Peanut size seems like a better option than what I have been doing with bagging as the petals drop. Do you see any insect damage while you bagging?
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Kelby, my experience here right around the corner from you is that the PC can strike very small fruit, like pea size or slightly bigger if the timing of the weather is right. So I am not sure bagging is possible soon enough. If PC is not deterred by spray apples and pears will be marked and deformed, making them more vulnerable to disease. But I experience very little immediate fruit loss or larva surviving (on pome). Spraying then becomes more critical. If bagging takes place after the damage I don’t know if it will be as effective against disease. I am going to try some bagging this year for the first time. I intend to spray once then bag on a sample quantity.
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Like Andy said, those buggers can attack fruitlets very early esp. if the temp is right for them to emerge from the ground. they had wiped out all my peaches in 1-2 days.
For apply, it’s better if apples can size up a bit a bit before you can bag. For me, a dime size. Before they are that size, you can either spray Triazicide at petal fall and 7 days later if pressure is high. If not, 10-14 days is suggested.
For me, I spray Surround at petal fall and a time or two more if needed. Then, I bag. Time consuming but I learn to enjoy bagging. It’s me in the middle of my orchard, a Zen moment 
I bagged a few hundred apples last year.
I love having perfect, pesticide free apples at the end of the season.
I don’t bag pears. Most of PC scars on my pears are superficial. Pears grow fast and have dense flesh I guess.
My #1 enemy this past year is stinkbugs. With stinkbugs, even my pears sustained some damage. I’ll spray Surround on pears this year a few times…
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Auburn,
No insect bite yet at peanut in size.
Tony
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Tony,
I think it really depends on when those pests emerge from the ground. Last year, I saw bite marks on my tiny apples.
I am worried about this year because it’s already relatively warm. This fact sheet from Cornell is a good summery.
http://nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/treefruit/pests/pc/pc.pdf.
Look at picture #4. They get to the fruit real fast.
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That was my problem last year, even spraying at petal fall I had loads of affected fruitlets.
I think suggestion of spraying at petal fall is to avoid killing bees and other pollinators working on fruit flowers. Techincally you can spray before that. That said, you may want to consider Surround if you choose to spray before petal fall.
Or not waiting until all petal fall. If you should to spray chemical and you have high pest pressure, you may choose to spray at 70-80% of petal fall instead.
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Yeah, those are pea size and got bitten in photo#4. So far I am lucky at peanut size and no bite.
Tony
Here are two photos that, I believe, show PC damage. In the four-apple photo there is unknown insect damage and ?? injury as well. Do the injuries surrounded by ‘scab’ mean feeding hole, or eggs deposited but no crescent? On the low-res photo my one lone Braeburn (new-ish tree, thinned) has marks that also look like feeding, I guess. (Edit: Looking further on the interwebs I see that the bites[?] on the Braeburn could be some other creature.) I am going to try bagging ASAP, and removing anything that looks like there may be eggs laid. I just have one orchard apple and about maximum 20 fruit on the old tree in the woods that I’m trying to save. I’d be happy to only have 10 of those apples if I could maybe break (or hamper) a cycle at the beginning of the orchard’s life. All info appreciated…this is leaf two for some trees and leaf one for the rest.
Seedy,
A guessing game from me.
In the first pic, the two upper apples looked like the damage done by tarnished plant bug. The lower right probably caused by a caterpillar eating the surface and left a scar. The lower on the left, I am not sure.
The second picture reminds me of a bitter pit issue
Hopefully those who know wil chime in.
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Basic Question: Is Plum Curculio damage to apples merely cosmetic, surface damage that does not extend into the apple?
It is pretty bad here if I don’t bag the fruits. The fruits will deform badly and premature drop.
Tony
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The problem is if the fruits either drop or stop developing after being stung, the curcs will grow and then become adults and game starts over. If the apples grow, they will be deformed but the curc eggs get squished.
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Does that include apples? I see lots of bites on apple fruitlets, but I’ve never seen early drop. Some years I see some deformities on apples, but I assume that is from something like stink bugs or tarnish bugs. Last year there was an unsprayed seedling apple tree that had over half the fruit bitten, yet no early drops and no deformities.
Here are some photos.
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Is that PC damage?
Yes.
The one on the right is apple maggot, and I think the one on the left is codling moth
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Wow, those are some ugly apples! Luckily I don’t see too much damage like that on my unsprayed trees. It is usually only one type of pest on certain years that target very specific varieties. It would be nice to know, in advance, what the pest of the year will be. What type of bag do you use on your apples?
Yeah, but a grub ID is the only way to know for sure.
I used the sandwich zip lock bags. I make a small angle cut on the two bottom corner and zipped the king apple aka the largest apple in the cluster and pruned the others off.
Tony
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