Make a codling moth trap
Simeon made this homemade concoction to attract the male codling moths before they mate with the females. We found an old milk plastic container. Made a hole just below the shoulder. The rain can’t get in to dilute the mixture but the moths can crawl up inside. We made up the mixture in just a few minutes. It’s a pheromone or chemical signal that triggers a natural response in another member of the same species. In this case it’s a gender pheromone and it attracts the males. With the males all out of the way the female moths will not be fertilized.
To make the liquid for the trap, mix,
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup dark molasses ( we used treacle)
- 1/8 teaspn ammonia
- 1 and a half litres water
Prepare a plastic milk or juice jug by cutting small holes just below the jug’s shoulder, facing away from the handle. Fill the jug, cap it, and hang it by the handle using cloth strips to protect the tree limb. The holes should hang down to prevent rain from collecting and diluting the mix.
Hang the jugs when the apple trees are almost done blooming, or if you’re using traps to monitor the orchard, hang them when trap catches indicate that the moths have started to fly.
Have you thought of putting one in each of your apple trees?
Hi Hank you probably remember meeting me at the lake with Mike and Nell and coming to see me at the Mexican house in Hamilton.
Late though it may be I thought I would hang the traps anyway and try to kill off a few moths as they finish the season by laying eggs for next years crop of moths. Worth a try.
what do you use for leaf curl in nectarine trees
To prevent peach leaf curl, treat peach and nectarine trees with copper every year after leaves have fallen. A single early treatment when the tree is dormant is effective, however, in areas of high rainfall like Waikato or during a particularly wet winter it may be advisable to apply a second spray late in the dormant season, preferably as flower buds begin to swell, but before green leaf tips are first visible.
The most commonly used, safest, and effective fungicides available to home owners are fixed copper products. Fixed copper products include tribasic or basic copper sulfate, cupric hydroxide, or copper oxychloride sulfate (C-O-C-S).
Hi, where did you get the ammonia. Is it a liquid? Cheers, Rosa
I tried using the vinegar/molassas concoction and found it not be to particularly effective.
How has it work for your and others?
Hi there- where do you get ammonia from? I am loosing the battle to the damn moths
We have had an abundance of apples this year with no codling moth problem. I guess it has worked really well.