Inhertited 2 golden drop plum trees on our new plot. but the guy on the next plot has said they are nice plums but they do get red maggot???? What is red maggot and how do I stop it getting it ??
Please advise xx
Quote from: pumpkinlover on May 13, 2012, 06:52:51
?plum codling moth
That's my thought too..though why he calls them 'red'??
DawnF..plum moth is the most common one found inside the fruit..and to stop your trees 'getting it'..well..there is quite a number of preventative measures that
IF your trees should be effected, will reduce the occurence into minimum.
You can trap the flying male moths that are looking females for mating. Garden centres are selling plum moth traps that you hang off from your tree...they do work, but only a so much..very effective.
There is many cultural methods..pick all fallen fruit in autumn (particularly those that fall prematurely, very early)..as the next generation will 'travel' in those into ground where the maggot over winters and emerge in spring again as a adult to start the new life cycle again as a moth.
Diatomaceous Earth powder...brushed/sprinkled on the bottom of the tree trunk, it will kill any crawling adults (females) that try to get back into tree to mate. You need to start applications in spring and re-apply if/when rain washes it away. This powder is same what you can use poultry against mites.
There is one other 'trick'..I haven't tried it for my trees, as I rarely find any moths in my fruit..BUT..as Rhubarb leaves work against Gooseberry sawfly (whose life cycle is similar)..I've wonder if mulching the root area with rhubarb leaves would be effective against plum moth too ???
The female moths cannot travel far..so those would over winter quite close to the tree (female moths cannot fly..they crawl back to the tree).
If you do grow rhubarb...its worth of try..everytime you harvest your stalks...chuck the leaves under the plum trees and if your rhubarb yield allow..just as the plums start ripening and dropping down..harvest some rhubarb for the mulch..so all fallen fruit fall on the mulch.
I don't know if rhubarb would work as barrier or if the oxalic acid in leaves as insecticide..but it is worth of trying.. ;)
Rhubarb is in abundance .... I will give it a try too. Male moth traps are going up at the weekend
Thankyou
Dawn
Quote from: DawnF on May 15, 2012, 00:46:29
Rhubarb is in abundance .... I will give it a try too. Male moth traps are going up at the weekend
Plenty of rhubarb... ;D..good..just one thing though..all the this years females would have already 'hatched' and crawled back up to tree..unless this weather had made them late. So you'll be relying for the traps to get those horny males. But it doesn't hurt to start start stacking the leaves..at least they are then there and 'active' when the crubs start dropping down.
I had to leave all of my fruit trees behind when I moved plots so have no need to deter the plum moth this year.Have put some new trees in but they are only babbies yet. Next year will definitely try the rhubarb leaves cos they work a treat on gooseberries. I actually tried them amongs the autumn rspberries too and I'm sure they made a difference
Quote from: DawnF on May 12, 2012, 22:48:06
Inhertited 2 golden drop plum trees on our new plot. but the guy on the next plot has said they are nice plums but they do get red maggot???? What is red maggot and how do I stop it getting it ??
Please advise xx
This is usually a self limiting problem.. an established tree will produce hundreds of plums.. and only a fraction will have maggots. They tend to ripen faster... so you wait for the fruit, find maggots and stop going back for the sound fruit a week later... :-X