I had read that years ago. I remember a nursery called Edible Landscaping recommended that, but I once bought a single peach tree from them that had a borer that had eaten a lot of bark. The tree ended up dying, but to their credit, they replaced the tree.
I haven’t seen any scientific studies to support the wood ashes hypothesis, but intuitively it sounds like it should work. Especially 5 gallons. That’s a lot. I would think the alkalinity of 5 gal of wood ashes would be a deterrent, but it would be nice to read some hard data on it.
This is the one I use. I’ve purchased three over the years. On a cool day it is solid. I cut a part out of the container and actually scoop it out with a long spoon or screwdriver.
I started using it at about 3 years and have not noticed any issues. The damage those borers can cause can be significant if it goes unchecked. I actually had some that burrowed up inside a peach tree and almost half the wood on one side was compromised after I cleaned it out. I had no idea. There was not any frass except at one small opening. I scraped it out to good wood and actually wrapped a neem compress on it. While it has insecticide properties it can also be healing.
The tree survived and I was amazed. One side has a huge chunk out of it running almost the entire length of the trunk. That was before I started slathering it around the bottom every spring. One year I skipped because it hurt too bad to get down to the ground. I paid for that in the end and had some borers at the base of every peach tree except my newest.
That’s crazy how much of the trunk wood you lost. I’m glad to hear your tree survived.
I realize the prescription discussed here is for painting the lower trunk, but I am curious how that is effective below grade. In my case, everything was going on below grade, except the frass that surfaced.
Neem Bliss is the one I ordered. I ordered the smallest size first, figuring it would ‘thaw’ easiest and I could replenish from a larger bottle later. I looked pretty closely through the OMRI listed cold pressed neem oils, and was impressed with talking to a knowledgable human when I called and they answered without some voice prompts for self-help.
The moths have to lay eggs above grade so if you have it down at that point you are good. You need to put on a lot so it drips down the trunk and pools by the base, this will make a barrier at ground level. This last winter I had two trees I found borers in, I think my timing may have been off a bit. My borers emerge in May, buy a borer monitor trap if you want to see when they emerge for you.
That makes good sense… I did read the eggs above soil at some point, somehow I wasn’t pulling it all together, but should have. I think I need to look up the cycle… I guess the tiny and regular sized one had over wintered. I saw your other comments on the monitor traps and freezing them, so I’ll get a few on order.