A friend wants me to graft over his old apple tree, but I saw this all over it and thought it should probably be taken care of first. Any advice is much appreciated!
Are they wooley aphids or a fungus. Do they move?
No, I suspect it to be some type of mold or fungus.
The fuzzy stuff is apple woolly aphids. Check under the fuzz. There will be reddish aphids.
He doesn’t see any reddish aphids. He described it like cotton balls or spider webs.
That’s woolly apple aphid. I’m 100% sure. They like to be down in the cracks and crevices where they are somewhat protected. It’s not mold or fungus.
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K, I’ll take your word for it. Should I just spray it with veg oil, Neem, and soap like I do with the aphids I battle with?
I’ve quit using insecticides. They don’t do much because the real issue is the ones underground on the roots. Ya, I’m serious. Many of the new Cornell apple rootstocks are resistant. My trees have them on the roots but the trees keep going. It probably dwarfs the tree some.
I just blast them with high pressure water. That at least makes things look better. Out of sight, out of mind…!!
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What root issue are you talking about? Do you mean the aphid are attacking the roots? If so, nothing can be done about it except cosmetic treatments?
Yes the aphids attack the roots causing deformities. If you google or do a search here there is plenty of info available.
The systematic insecticides can probably affect those on the roots. But the tree pictured is pretty big so it will push strong growth on scions if grafted even with no treatment.
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I just rub them off and forget about it. They are never a big problem for me.
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