How to make a pest trap for an apple tree with your own hands

During the hot season, a large number of pests appear on apple trees. Insects and parasites climb up the trunks to the inflorescences, leaves and fruits. To protect apple trees, trapping belts are installed to stop the invasion of pests. This is the most affordable, effective and simple way to control insects. The method does not harm the crop and protects the apple tree throughout the season.

What is a catch belt?

A trapping belt is the safest method of insect control. For production, use a cut 25 centimeters wide and a length equal to the girth of the apple tree.

Suitable material:

• cardboard;
• matting;
• paper;
• film;
• lutrasil;
• sackcloth.

The selected material is secured to the trunk and secured with a rope or twine; soft wire is also used. It is recommended to install the belt at the beginning of summer and not remove it until cold weather sets in.

What are the varieties?

There are several types of traps:

• sticky;
• poisonous;
• dry.

Advantages of each type:

• Glue. The material is fixed around the barrel and thickly coated with non-drying glue. The most commonly used is intended for rodents. The disadvantage is that everything alive sticks to the belt. Beneficial insects are also caught in the trap along with pests.

• Funnel-shaped. The belt is secured in the form of a cone. The wide side is placed at the bottom, and at the top they ensure a tight fit of the material to the surface of the barrel. To do this, the joint is coated with clay and tied with rope. To achieve maximum effect, the material is impregnated with an insecticidal solution. The pests, moving upward, find themselves inside the funnel and die due to the action of the poison.
• Rubber funnel with vegetable oil. A strip is cut out of rubber, then secured by first bending the edges and filling it with an oil solution. Glue using rubber glue. The insects get caught in the oil, from which they cannot escape, and as a result they die.

The advantage of the method is durability. As the trunk grows, the rubber stretches.

• Double-sided funnel. For production, use a strip at least 30 centimeters wide, soaked in an insecticide solution. They fasten it around the trunk, tie it with a rope at the bottom and top, thereby dividing the belt into three parts.

In order for the poisonous liquid to remain in the impregnated material longer, the entire belt is placed under polyethylene, leaving the lower edge free.

Pros and cons of hunting belts

This easy-to-make device effectively fights major apple tree pests. Advantages:

• the method refers to mechanical methods of catching insects, therefore it does not harm the tree or people;
• the trap has an effect against most pests that move along the bark;
• the device can be made of any size, regardless of the diameter of the apple tree trunk;
• easy to do with your own hands.

Flaws:

• Along with harmful insects, beneficial ones also get caught in the trap, so it is recommended to inspect the device daily and release bees and ladybugs.

How to make a hunting belt for an apple tree?

The simplest thing is to purchase a ready-made hunting belt in specialized stores. But for a large number of plantings, it is more advisable to make a trap yourself.

Dry

A strip of fabric, rubber or paper is pre-prepared. Cut out a piece 20 centimeters wide. The length depends on the thickness of the apple tree trunk. Before tying the tree, all cracks are covered.

Important Tips:

1. Stretch film is used for wrapping. It is especially relevant in windy weather. Unlike tape, it does not stick to the surface.
2. In autumn they are made from corrugated cardboard. It helps protect apple trees from insects that want to settle on the apple tree or lay eggs.
3. In the warm season, especially in summer, cardboard is not recommended.

Manufacturing rules:

1. Cut off the required amount of foam rubber. The edges are connected to the stock.
2. Wrap the foam rubber with stretch film 3 times.
3. Wrap the junction of the foam rubber and the barrel in 4 layers of film. Cut and smooth to the waistband.
4. Using a knife, cut off the excess film above and below the belt.This will help the tree look neater.

Check the trap once a week. Carefully remove the belt. Beneficial insects are released, and pests are burned.

Poisonous

For production, material pre-impregnated with pesticides is used. Many gardeners avoid such a belt, believing that apples accumulate toxins. In fact, the device is designed to combat pests and is located at the foot of the apple tree. Toxic substances do not reach the fruit part of the apple tree.

A distinctive feature is high efficiency.

Rules for making a trap with your own hands:

1. The material is cut into a width of 20 centimeters.
2. Impregnated with chemicals approved for use.
3. Wait until the product is absorbed. The work is performed with gloves.
4. The material is fixed on the trunk in the shape of a funnel. To do this, the material is fixed at the top, and the lower part is left free.
5. To prevent the poison from evaporating, the material is wrapped with polyethylene on top.

Pests, falling into a properly made trap, die from poisoning.

Features of application

When controlling pests, some features are taken into account:

1. In the places where the trap is set, the dead bark is removed.
2. All cracks on the trunk are covered with clay. Otherwise, at the end of the summer season, insects will roost in the cracks and lay offspring.
3. The belt is installed until the kidneys swell. This helps preserve the harvest from the flower beetle on apple trees.
4. When flower beetles begin to appear, traps need to be checked frequently. The caught insects are knocked down onto a film previously placed under the plant. Then they are collected and burned.
5. At the end of autumn, the traps are removed and burned.

Any of the listed options will reliably protect the plantings from possible pests.With the annual production of traps, apple trees will constantly delight you with an abundant and high-quality harvest.