How to deal with caterpillars on an apple tree and how to treat trees, a review of funds and preparations
A summer resident laying an apple orchard is counting on a good quality harvest. And the apple trees live up to expectations, delighting their owners with delicious apples every year. Harmful insects and their larvae love to feast on the foliage and fruits of these fruit trees. A gardener who finds caterpillars on an apple tree must know how to deal with them.
Types of caterpillars
They are voracious and adaptable. Let's consider their types in more detail.
Black
There are several species of such caterpillars attacking apple trees at once: the gypsy moth is the most easily recognizable. Large, furry, almost 7 centimeters.
Gray
A typical representative is a ringed silkworm with blue stripes. During the day he sleeps inside the web, at night he is active.
Green
Winter moth, reaching 3 centimeters in length. She only has 5 pairs of legs, therefore, moving, she arches in an arc. The leaf roll is a small 2 cm caterpillar. You can identify it by the cobweb.
White
On the apple tree, you can find parasitic species of white and pale pink, as it were, translucent caterpillars. These are not only the usual glass moth and moth, but also those that will spread to the apple tree not so long ago, such as arboreal, eastern tree moth, fruit-striped moth.
Moth caterpillar
It is widespread and very dangerous. She can spend the whole winter under the bark. After the apple tree blossoms, she lays her eggs on the ovary and leaves. And then it is very important to know how to process them, otherwise you can forget about the harvest.
Apple Glass Caterpillar
White-yellow in color, no more than 2.5 centimeters in length, only damages apple trees.
Yellow
Hawthorn is not the smallest caterpillar. You will recognize them by the black longitudinal stripes. Up to 4.5 centimeters long. They leave noticeable traces - veins remain on the nibbled leaves. Apple moth - its small caterpillars 1.3-1.6 centimeters are painted in a dirty yellow color. Black dots along the body, in parallel pairs. Only apple trees are affected.
Signs of tree infection
Traces of the presence of harmful insects can be found on the leaves, trunks, buds, fruits of the apple tree:
- web;
- small and large caterpillars;
- entry points, surrounded by caterpillar excrement and the remains of the fruit of life.
We fight the apple moth
Quite effective in the fight against this parasite:
- timely scrupulous collection of fallen fruits - they are destroyed;
- systematic cleaning of the bark, applying trapping belts to the tree trunk is the best tool;
- the use of insecticidal active agents for spraying when the apple trees have faded: 0.2% Chlorophos solution or 0.3% Karbofos.
Getting rid of the winter moth
The maximum effect is obtained from the use of adhesive belts. Good results can be obtained by treating trees with a decoction of yarrow or tincture of tobacco. It is also advisable to dig the soil around the tree trunk. If the temperature drops below -35 ℃ in winter, the gardener does not need to do anything - the eggs will die on their own.
Methods for getting rid of leaf rollers
Methods for destroying leaf rollers that bring maximum results:
- Pick by hand and burn the affected leaves together with the nests.
- Use chemical preparations if the lesion is too strong (Nitrafen solution 3% before the apple tree starts flowering; repeat the treatment after 10-14 days).
Fighting the apple moth
The beginning of May is the very time when caterpillars are most sensitive to chemicals. True, they get used to chemistry very quickly. To prevent this from happening, the drugs should be alternated, strictly observing the dosage. Butterflies are destroyed by a single spray. But for caterpillars and larvae it will take 5-6 times.
Versatile Track Control Techniques
The combination of local preventive and exterminatory measures is guaranteed to be able to destroy parasites and keep the long-awaited harvest whole.
You can collect caterpillars by hand or involve their natural enemies in the case: birds, spiders, ticks.
Chemicals
Chemicals are most effective in controlling voracious larvae. And the selection of them on sale is quite large.
Intavir
It has a negative effect on the entire nervous system of parasitic leaf rollers, moths. Tablets or powder dissolve in water: 10 liters per tree, only 2-3 treatments.
