The dish soap and water is for red, green and black aphids, not wooly aphids. Wooly aphids suck themselves tightly to the trees.
Blow torching them is good. I only have a grill lighter kind. I torched them anyway. I also where gloves to squish them. They colonize under ground so it is hard to get rid of them.
Itās been a while since I did anything with them, so I think you are right. The soap would probably never reach them anyway inside of their woolly protection. I have one apple close to an elm that they loveā¦ but itās a full size tree so it doesnāt matter too much. When it was younger, I squished them and/or used a hose to wash them offā¦ not that it kills them. They mostly stayed on suckers around the base of the tree so I tried to keep those cleaned off so predators could do the rest. I never had them up in the tree, but there were huge populations close to the ground.
I get some kind of woolly flying insect on mulberry and fig. Tricky quick little buggers. They can damage tender growth fairly fast.
So far, it is only on one apple tree (Thank goodness). I may remove the tree since it has recurred.
@MikeC Do you have this problem with your apple trees?
I only had this happen to one of my apple trees three years ago. I used a insecticide and got rid of them. I believe I used neem oil.
This bug thing is getting serious. Wow, I have never seen those before.
It looked very odd at first. It was hard to believe they were aphids. The bad part is they are underground and some rootstocks are more susceptible. I have 5 apple trees on B9. This one has been infested twice already. This is the 3rd time. Thatās why I am comtemplating removing this tree.
I believe @BobVance has a few apple trees on B9. I wonder if Bob has experienced apple wooly aphids.
@SMC_zone6 do you have any trees on B9 or other rootstocks suceptible to this pest?
I had tiny white wooley aphids on my lemon tree in RI, but they were very tiny, they didnāt have fur!
I, personally, would just keep spraying the tree(s) with neem oil this year and also do it at a regular pace next year. Just to see if this changes with these apples on the B9 rootstocks. I would also stray the ground around the trunk of the tree very well also, sort of drench the entire area around the trunk. Even after the leaves have fallen off in the fall going into winter and early on in the spring time. Can that be overkill, perhaps. That is okay if you end up taking the tree(s) out. What is there to lose, except the cost of some neem oil? If it continues into year 2024 then I consider getting rid of the tree(s) having this issue. That is what I would do if it were my trees. It is very frustrating to have this bug issue happen over and over again. I do not have any B9 rootstocks to give you a comparison with.
I take a tree out as a sort of last resort, i.e., not producing enough fruit for a 3+ years, FB that cannot be controlled, no growth, etcā¦ I have taken fruit threes out for each of those reasons over the last 8- 9 years I have had my orchard.
Yes neem/soap/water
Bill
I have not seen soap and water recommended anywhere for wooly aphids? Have that method worked for you?
I used a tiny blow torch of a grill lighter. The tree is dwarf so it was not difficult to reach all branches.
I think the combination only slows them down. I like the blow torch method your using. For small infestations I have use a q-tip with alcohol but I only touched a small area. Everything I have done is short term effective.
Mike
I have tiny yard so I always run out of space. This is a Golden Russet on B9. The tree grows unevenly, more branches on one side but not the other. It produces a small amount of apples every year. Fruit are large. It tastes fine but not my favorite.
If I pull it, I donāt feel too bad about it. I have a persimmon tree lining up for that spot.
I like your Q tip and alcohol idea!!! Sometimes , they congregate in areas that are in a narrow angle and difficult to get to. Q tip would be perfect.
I also get satisfaction from squished them with my gloved hand.
My battle with wooly aphids is also a temporary fix 
Weāve got our fair share of 'em around hereā¦ Iāve not tracked which cultivars Iāve gotten them off of, definitely a lot of different ones. I rarely have a torch or lighter when I discover them, so fingers is it. Far too often they see my hand coming and jump though. Iāll stomp the ground where I see 'em land if soā¦
Stained fingers today (I seem to rarely have gloves with me either).
I agree, put in something you like. if you have a small space no sense wasting the space on a tree you are not happy with. If a tree is not doing its job time to fire it and replace it with a tree that will earn its keep.
The danger is when infestations attack the roots, from my reading. They can kill trees, apparently, but Iāve seen lots of them over the years, but never known them to kill a tree.
Iāve had it on a few different trees but canāt remember what rootstock. I tend to see it on a lot of the seedling apples I grow out. Although, it only seems to be an issue for the first year or two, then they grow out of it. Itās definitely weird looking. I thought it was a tangle of milkweed seed the first time I saw it.
I do not play around if I see any wooly apple aphids. I use Diazinon (with a respirator) - once the apples are on the trees. Yes it is restricted, but it works and kills JBs also, etc. Another point - if you have more than a few trees you ought to get a private applicator license and get the Spray Bulletin from your local land grant university. Also, when I buy rootstock, I get the stuff (like G-890) that is almost field immune to WAA. FYI-if you live in Maryland, VA, or WV, there is one put out by VA Tech. As we get warmer climates they may publish with PA and eventually, horror of horrors, NY, NJ, Ohio, IN, etc. I note that for those who follow the scientists, VA hired a disease guy who worked at Cornell at the Alison Smith Center - not a bug guy - they are hiring a new bug guy with the retirement of Dr. Bergh, but it shows things are compressing.
