Fruit tree pest control

ixwood

Washing up liquid washes bugs off and a think maybe kills soft bodied insects like aphids.

The cheapest way is to put a ring of vasaline or other grease around the tree trunk and make sure there's nothing touching the tree further up. That'll stop ants and moths walking up the trunk.

Uther

ixwood wrote: »

Washing up liquid washes bugs off and a think maybe kills soft bodied insects like aphids.

The cheapest way is to put a ring of vasaline or other grease around the tree trunk and make sure there's nothing touching the tree further up. That'll stop ants and moths walking up the trunk.

Thanks, I'll try the grease.

I did some research, and it appears the washing up liquid interferes with the aphis respiration, so it is worth a try

Another cheap solution I found is boil rhubarb leaves, and filter.
link.
http://www.ecologicagardens.com/#/rhubarbpesticide/4532666369

Blackjack_Davy

Uther wrote: »

Can anyone give advice on cost effective pest control for fruit trees.
I have apple, cherry and plum.

The recommendations I have found suggest
greasebands about £6
pheromone traps (as indicators) about £8 per tree.
Bug spray about £7.
I think it would be cheaper to cut down the trees and buy the fruit. -)

Any cost concious gardeners know a cheaper solution.
Thanks

You have several problems here, and several solutions.

Controlling greenfly and other aphids are easy and they don't do much more than disfigure the tree and look unsightly. Maggots inside apples (and plums) are more difficult to control as you have to kill them before they get inside the fruits themselves, once that happens the damage has already been done and they're very difficult to reach too.

Pheromone traps are great for maggoty apples as they attract the codling moth and prevent them from breeding. Alternatively you'll need a spraying programme (not so healthly from a pesticide point of view)

Grease bands are waste of time to be honest unless you know for sure that your trees have been attacked by the Winter Moth (it defoliates the tree), they have no effect on Codling Moth (maggoty apples) or aphids.

Forest_Child

ixwood wrote: »

Apparently a sunflower as a decoy words. The ants are supposed to move their farms to the sunflower instead. Anyone tried it? Anyone got a sunflower covered in ants and aphids?

Yes it does. In eastern Europe (Slovenia) they grow sunflowers for this very reason (Mostly around the edges of fields) and get a tasty crop of sunflower seeds to boot. There are fruit and walnut trees everywhere so I guess it must work.