How to fight caterpillars on an apple tree and what to treat the trees with, a review of products and preparations

A summer resident planting an apple orchard expects a good, high-quality harvest. And the apple trees live up to expectations, delighting their owners with delicious apples every year. Harmful insects and their larvae love to feast on the foliage and fruits of these fruit trees. A gardener who discovers caterpillars on an apple tree must know how to deal with them.

Types of caterpillars

They are voracious and adaptable. Let's look at their types in more detail.

Black

There are several types of such caterpillars that attack apple trees at once: the gypsy moth is the most easily recognizable. Large, furry, almost 7 centimeters.

Gray

A typical representative is the ringed silkworm with blue stripes. During the day it sleeps inside the web, and at night it is active.

Greens

Winter moth, reaching 3 centimeters in length. She has only 5 pairs of legs, therefore, when moving, she arches. The leaf roller is a small 2-centimeter caterpillar. You can identify her by her web.

White

On the apple tree you can find parasitic species of white and pale pink, seemingly translucent caterpillars. These are not only the usual glass moth and codling moth, but also those that have spread to the apple tree not so long ago, such as wood moth, oriental tree moth, and striped fruit moth.

Codling moth caterpillar

Widespread and very dangerous. She can spend the whole winter under the bark. After the apple tree blooms, it lays its eggs on the ovary and leaves. And then it is very important to know how to treat them, otherwise you can forget about the harvest.

Apple glass caterpillar

White-yellow in color, no more than 2.5 centimeters in length, harms only apple trees.

Yellow

Hawthorns are not the smallest caterpillars. You will recognize them by their black longitudinal stripes. Up to 4.5 centimeters long. They leave noticeable marks - the veins on the nibbled leaves remain uneaten. Apple moth – its small caterpillars, 1.3-1.6 centimeters, are painted dirty yellow. There are black dots along the body, in parallel pairs. It only affects apple trees.

Signs of tree infection

Traces of the presence of harmful insects can be found on the leaves, trunks, buds, and fruits of the apple tree:

• web;
• small and large caterpillars;
• entry points surrounded by caterpillar excrement and debris.

Fighting the codling moth

Quite effective in the fight against this parasite:

• timely, scrupulous collection of fallen fruits - they are destroyed;
• systematically cleaning the bark and placing hunting belts on the tree trunk is the best remedy;
• the use of insecticidal active agents for spraying when the apple trees fade: 0.2% Chlorophos solution or 0.3% Karbofos.

Getting rid of the winter moth

The maximum effect is achieved from the use of adhesive belts. Good results can be obtained by treating trees with yarrow decoction or tobacco tincture. It is also advisable to dig up the soil around the tree trunk. If in winter the temperature drops below -35 ℃, the gardener will not need to do anything - the eggs will die on their own.

Methods for getting rid of leaf roller

Methods for destroying leaf rollers that bring maximum results:

1. Collect by hand and burn the affected leaves along with the nests.
2. Use chemicals if the damage is too severe (Nitrafen solution 3% before the apple tree begins to bloom; repeat the treatment after 10-14 days).

Fighting apple moth

The beginning of May is the time when caterpillars are most sensitive to chemicals. True, they get used to the chemistry very quickly. To prevent this from happening, the drugs should be alternated, strictly observing the dosage. Butterflies are destroyed by a single spray.But for caterpillars and larvae it will take 5-6 times.

Universal methods of dealing with caterpillars

The combination of local preventive and exterminatory measures is guaranteed to destroy parasites and preserve the long-awaited harvest intact.

You can collect caterpillars by hand or involve their natural enemies: birds, spiders, ticks.

Chemicals

Chemicals are most effective in the fight against voracious larvae. And there is quite a large selection of them on sale.

Intavir

It has a negative effect on the entire nervous system of parasitic leaf rollers and codling moths. Tablets or powder dissolve in water: 10 liters per tree, only 2-3 treatments.

