WINTER FRUIT CARE GET GROWING
What’s worse than finding a maggot in your apple? Answer – finding half a maggot! Dad jokes aside, it is so disappointing to wait all summer and watch your fruit ripen, only to find them inedible when you bite into them. Codling moth (and the related plum maggot moth, which affects plums and gages) can be a serious pest, but the good news is that there are some easy ways to combat them.
The female codling moth lays her eggs in late spring, and when hatched the larvae burrow into the fruitlets in May and June.
There is quite a short window of opportunity to spray any contact insecticide before the caterpillars are hidden away inside the fruit, so ideally we need some sort of warning sign. This is where a pheromone trap can comeinto your fruit. Catching males also has the benefit of the amorous intentions of the females going unrequited, so fewer fertile eggs will be laid.
