Fight Orchard Pests with Flower Power!

A parasitoid wasp. Most of these wasps are under a quarter-
of-an-inch and none are able to sting humans.

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago and he told me that he never sprays his apple trees, but he regularly has 25% of his apples worm free. He didn't know why, but I have a pretty good idea what is preventing his apples from being damaged.

My friend lives on his old family farm in Lehi, Ut and it is full of "weeds" that are left unsprayed and usually un-mowed. These feral plants feed all comers including small parasitoidal wasps. These wasps lay eggs on a number of pests, including apple codling moths. When the eggs hatch they start eating the pests.

This is not a perfect system, but it is a sensible way to have better fruit with no added chemicals. And you don't need to live on a farm to make it work! All you need is to plant more flowers.  Not all flowers are created the same and some flowers will do more to attract predators.

Below is a list of some of the more useful plants for attracting parasitiod wasps. They are all readily available in seed or plant form at your local nursery or on line.

Scientific Name	Common Name	Growth Type
Achillea spp.	Yarrow	Perennial
Agastache foeniculum	Anise hyssop	Perennial
Artemisia spp.	Wormwood, sagebrush	Perennial
Aster spp.	Aster	Perennial
Astragalus spp.	Vetch	Perennial
Baptisia spp.	False indigo	Perennial
Bellis perennis	English daisy	Perennial
Borago officinalis	Borage	Annual, reseeding
Caragana spp.	Peashrub	Shrub
Chamaemelum nobile	Roman, English chamomile	Perennial
Chrysogonum virginianum	Green and gold	Perennial
Coreopsis spp.	Tickseed	Perennial
Echinacea purpurea	Purple cone flower	Perennial
Foeniculum vulgare	Fennel	Perennial
Helianthus spp.	Sunflower, Sunchoke	Annual, perennial
Lupinus spp.	Lupine	Annual, perennial
Medicago satvia	Alfalfa	Perennial
Robinia hispida	Rosa acacia	Shrub
Robinia pseudoacacia	Black locust	Tree
Solidago spp.	Goldenrod	Perennial
Trifolium spp.	Sweet clover	Biennial

The best places to plant these plants is as need your orchard area as possible. In the case of the annuals and perennials, planting them under and around the fruit trees is best. If that is not possible, a flower bed near the trees would be the next best thing.

It will take a few years to start attracting wasps, so be patient and take the time to work with nature. Any other flowers, especially perennials, are likely to help, so feel free to add more flowers and flowerbeds to your property. All the good critters will love you for it.

Manana!

2014 Dormant Oil Spraying

It is too late to spray this apple.

The apricots are now blooming, so it is too late to do a dormant spray on them. But you can still treat your apples, peaches and nectarines, and pears.

If you had problems with any of these pests last year you can use organic dormant oil on them right now:

• Aphids
• Blister mites
• Brown mites
• Peach twig borer
• Pear psylla
• San Jose scale

Check the oil before you buy it to make sure it is listed as organic. Then mix 5 tablespoons of oil per 1 gallon water and shake it well. Oil is not a "poison," so you need to spray the tree heavily enough that the oil can plug up the breathing holes on the pests. This happens when the entire tree is dripping after being sprayed.

Temperatures should be between 50 and 70 degrees when you spray, and should not go below freezing in the 24 hours after spraying.

Start spraying right now, but you need to stop as soon as your:

• Apples have buds that are half green.
• Pears have a cluster of smaller buds bursting through the main bud.
• Peaches and nectarines show pink through the bud.

Dormant spraying does not help with codling moths or greater peach tree borer.

Rootstocks for Apple Trees

Dwarfing can be achieved by pruning rootstocks, 

or by limiting a needed resource. This tree is 
dwarfed by a lack of summer water.

Attaching a favorite fruit tree to an unrelated root has been a standard practice in growing apple trees for centuries. Besides being the easiest way to grow that favorite apple, rootstocks can also affect the way the tree or the fruit develops.

The most noticeable effect of a rootstock is the size of the tree it forms. Placing the same apple variety on different roots can create a tree anywhere from a normal 30 foot tree to a tree seven or eight feet tall.

This tendency to be smaller anywhere in the natural world is called dwarfing. Of course it doesn't matter how much smaller it is, even if it is only two percent smaller, it will be called a dwarf. For this reason, most pomologists and horticulturalists will use a term like 'semi dwarf' for the dwarfs that are closer to full size.

Dwarf fruit trees have become the standard in the orchard business because they are easier to pick, prune, and spray. The homeowner has the added benefit of having a fruit tree that doesn't take up most of his yard. And he may be able to fit in a few varieties instead of just one.

The following is a list of some of the more common rootstocks that you are likely to find:

Apple Seedling  

•    Highly variable, but most often produces a full sized tree. 

•    Low suckering.

•    More tolerant of differing soils and water conditions.

MM 111  

•    Best named rootstock for most conditions. 

•    70% to 90% standard tree height, maybe taller. 

•    Well anchored with a good root. 

•    Tolerant of wet and dry soils.

•    Low suckering. 

•    Resists wooly aphid and collar rot.

•    Susceptible to burr knots.

MM 106

•    65% to 75% of full sized tree.

•    Well anchored.

•    Bears early.

•    No root suckers.

•    Fruit matures late in the season.

•    Trees grow late in the year making them prone to winter damage.

•    Crown and root rot susceptible.

M 27

•    20% to 30% standard hight.

•    Early and heavy fruit bearing.

•    Good for pots and planters.

•    Few suckers.

•    Likes well drained soil, but constant moisture.

•    Smaller than normal fruit.

•    Small root system needs staking when young, maybe longer.

M 26

•    40% to 50% of normal tree size.

•    Few suckers.

•    Collar rot resistant.

•    Cold hardy.

•    Early bearing.

•    Needs staking.

•    Needs regular irrigation.

•    Susceptible to crown rot and fireblight.

•    ELMA 26 is the same rootstock, but virus free. Reliable dealers will have all virus free stock no matter what the name.

M 9

•    20% to 30% standard size.

•    Increases fruit size.

•    Ripening accelerated by one week.

•    Does well in clay soil and wet conditions.

•    Not drought tolerant.

•    Susceptible to fireblight and wooly aphid.

•    Shallow root system.

•    Brittle roots require extra support.

M 7

•    55% to 65% normal size.

•    Early and heavy bearing.

•    Resists fireblight, powdery mildew, and some collar rot.

•    Winter hardy.

•    Adaptable to many soils.

•    Likes rooting deeply.

•    Abundant suckers.

•    Will usually need staking.

Mark

•    25% to 35% normal height.

•    Phytophthora and root rot resistant.

•    Good anchorage.

•    Few suckers.

•    Heavy bearing, thinning is a must.

•    Needs fertile soil and constant moisture.

BUD 9

•    20% to 30% standard size.

•    Similar to M 9.

•    More winter hardy than M 9.

Geneva 30 (G 30)

•    40% to 50% standard height.

•    Similar to M 7.

•    Good anchorage.

•    High production.

•    Weak grafts with some varieties of apples.

•    Needs support.

Look for more of the Geneva series, as well as the Vineland, as the Cornell and Vineland programs becomes more widely known.

Also remember, that good, well informed pruning can bring any tree down even further with a little work.

Have a great time choosing this years apple trees