Tanrek
After spraying, it poison the caterpillars for 3 weeks, but during the period of bright flowering and active fruiting of the apple tree, it cannot be used. A full bucket of water will require 3 milliliters of the substance.
Fufanon
Poisons insects quickly. Valid for 10 days. It is used only during the growing season, no later than 3 weeks before harvest. Two treatments are enough.
Karbofos
With direct contact with an insect, the pest dies almost instantly. Valid for 10 days.
Biologicals
Fitoverm is an example. Helps get rid of caterpillars after flowering. Serves as a good substitute for chemistry during fruit ripening. One ampoule is diluted in 2.5 liters of water.
Folk recipes
Caterpillars, just as now, devoured leaves a hundred years ago. Passed down from generation to generation, recipes have come down to us for means to fight them. The ingredients are only natural. And the use of improvised substances eliminates unnecessary costs.
Take water, for example. A strong jet can wash away silkworms and moths. It remains only to collect them and burn them. Herbal decoctions and infusions can be an excellent aid in the fight against apple pests.
Celandine
Infusion - a glass of celandine is soaked in a bucket of water for a couple of days, filtered, and then soap is added to it (2 tablespoons). Broth - 200 grams of dry celandine leaves in 1 liter of well water are boiled for 15 minutes, preferably in a water bath. Then the solution is filtered and mixed with a bucket of water.
Celandine belt - in the spring, fresh green leaves of the plant are tied around the apple tree trunk. In the fall, the bandage is changed.
Tomato tops
Broth: 1 kilogram of tops is infused for 4-5 hours in a bucket of clean water. Then more water is added to it in a ratio of 1: 2.8.
Birch tar with soap
Dissolve 10 grams of tar and laundry soap in a bucket of water (1/2 piece).
Soda
It can be used in two ways:
- 3 tablespoons (with a slide) spoons per bucket of water - for a full spray.
- Mixed with ordinary flour or ash - for dusting.
Sagebrush
For infusion, blooming wormwood is taken. The floor of the bucket of the plant is filled with 10 liters of water. After a day, boil for half an hour, and then dilute with an equal part of water.
Preventive actions
Thanks to mandatory preventive and therapeutic measures, it is possible to limit the development of parasites. They carry out actions in young and fruiting plantations. If the apple trees in the garden are not resistant to pathogens, prevention is indispensable.
Terms of preventive treatments
Prevention measures are organized in the spring. The gardener needs to thoroughly spray and inspect the bark, get rid of nests covered with cobwebs and damaged leaves. You will need to bleach the trunks and process the tree and soil around it with a biological product. And it is recommended to involve natural helpers. Bird feeders will do a great job of this. This way you can provide protection for apple trees and future harvests.
Before the start of sap flow
The buds have not yet woken up at the apple trees, but the time has come for spring work: examining trees after winter days, destroying all traces of caterpillars.
From the beginning to the end of flowering
From the moment the buds hatch, and until the very appearance of flowers, it is time to spray the apple trees with copper sulfate and insecticides. Otherwise, the caterpillars will damage the flowers and ovaries. When flowering begins, spraying is already stopped. Only manual collection and burning of caterpillars is available. You can spray trees with Bordeaux mixture if no spraying has been done before.
After flowering
As soon as flowering is over, the next processing of apple trees from the moth is performed. Both folk remedies and insecticides are used. From this moment, at least a month should remain until the apples ripen.
When apples ripen
Chemicals are no longer used. Manual collection is used to destroy the tracks.
After fruiting
It's time to prepare apple trees for winter: collect and burn fallen leaves, dig up the ground, and then treat with insecticides. It will require sanitary pruning of apple trees, and, if necessary, treatment of wounds. The trunks of trees are whitened for the winter.
Caterpillars, even the smallest ones, can cause great harm to trees. If you leave everything as it is, the apple tree will wither, the yield will eventually disappear. If you know about ways to deal with apple pests, you can prevent their appearance. And then the apple orchard will delight its owners with fabulous harvests every year.
