Moth Pests & Spray

I understand it is very difficult to get bats to come to a nest box. The ones you can buy in stores aren’t very good. Go online for information on how to build a proper one and where to place it. (I say this after buying a couple at a Big Box store!)

I’ve used the Bonide Fruit Tree and Plant Guard. Two years ago I used it as my second generation codling moth spray in mid-June which is also when the Japanese beetles started to emerge. It was effective for about two weeks in keeping the Japanese beetles at bay. But we had a dry spell in there, I believe, so it was effective for longer than usual for an insecticide here. Combined with earlier sprays of spinosad + BT, the Bonide product was probably 98% effective against codling moth for me.

The fungicide in the Bonide Fruit Tree and Plant Guard is a top notch product (Pristine fungicide), and the fungicide is the primary reason I used it. One spray in mid-June really minimized my issues with summer fruit diseases.

Presumably spinosad and BT together should be an alternative combo to triazicide/bonide for OFM.

I feel like I once did the calculations (possibly posted here in a thread about Triazicide being ineffective for folks) that the effective concentration of the Bonide product, mixed according to the label is much higher than Triazicide. The two products have the same basic chemical in them, but the gamma-cyhalothrin in Triazicide is the more active isomer of that chemical.

I’ve kicked around the idea of doing a colony box in my orchard but nobody has verified that they had luck with this method.

Thank you Levers. CAR is another major issue that i fight. Having the fungicide bundled into the product is a plus compared to spraying a separate chemical if it works just as well. Mostly I’ve been trying to select varieties that have a natural resilience against CAR but even they need to sprayed to minimize damage. (tons and tons of CAR pressure local to my orchard)

We don’t have that type of bat in the US. Thank goodness!

What? You are telling me that bats in the US don’t eat fruit? They don’t know what they have been missing :smile:

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You’re right! Fruit bats are a specific bat. Most of them live in Asia and Africa. Please don’t invite them over, or bring one home in your suitcase because you think its cute!

Anything that looks like a rat is not cute in my book. We have a saying that bats are rats with wings.

We call those squirrels! (Rats)!

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Imidocloprid is like acetamiprid, btw. The chart probably means there are labeling differences, and I’d guess that imidocloprid would work on OFM, too. I use those for PC and I have no OFM problem in my stone fruit after sprays for PC.

That’s a guess, tho. They are the same class.

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I also bought some bonide fruit tree and spray guard… Specifically for PC in OFM…and toss in CM…Nursery rep said it penetrates the leaves so provides top and bottom protection
Label specifically states is good for PC
Maybe rotate triazide with bonide??

Why bother?

I’m not sure if we have oriental fruit moth here in western Wisconsin. Have any of you in this area seen them? I bought a Flowtron zapper recently, so might try put it out. It uses batteries. Will it do much good without a lure?

How about a piece of paper towel or cloth soaked in apple vinegar hung by the zapper?

I am not sure, never tried without lure.