Pruning young fruit trees

[journey11]

Here's a good article I came across today on training a young fruit tree by pruning .

Just wish it had some pictures!

Have you gotten your pruning done yet?

I did 3 apple trees last week. My dwarf peach didn't need anything else. I still have one old apple tree out at the farm to prune for watersprouts and suckers. If we ever get a break in the weather (a space of dry days), I am ready to spray dormant oil. I haven't done this in years past, but I decided last year that I am tired of cutting out wormy spots on my apples.

 

[thistlebloom]

Good article. I have an old book by R. Sanford Martin on pruning that was first written in 1944, I have the 18th edition. It's old but accurate and it has diagrams and drawings that help me visualize how it's supposed to look.
I'm such a visual learner, I need those pix!
Good luck with your DO spray, let us know if you're able to talk the weather into cooperating, I could use the tips! (6 more inches of snow the last few days, after my cocky assertion to my DH that I really thought the snow was past...) :/

 

[Ridgerunner]

According to my Arkansas Extension Service phamplet, dormant oil is for scale, not insects. I managed to get a warm day last week that was not too windy, so mine have received their dormant oil. Plums and peaches were the ones I was most worried about with scale, but the others got sprayed too. I also pruned mine back in late January, so that is done.

I suspect the codling moth is the problem that is causing your apple worms. This article may prove interesting on codling moth control. Sounds like a challenge once they get established.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html

 

[vfem]

I need to hit the apples/pears one last time with neem oil... but the winds just won't quit!

Tomorrow looks good!

 

[thistlebloom]

According to my Arkansas Extension Service phamplet, dormant oil is for scale, not insects. I managed to get a warm day last week that was not too windy, so mine have received their dormant oil. Plums and peaches were the ones I was most worried about with scale, but the others got sprayed too. I also pruned mine back in late January, so that is done.

I suspect the codling moth is the problem that is causing your apple worms. This article may prove interesting on codling moth control. Sounds like a challenge once they get established.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html

That was a good article, I especially liked the idea of the homemade trap using a milk jug. Cheap and easy!
They talked about banding, I wonder if tanglefoot would work as well. And I think vfems bagging idea would be better than the lunchbags, because they will allow the fruit to color up and provide plenty of ventilation.

I hope I can remember all this by the time my trees are old enough to start producing!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My brother takes bright red plastic Christmas ornaments, covers them with tanglefoot, and hangs them in the trees. They wind up covered with the moths. The downside to that is that they also attract some beneficial insects, but if you have a heavy infestation, it may be a good way to reduce the numbers of the moths. Don't hang them up until the petals have dropped and honeybees have stopped visiting for sure.

I personally have never fooled with tanglefoot. The only concern I might have, and not having fooled with it I might be totally unrealistic, but would a band around the tree girdle the tree, killing the bark underneath, thus killing the tree? I doubt it but I just don't know. Hopefully someone familiar with tanglefoot can answer that.

 

[thistlebloom]

I've used Tanglefoot, but only on ornamentals. The method I use is to wrap cheap masking tape around the trunk so that I have about 3" of width, and apply the Tanglefoot to that. It's not strong enough to girdle the tree, and only lasts for the season anyway. On trees that have really rough bark that would allow an insect to crawl under
the tape , I use cotton to fill the crevices ( wrapping the tape over that).

 

[i_am2bz]

I've used Tanglefoot, but only on ornamentals.

Wow, do they still make that stuff?? That's a blast from my childhood in MI! Everyone would smear it around their oak trees to catch the green inch worms. Nothing worse than playing hide-and-seek & accidently sticking your hand into a band of Tanglefoot full of inch worms!!

Sorry...a bit off-topic.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think that is perfecty on target. If they do it on oak trees, that sure takes care of my concern.

 

[journey11]

I had to run outside to get the bottle...

I bought Bonide--All Seasons Spray Oil (for organic gardening). On the bottle it says it kills insects by smothering them. Kills the following: scale, fungus gnats, aphids, whiteflies, mites, thrips, mealybugs and leafminers. Kills all stages of insects including eggs.

I'm not sure what kind of bug it is... I couldn't tell by the picture if it was codling moth or not. I haven't noticed a brown head on the little worms. Sometimes I don't find the worm at all. Some fruits will look perfect on the outside, but when you cut it up, the core is yucky. Like they may have come in from the blossom end? Some have "dimples" and then the core is the same, a little brown and yucky. I usually just cut out the affected spot.

I've been working on these trees since we moved here, working to prune them into a decent shape. They were a tangled mess when I got them. They are planted too close together, but the one that I would cut down is what shades my chicken run, so I just pruned it harshly, not caring if I get fruit off of it. The other I have in good shape and it's the one that makes good eating apples. I believe it is a Red Delicious, from attempting to identify it here on TEG.

I've been raking up the leaves in the fall and fallen fruit in the summer and burning them, hoping that will help. I do get a lot of good apples, but I would say maybe 80% of them have the bad spots (but still edible).

I'd never heard of Tanglefoot. I'll have to look into that. I bet you could use some of that vet wrap or bandage wrap that only sticks to itself. They stretch and expand; for one season they probably wouldn't cause girdling.