Once again, let me state for the record that I don’t grow stone fruit. Oriental fruit moth (OFM) is not a direct concern for me in Wisconsin. Full disclosure: My interest is in positioning some computer-programming work I have done as a solution to oriental fruit moth infestation elsewhere.
That said, I find the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) site instructions garbled. Their directions seem to indicate one traps the second flight of OFM to establish the biofix. Then they go on to explain how to use traps to detect what seems to be the first flight and give growing-degree-day (gdd) offsets for the expected arrival of the second flight. Finally, they prescribe ovicides and larvicides at different gdd offsets from some sort of second biofix at the first appearance of the first male moth of the second flight. At least that’s the way I read the Web site.
There is a second page that gives the research citation, but I haven’t tried to locate the paper to see whether it is any more explicit about the technique.
Full disclosure for me: I’ve never used pheromone traps to monitor OFM. I have been in the commercial industry long enough and read enough that there seem to be different methods in establishing biofixes for different insect pests. That said, most of my reading on this specific topic is mostly “around the edges”.
It hasn’t yet been a big interest of mine simply because we have PC, OFM, stink bug, and the last few years SWD. This necessitates almost a scheduled spray program for me.
I am familiar with the concept of biofixes and degree days, but I think there are different ways of establishing biofixes.
Here’s a couple links which talk about how many trap catches are required to establish biofix.
At some point every peach on my peach tree was infested with OFM. Now it is only occasional damage. The change: Insect zapper running at night (7pm-5am) on timer and OFM pheromone plug connected to it.
Have you found the zapper to have any effect on PCs or codling moths? I bought a zapper, but with a knee injury, I never got around to taking it out of the box last season. I think it runs on batteries. Will have to look at box again to be sure.
Because it kills friend and foe and those not in either category- not that that would stop me if I believed a zapper worked as well as you describe it. However, we all fall in love with our own anecdotes, but that ain’t research and if it sounds too good to be true…
That said, I am interested to see if others that follow your advice have a similar huge drop in OFM pressure- but it is such a common pest and these zappers are such a common product I would have expected your trick to be a widely used method by home growers by now.
For me, OFM is a secondary pest and I control it in my nursery completely by spraying the growing tips of peach trees with a hand sprayer in my nursery (not even in my orchard) when flagging appears. It requires very little pesticide (maybe a gallon or two per 100 trees) and has worked for years- once in a while I will get a single worm in a nice piece of fruit, but only Indian Blood has ever had a crop destroyed by it. The OFM population is more or less controlled by only spraying my nursery which surrounds my orchard.
That’s my anecdote. I’m sure I kill some other insects in the process- friend and foe. But at least I’m only doing it when OFM is active.
Alan, I will try this. So basically spray the flagging tips in real time. With spinosad or BT? How many times do you do it per season? Or is it more continuous?
I use Assail or other synthetic, but your materials may work. Spray when and where you see flagging as soon as it appears, and hopefully it won’t require too many cycles during the season, but every region and site have different pressures- I’m in southern NY. I know pressure for this pest increases as you go further south- but it is quite bad enough here to make training young peach trees very difficult if not controlled.
My method requires about 3 of these tip sprays per season, but I’m also using two synthetic sprays a season in spring to control all my major fungal and insect problems (besides brown rot on stone fruit)- one at petal fall and one 10-14 days later. Here, the most destructive pressure occurs in Spring- except for BR.
There are orchards I manage that never have any OFM problems, where I never see any flagging. Usually trees not adjacent to wild land and swimming in a sea of managed turf.
It is not just zapper, it is zapper with lure plug. Also it is placed between my peach and the source of the moth - old unsprayed, uncared apple tree my neighbors never collect or dispose the apples from. But the difference is what allows me to pick peaches now.
You asked a question that I thought I should answer, but I certainly am not trying to tell you how you should control your pests. I live in a glass house on that issue.
You are obviously thoughtful in your approach and I commend that.