full sized borer), I assume you are right that they are nematodes. I just assumed it was baby borers as they were in the same location as the damage.
If the raw neem last that long than that is good. I think my problem is that this is the first year I have found the borers and i did not know what to look for. It is late in the season and I assume that the damage happened earlier in the season and the borers are boring down for the winter. Some of the borers were not on the wood but external to the roots. I actually dug up one tree that I needed to transplant and the borer was on the bottom of the root. My guess If I had caught these earlier in the season they would have been on the upper part of the wood and would have been readily killed with a knife or clothes hanger.
The one Contender that I posted the pic of had damage from the prior season - after bloom it died back some, I was unsure what caused it. I assume it was the borers coming out of hibernation.
Sounds like I need to learn the borer cycle for my area and spray as needed. At least now I know what to look for and what to do.
Another lesson learned on my elusive journey to get a peach harvest 
Thanks,
Spud aka Richard
Unfortunately the extension agent in my county is pretty useless. There are fruit growing areas to the west of where I live I may be able to reach out to an agent in another county. I have both Malathion and permethrin, If the pemethrin does not work, I will try malathion. I assume the neem oil is a preventive. You are in SC so I assume I would need to spray later than you. Thanks RayRose!
Hi Olpea,
When do you spray? I think I saw you are using Lorsban in another thread, is there a per gallon measurement for Lorsban? The only insecticides I have now are Imidan, Malathion, Permethrin and maybe Carbrayl. As I mentioned to Scott I think I caught the damage late in the season, my guess is a contact spray would work better when they first bore. Some of the borers are pretty deep - in the 4 to 5 inch range - I assume it would be difficult for the insecticide to get that deep. We have had an extremely wet spring and late summer, maybe they has something to do with the depth of the borers.
Thanks! - Spud
Spud,
I don’t have a spray program for borers. We have them, I don’t do any preventative for them anymore.
I treat when I see the goo. When I notice a tree with the borer goo, I note the location and try to treat the tree within the next few days. I just use the labeled rate.
Even in the spring when the borers have had all winter to tunnel under the bark, a lorsban drench kills them. Even if the spray doesn’t come in direct contact, some of these compounds are so lethal to the borers even the smallest amount of the compound will kill them. That’s the whole premise of the kickback activity of imidan on plum curc larva. Even if a minuscule amount of Imidan leaks into the PC tunnel, it will kill the larva. From my experience, the same applies to Lorsban and PTB larva.
I’m not sure about the part that PTB tunnels 4-5" into the wood. I think PTB stays closer to the surface of the bark than that, but maybe you have some really hungry borers.
Thanks Olpea!
Richard
I’m just a little south of your location so our timing may be similar. For me, the preferred spray time for PTB is around Labor day when they are active outside of the tree
I use Lorsban as a trunk/soil drench at that time and stay out of the orchard for a week ( 4 day REI I believe). Sevin shows good activity against PTB according to one publication for for the South East and you may have some on hand.
Once they bore into the tree they are are a lot harder to kill with chemicals.
Thanks Blueberry, I should be almost the same timing as you, maybe a little later. I think you are close to Greensboro? I am debating if I should get Lorsban, it would likely be a 10 year supply. I haven’t checked the shelf life yet. Looks like they are getting ready to ban Lorsban, so I guess I need to make up my mind.
Spud
They have been talking about banning Lorsban for several years, but I’m not sure about the current status.
Lorsban works great on PTB, but I would definitely look for a better alternative. It’s restricted use and I would not want to spray it close to my house. Its the only chemical I use with a 4 day REI although Imidan has a 14 day REI for the general public on a pick your own farm. I believe Sevin or Malithion would both be better choices in a non commercial setting even if they will not be as effective against PTB as Lorsban.
I had a bag of lawn insect treatment that had dursban in it. I just finished using it a couple of years ago after sitting in my shed for years. I had no idea it had been banned. It definitely got rid of the ants around my house perimeter.
I would not use Lorsban in my yard. My father has 40 acres, and we will have close to 50 to 60 trees by the start of next year. I would only use it there.
