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ltilton_gw

July PCs again

ltilton
9 years ago

I thought I finally had this problem licked with successive cover sprays of acetamiprid on my Stanley plums. But a week or so ago, with JB pressure building on cherry and plums, I switched to permethrin out of concern for the nearby bees.

Now I'm seeing the drop starting, with fresh PC scars and lots of sap drops visible on the fruit in the tree.

Everyone says this can't be a 2nd generation, but I still can't see how it's anything else. [It's definitely PC, I sent in some larvae to the lab to have them IDd.]

Comments (16)

  • Scott F Smith
    9 years ago

    I'm getting far too much July PC as well. But, when I cut them open they are mature worms; in my case I believe these were late spring eggs that I let through my Surround barrier. My back orchard Euro plums got nailed.

    Cut open the fruits and look at worm size. It takes a long time for them to grow to full sized.

    Scott

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    I had a couple of sites with near total plum crop failure for the first time in context of a 2 spray schedule with a pyrethroid.

    It was such a strange, strung out flowering period from earliest plums to last apples that I really should have just settled on a 3 spray schedule- at least for plums,although results were fine at a majority of sites.

    At the site with the worse issues I needed an earlier spray, probably, but where I saw more moderate damage I believe I needed a later one. I had another company spraying some of the orchards I manage and he didn't go out as early as I did, used a pyrethroid, and generally got better results on plums.

    The damage was usually on E. plums but at one site I lost almost every plum on a lightly set Shiro, a few feet from it was a very heavily set Methely that I got tired of thinning so there was still too much fruit after damaged ones were removed.

    I did use a 3 spray at certain sites, including my own, and results were excellent.

    No big problems with other species.

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    These are pretty new. No visible worms, and the cuts, under the oozing sap, look very fresh and not scabbed-over.

    I can't compare the Asian plums, cause there aren't any this year.

  • mamuang_gw
    9 years ago

    "No big problems with other species.". Lucky you, H-man.

    As of today, I still see OFM shoot damages on my peach trees. I removed the damaged shoots every few days. I've sprayed regularly and I've not seen many damages on the fruit yet.

  • megamav
    9 years ago

    3 sprays Immunox/Triazicide up here in Saratoga county, with a Triazicide lawn treatment spring and early summer and I have little PC damage. Out of 2 trees with fruit, maybe 4 bites I thinned out. I only occasionally see a japanese bettle around.

    Sorry to hear of your problems. Its bird damage thats ticking me off.

  • appleseed70
    9 years ago

    I hate PC..and FWIW ltilton I have fresh PC damage on plums also, but very little.
    I wonder if a soil drench can control these guys? They do live a portion of their lives under the tree in the soil right? Has any of you ever been digging out an old tree or anything and found them? I'm curious how deep they go.
    Like mega...I too do the triazicide lawn treatment, not with the spray, but with granulized fertilizer with triazicide granules in it. I don't know that it does any good though.

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    I would never treat my soil with any insecticide unless I was certain my crop absolutely required it.

    Mamaung, I only control OFM to get best growth from my nursery and new variety orchard peaches and nectarines. I only spray the fresh growing shoots a couple of times when I begin to see damage. Unlike further south, they've never done much damage to fruit here. I am speaking about scores of sites from way upstate CT to the Greenwich shore.

    Where I used Avaunt instead of a pyrethroid near the Hudson River, 45 miles north of NYC, I did lose a couple of small peach crops to stinkbugs- I believe it may have been BMS although I found only a couple in the trees.

    For those that hate PC, wait till you get a load of brown marmorated stinkbugs. Instead of plums they focus on peaches.

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    One more reason not to grow peaches or nects here - we started getting the BM stinkbugs moving in last year.

    I might consider the late PCs a product of our unusually cool wet weather for the year, but this has happened every other year, too.

    The acetamiprid does work, but obviously I need to keep spraying thru harvest.

  • Scott F Smith
    9 years ago

    Did you open them up and look for the wiggler? I thought mine were new because I didn't see any mark until recently, but when I dig around for a worm its always a big one. Today I pulled off half a dozen plums with oozing worm marks on the top that had nothing last time I looked. Remember the adult females can lay eggs for a month or longer. If you were getting a 2nd generation the adults would be emerging in August. In the deep south they can emerge in July. If I had kept the Surround up for a couple more weeks I think I would have saved the crop.

    Two things you can do under the tree is flame it hard or put down nematodes when the larvae are pupating - about now for my climate. I am trying nematodes and I may try flaming next year. I know they are somewhat local as my front orchard only 100' away has hardly any PC and the back orchard is heavily infested.

    Scott

  • megamav
    9 years ago

    I know they are somewhat local as my front orchard only 100' away has hardly any PC and the back orchard is heavily infested.

    Scott, im willing to bet the back yard orchard gets significantly more sun.

  • mes111
    9 years ago

    Scottsmith,

    What do you mean when you say to flame under the tree?

    Mike

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Flame weeder. My son has one. He always did have pyromaniac tendencies.

    Scott - yes, I cut open a lot of the dropped fruits. No visible larvae, just small brown tracks.

  • dirtguy50 SW MO z6a
    9 years ago

    What are PC's?

  • appleseed70
    9 years ago

    dirtguy: Plum Curculio

  • Scott F Smith
    9 years ago

    Megamav its the opposite, front yard gets 9 hours and the back gets 6-7. Front has has bad PC in the past but I have been able to control it better.

    ltilton, if the worms are still small my guess is you have some first generation curcs born late and living a long time. Its a bird .. its a plane .. its Supercurc!!

    Scott

  • ltilton
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I've got my own subspecies. Joy