Worm apples: causes and troubleshooting methods

Regardless of the gardener's experience, parasites and infectious diseases can occur on the fruit tree, so it is necessary to take preventive actions in time and actively fight if the tree is already affected. It is worth considering how to deal with wormy apples, how to prevent them from occurring.

Quite often, the situation when an apple tree brings a bountiful harvest visually looks great, but when cutting nine out of ten apples are wormy.As a rule, these fruits also have a wormhole, which indicates the presence of the most dangerous parasite on the apple tree. They call it the codling moth, which loves to leave such an unpleasant trace after its visit. This parasite is a butterfly, the body of which does not exceed twenty millimeters. In fact, they are quite harmless and are dangerous only for the crop. The main threat comes precisely from the caterpillar, generated by the apple codling moth.

These insects appear at the beginning of summer and disappear in a month. But in this relatively short period of time, they have time to lay greenish-colored larvae on the leaves of the apple tree. The larvae have an amazing ability to firmly and firmly fixed to the fruit. Over the summer, one apple codling moth can damage about five fruits. An interesting feature of this insect is that when the affected apple falls from the branch, the moth successfully reaches the apple tree in order to damage the next fruit. The larva sneaks into the inner flesh of the fetus due to petiole or any mechanical damage on the outer surface of the apple.

Fortunately, there are quite a few methods to combat the codling moth that allows you to choose the most suitable one. One part of the methods presented below is prophylactic, and the other is aimed at destroying the larvae of the codling moth already hatched. A specialized chemical agent has a rather aggressive effect, allowing you to effectively destroy all harmful insects that pose a threat to an apple tree. The most popular remedy that has proven itself well is organophosphate. The desired effect can be achieved using this tool in the period of hatching of the larvae from the egg.

It is highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the following rules for working with chemicals:

• the use of organophosphate is prohibited if the apple tree began to blossom or bear fruit;
• if necessary, to produce more than two treatments, it is desirable to use different preparations for each procedure, due to the fact that insects can develop immunity to chemical agents;
• due to the fact that chemical agents, as a rule, have toxic substances in their composition, it is necessary to cover open skin with something; At the time of treatment should throw on a light jacket, wear gloves, the presence of a respirator is welcome.

An alternative to chemical processing agents are biological products. They often act as an organic treatment, without causing serious damage to the health of the tree, but allowing to effectively destroy the parasites. The most well-known biological products are Fitoverm, Bitoxibacillin and Lepidocid.

The first tool has become quite popular among gardeners and gardeners, because it can be used to treat apples when they want or force circumstances. He is not able to harm human health and the tree itself. The second tool is permissible to use exclusively during the growing season. Well, the last biological tool for many years successfully proves its effectiveness on the mass infection with parasites of trees.

Quite often, caterpillars of apple podozhorok climb inside the bark of the apple tree to spend the winter there.In this connection, in the first spring months it is recommended to clean the trunk from last year's bark. As well as an excellent method of preventing the infection of a tree by the codling moth is spring digging of the ground at the foot of the apple tree. As a prophylaxis, experienced gardeners recommend installing special traps on the trunk of an apple tree. They will not allow the larvae of the codling moth to sneak into the bark of the tree for the purpose of wintering. To create a trap, you need an old bag, the width of which will be approximately 20-30 centimeters. It should be fixed on the tree using jute twine or ordinary rope, it is desirable to place the bag at a height of 40-50 centimeters above the ground.

At the end of the autumn period or the beginning of the May holidays, the trunk of an apple tree must be processed by whitewashing. This will not allow the apple moth to reach the leaves and fruits of the apple tree. If a damaged fruit is seen on a tree, it is worth removing it immediately, which will prevent the parasite from spreading to other branches. Fallen apples are also recommended to be immediately collected and burned. A characteristic feature of butterflies is a dislike for moisture. They avoid water, trying not to wet their feet. Considering this, it is useful in the evening to slightly sprinkle the leaves of an apple tree with ordinary water from a hose.

As mentioned earlier, any apple tree can be at risk, so preventive measures should be taken on all trees in the garden. It should start with the fact that every day fallen off the branch fruits. They are an excellent breeding ground for the larvae of the apple moths. In addition, the carrion is often attractive to other insects that can harm the health of the tree. Periodically, it is worth shaking the apple tree to make sure that all the damaged fruits have fallen. An infected apple can remain hanging on a tree for a long time, allowing the larvae to feed on them and at the same time move freely along the trunk of a branch in search of a new fruit.

Some gardeners spend a lot of time smashing large flower beds at the foot of the apple trees. It is incredibly beautiful and enhances the attractiveness of the garden, but flower beds, planted under apple trees, have not only a decorative effect, but also a preventive one. An experienced summer resident knows that garden flowers attract many insects that pollinate them. Many insect pollinating flowers are the worst enemies of the codling moth and its larvae. If the apple tree is located at a close distance from the tomatoes - this is great, since their aroma strongly repels parasites.

An interesting method of getting rid of the larvae is sticky tape designed for flies. As soon as the first fallen apple is noticed, a glue trap should be placed. Despite its budget, it is satisfied effective. To do this, stick out the adhesive tape around the trunk of the apple tree and stick it a few directly on the apple tree. After a few days you can see small caterpillars on the adhesive surface of the tape. Returning to the tree from a fallen apple, they will inevitably fall into this simple but effective trap.

In the presence of free time, you can arrange a kind of hunt, the purpose of which will be butterflies (apple moths). For a successful hunt, you will need to prepare a special syrup, the aroma of which will attract the attention of butterflies, prompting them to fly on its trail. So, first you need to stock up on: one hundred grams of dried apples, granulated sugar, yeast and two liters of water.Dried apples must be boiled for thirty minutes in two liters of water. Fifteen minutes after boiling, add yeast and granulated sugar.

During fermentation, the apples begin to produce an attractive aroma for the apple moth, and she is no longer able to resist. The resulting solution is poured into different dishes and placed in different parts of the garden plot. The butterfly will fly to the aroma of "apple syrup" and sit on the foaming surface. Caught in a trap (apple podozhorka, wetted paws, no longer able to fly away), the insect dies after some time. Once the liquid is filled with parasites, it should be poured into a burning fire.

Subsequently, all sheets of paper together with the larvae and pupae are burned in a fire. It is advisable to clean the box used to store apples by hand using a hard metal sponge and scald the entire surface with boiling water.

For information on how to remove the apple tree cod from the apples, see the next video.