For PC I am going to try and use Permethrin as my main spray next year, I found a university study showing that Permethrin had better efficacy after rain which was an issue for me this year with Imidan. I am not crazy about the toxicity of Imidan to mammals, but I will use it if necessary.
Thats really late compared to when I have seen them, its late May when I get catches in my traps. Maybe there are some different strains that come out at different times.
Spud,
Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but when you mention you wouldn’t use Lorsban in your yard, you do know that Dursban is the same thing as Lorsban? Just different trade names for Chlorpyrifos.
Dursban is still available until supplies are used up. Here is a site which advertises Dursban (although really expensive). I have no idea if the site is reputable.
Some Lorsban formulations are Restricted Use nationally and some aren’t. As far as I know, the liquid formulations are Restricted Use. The soluble packets are not RU. Of course various states can make a pesticide or formulation Restricted Use even if the EPA doesn’t. NY and CA frequently do this. I looked up Lorsban in South Carolina. As far as I can tell the state hasn’t added any restrictions to the compound beyond the EPA requirements.
Here is a link to a Lorsban formulation which is not Restricted Use. This is actually a good price, but as you mention, it would take you a very long time to use up 6+ lbs. of Lorsban. This formulation comes as a water dispersible granule packaged in several individual water soluble packets, which weigh over a pound a piece.
The site shows states are restricted (like CA) but I don’t see SC on the list of restricted states for this formulation.
Hi Olpea,
Yes, I realize Dursban and Lorsban are the same, my assumption is that the Lorsban spayed on fruit trees is a much higher percentage concentration than the Dursban I used on my lawn, but that is an assumption, I have no way of checking now, the Dursban bag is long gone. I did not know the risk when I used Dursban and that it was banned. The only reason I hesitate to use the Lorsban at my house is because I have 6 dogs. 3 are hunting dogs that I keep in a kennel so they are not at risk but the other 3 could get into the chemicals. After checking more I found that they used to use Dursban in flea collars, so maybe the risk is not bad for the dogs.
My kids are old enough not to get into the trees, on a 5 acre lot I do not have to worry about neighbors or there kids. So maybe I spoke in haste and should consider Lorsban. I wonder what the shelf life is for Lorsban? The bag of Dursban i had was likely 17 to 20 years old and it still worked. If the chemical will last 5 to 10 years in powder/granular form it would be worth the cost. I am in Virginia and Lorsban is not restricted in Virginia as far as I can tell. Thanks Olpea for sharing the info/links!
I should probably set some traps and see when they are flying in area too.
Not sure how the entomologist arrived at the labor day as the target spray date, but its often mentioned during peach grower meetings in NC. I will see if I can get more detailed info at next years meeting
Most peaches have been picked by then which may play a part in the target date given the toxicity of the suggested chemical.
It could be that the combination of peaches being gone and the chemical being strong enough makes it OK to spray some time after the egg laying and still get them all.
So I just bought two June Gold Peach Trees from Lowes a week or so ago. Got around to planting them today and I will be %$#@! if one of them didn’t have a peach tree borer in the base of the tree. Never occurred to me to check the tree. Lesson learned …
So I understand that peach trees borers overwinter on the roots of trees then come back out in the spring . When they come back out will you see frass like you see in the fall? What is the timing of the borers becoming active in the spring?
I am in zone 6 MA. I see borer damage as early as April. You should check bases of your your peach trees earlier than later if you have peach borres in your area.
Spud,
Most of the borer damage you see (sap) is actually the tree reacting to the borer damage, not the damage itself (I’m ignoring the frass in the sap.)
Peach trees leak sap to protect themselves from wounds and tissue killed by disease. Peach trees start pushing sap in the growing season, especially after some good rains. That’s when you should start seeing fresh sap at the base of borer infested trees.
If trees are infected in the summer and it’s dry, I generally don’t see much sap until some late summer rains start up.
For some reason, we had a lot of borers last season. I still haven’t treated all the trees yet.