Tanrek

After spraying, it poisons the caterpillars for 3 weeks, but it cannot be used during the period of bright flowering and active fruiting of the apple tree. A full bucket of water will require 3 milliliters of the substance.

Fufanon

Quickly poisons insects. Valid for 10 days. It is used only during the growing season, no later than 3 weeks before harvest. Two treatments are enough.

Karbofos

When the product comes into direct contact with an insect, the pest dies almost instantly. Valid for 10 days.

Biological products

As an example – Fitoverm. Helps get rid of caterpillars after flowering. Serves as a good replacement for chemicals during fruit ripening. One ampoule is diluted in 2.5 liters of water.

Folk recipes

The caterpillars ate the leaves just as they do now a hundred years ago. Passed on from generation to generation, recipes for means to combat them have come down to us. The ingredients in the composition are only natural. And the use of improvised substances eliminates unnecessary costs.

Take water, for example. A strong jet can wash away silkworms and moths.All that remains is to collect them and burn them. Herbal decoctions and infusions can be an excellent help in the fight against apple pests.

Celandine

Infusion - a glass of celandine is soaked in a bucket of water for a couple of days, filtered, and then soap (2 tablespoons) is added to it. Decoction - boil 200 grams of dry celandine leaves in 1 liter of well water for 15 minutes, preferably in a water bath. Then the solution is filtered and mixed with a bucket of water.

Celandine belt - in the spring, fresh green leaves of the plant are tied around an apple tree trunk. In the fall, the bandage is changed.

Tomato tops

Decoction: 1 kilogram of tops is infused for 4-5 hours in a bucket of clean water. Then more water is added to it in a ratio of 1:2.8.

Birch tar with soap

10 grams of tar and laundry soap (1/2 piece) are dissolved in a bucket of water.

Soda

You can use it in two ways:

1. 3 tablespoons (heaped) per bucket of water - for complete spraying.
2. Mixed with regular flour or ash - for dusting.

Sagebrush

Flowering wormwood is used for infusion. Half a bucket of the plant is filled with 10 liters of water. After a day, boil for half an hour, and then dilute with an equal part of water.

Preventive actions

Thanks to mandatory preventive and therapeutic measures, it is possible to limit the development of parasites. Actions are carried out in young and fruit-bearing plantings. If the apple trees in the garden are not resistant to pathogens, prevention is indispensable.

Timing of preventive treatments

Prevention measures are organized in the spring. The gardener needs to carefully spray and inspect the bark, get rid of nests covered with cobwebs and damaged leaves. It will be necessary to bleach the trunks and treat the tree and the soil around it with a biological product.And it is recommended to attract natural helpers. Bird feeders will do this job perfectly. This way you can provide apple trees with protection and future harvests.

Before the start of sap flow

The buds of the apple trees have not yet woken up, but the time has come for spring work: inspecting the trees after winter days, destroying all traces of caterpillars.

From start to finish of flowering

From the moment the buds hatch until the flowers appear, it is time to spray the apple trees with copper sulfate and insecticides. Otherwise, the caterpillars will damage the flowers and ovaries. When flowering begins, spraying is stopped. Only manual collection and burning of caterpillars is available. You can spray trees with Bordeaux mixture if spraying has not been done before.

After flowering

As soon as flowering has completed, the next treatment of apple trees against codling moths is carried out. Both folk remedies and insecticides are used. From this moment until the apples ripen, there should be at least a month left.

When apples ripen

Chemicals are no longer used. Manual collection is used to destroy caterpillars.

After fruiting

The time has come to prepare apple trees for winter: collect and burn fallen leaves, dig up the ground, and then treat them with insecticides. Sanitary pruning of apple trees will be required, and, if necessary, wound treatment. Tree trunks are whitened for the winter.

Caterpillars, even the smallest ones, can cause great damage to trees. If you leave everything as it is, the apple tree will wither, and the yield will disappear over time. If you know about ways to combat apple tree pests, you can prevent their occurrence. And then the apple orchard will delight its owners with fabulous harvests every year.