The egg laying is the start, and I believe that is always above ground. You could secure nylon screen around the base of the tree with rubber electrical tape and likely stop that, but a strong dose of properly timed Sevin would also do the trick. Just spraying the base of the trees with it may not be organic, but it certainly isn’t very environmentally disruptive or capable of entering the fruit.
The ashes idea is interesting, but doubtful to me. Old anecdotal solutions that really work don’t tend to stay in the previous century. Where there is ample rain it also would quickly drive up the pH well beyond the pile, I would assume. 5 gallons is quite a bit of ashes.
Just my opinion- maybe they do work. I’d like a member here with a real borer problem to try it and get back to us after a decade- one with at least a dozen peach and nectarine trees.
I thought the wood ashes I piled at the base of the peaches was detering them but the larva that enters the tree from the soil moved through that barrier apparently and have practically girdled six to eight inch tree trunks at the base…if they are caught early, (watch for a gell oozing at the base of the tree trunk)…there is some hope of limiting the damage by inserting a flexable wire into the tunnel until you are able to squish the invader.
My oldest peach trees were planted in 2018 so I’ve not had a lot of years worth of observation yet. I have raked away the previous ash layer and applied ~5gal of fresh wood ash per tree every year except for 1. I never got around to it that year (2 years ago I think), leaving the previous year’s ash there for a 2nd year. That fall I noticed frass and dug around and discovered quite the infestation of borers. Got those taken care of and applied fresh ashes and knock on wood, no tell-tales so far.
I was hopeful the alkalinity of the ash wouldn’t be a problem since:
Ashes may or may not help, I make zero claims… I just have an ample supply of it, soil pH seems agreeable, and it was recommended to me by someone who had grown peach trees for longer than I’ve been alive. They said it prevented borers and that seemed to mesh with my desire to prefer “natural” solutions over man-made “chemicals”. Stressing the word prefer in that, if it proves to not be effective I’ll go as nuclear as is necessary.
Worth noting that I spray my trees 5 or more times per growing season and somewhat follow Michael Philips “holistic” program. So Neem is being sprayed directly onto the trunk, but at far less concentration than I’ve seen you describe doing on your trees Scott.
I’ve been battling what I think are borers on my white lady peach since last year though have yet to extract a borer. Today I saw a big gummy mass near the soil line on my contender peach and I was able to use a paper clip to find a couple of borers and kill them.
How do I know if I got all of the borers ?
Is the consensus that pure neem paint is the best ? Does it smell awful like other neem products.
My trees have been in my backyard 2-3 years and were probably about 2 years old when planted. The white lady has always struggled by the contender seemed to get a lot of green growth this year.
I also lost a young apple tree to apple tree borer last year. Probably the most frustrating pests for me to deal with so far.
Don’t forget about the other borer that attacks stone fruit trees. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the Lesser Peach Tree Borer attacks all parts of the trees and has two generations a year. If you want to keep your trees healthy over a long life, you need to be treating more than just the trunk with effective chemicals. A regular cover spray program all summer long will take care of the lesser.
Of course organic growers will have problems, and years you are not spraying because of no fruit can really increase the potential damage from these pests.
Definitely prune out broken limbs from overloaded branches. Damaged bark are prime egg laying spots for the Lesser Peach Tree Borer.
Enter the beneficial nematodeSteinernema carpocapsae, a tiny roundworm that can protect peach and other stone fruit
I read that doing a drench during rain late fall about the base of the trees with a follow up i the spring can have a good impact. They also say applying the drench to noticed holes followed by oil to keep things moist can help.
I ordered some from grow organic for a nevvy in Manhattan who keeps getting cockroaches after they do spraying to reduce overall numbers via adjoining buildings. Nematodes do NOT do 100 %-but I saw it did violently reduce plage numbers on grubs in some biocontrol programs I did in the 80’s and 90’s.
Do you ever have to add sulfur around your peach trees to neutralize the ashes? Would this also apply to apricot trees? We have LOTS of ashes to get rid of each year, but I am afraid of overdoing in my orchard. I know not to use any on the blueberries and chestnuts.
I’ve added 10 gallons or more to my peach trees every year with absolutely no issues with soil ph. The trees are thriving. However, I also use commercial fertilizer which contains a good bit of sulphur. I’m sure it counters a good bit of the alkalinity from the ashes.
I would also be nervous to try ashes. I have ashes and I have borers. But I also already have high pH soil.
I’m going to try Scott’s thing which is 100% cold pressed neem oil painted on in May/June.
Any less than 10 gallons is ineffective. Give it a try, add 10 gallons of ashes to each tree now, then add several pounds of 13-13-13 to each tree. This is for mature trees, not for seedlings! The ashes should be well spread in a circle about 6 to 8 feet diameter with some of the ashes up against the trunk.
