Wooly Aphids.............and how much neem oil/Dr Bronners can an apple tree take?

DonBrennon · Jun 9, 2017

Update on the wooly aphids and what looks like another major issue I've got to deal with, how this tree is producing apples is beyond me, but there are shit loads of em' and they're growing steadily bigger.

The blasting with a jet sprayer was very effective and I'm guessing got rid of around 90% of the little buggers. The neem/soap spray I gave afterwards was presumably ineffective, as the aphids I missed with the jet were fluffing up within 24hrs. I must apologise here as any kind of measured experiment with the neem and soap went out of the window because I forgot to take a measuring spoon, I ran out of Dr Bronners and the neem oil had turned to sludge, so just got plopped into the water(at least I remembered to take warm water and had just enough soap to emulsify the solution).

Now the other Issue, I'm not certain but I think the tree also has 'Herder ants' farming aphids FFS

..........................any help on these guy would be much appreciated. At the moment I need 4 different types of nematode for my different gardens, ants, slugs, gooseberry sawfly/caterpillar and an all round 'fruit and veg nematode' which has various species targeting a wide range of pests.

DonBrennon · Jun 9, 2017

On a more positive side, I've not got problems with a lack of bees. It seems they've set up home in my wall cavity, so glad I didn't let em fill it up with polystyrene balls which always end up leaking out of somewhere and littering the environment. :bigjoint:

and my herb garden has natural defences

calliandra · Jun 9, 2017

Ah beautiful! Congrats on the wild bee's nest!!

I'm just back from a session with an arborist who refuses to work with chemical stuff if there is ANY other road that can be taken.
He's a big fan of physically removing pests that have started going overboard physically - there were a few woolly aphids on the apple tree he was demonstrating on, and he just sorta wiped the whole area with his thumb whilst speaking, crushing the aphids on the spot.
But I wouldn't want to have to do that on those aphids you've got in the leaves!

I was also asking him about my cherry (whether to cut back thge tips, which are going really ugly after I forgot to repeat the anti-aphid treatments in my composting frenzy). He told me to keep removing the bugs physically, he mentioned soap solution (hereabouts, there's this type of soap that is like a paste, it's used mainly for cleaning but is good for all sorts of stuff), but I've also been using that tablespon of rapeseed oil per liter warm water (which also coats them with the oil, causing them to die asphixiated, whereby I think the soap does something similar?).

Also, again, physical barrier against the ants, who not only milk the aphids, but also protect them, from any predators who would otherwise be eating them. There are these wide sticky tapes you can buy, he also mentioned "tree wax", beeswax-based stuff used for treating open wounds on trees, as an alternative, meh... lol
Oh and to leave those on the whole season too - I had taken mine off, thinking the worst time was over and "to let predators" up the tree.
Oh and see if the living conditions for great tit are good, apparently they like aphids alot.

And there you are, the sum of my knowledge on this for you to pick from :bigjoint:

DonBrennon · Jun 9, 2017

calliandra said:
Ah beautiful! Congrats on the wild bee's nest!!

I'm just back from a session with an arborist who refuses to work with chemical stuff if there is ANY other road that can be taken.
He's a big fan of physically removing pests that have started going overboard physically - there were a few woolly aphids on the apple tree he was demonstrating on, and he just sorta wiped the whole area with his thumb whilst speaking, crushing the aphids on the spot.
But I wouldn't want to have to do that on those aphids you've got in the leaves!

I was also asking him about my cherry (whether to cut back thge tips, which are going really ugly after I forgot to repeat the anti-aphid treatments in my composting frenzy). He told me to keep removing the bugs physically, he mentioned soap solution (hereabouts, there's this type of soap that is like a paste, it's used mainly for cleaning but is good for all sorts of stuff), but I've also been using that tablespon of rapeseed oil per liter warm water (which also coats them with the oil, causing them to die asphixiated, whereby I think the soap does something similar?).

Also, again, physical barrier against the ants, who not only milk the aphids, but also protect them, from any predators who would otherwise be eating them. There are these wide sticky tapes you can buy, he also mentioned "tree wax", beeswax-based stuff used for treating open wounds on trees, as an alternative, meh... lol
Oh and to leave those on the whole season too - I had taken mine off, thinking the worst time was over and "to let predators" up the tree.
Oh and see if the living conditions for great tit are good, apparently they like aphids alot.

And there you are, the sum of my knowledge on this for you to pick from

Thank you for your ever helpful insight. I'm totally with him on not using chemicals to deal with problems, not so much on the squashing them with my thumb though, lol. I do like the jet spray for the wooly aphids and think I can control them with that if I keep an eye on it, but I think the ants are the real problem when it comes to the other aphids. I've been pondering it for a couple of weeks and should have done it then, but I've bought the nem's I need. After a bit of reading, the Mixed Fruit and Veg nematodes cover pretty much all of my current pests apart from slugs. I've noticed ants nests in about 4 of the raised beds I've cultivated, so they're definitely an issue that needs addressing and I've got pretty much every other pest on the list, LMAO

Here's what I ordered.........

https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/nemasys-fruit-veg-protection/10-nemasys-grow-your-own-nematodes

https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/nemaslug/8-nemaslug

calliandra · Jun 9, 2017

DonBrennon said:
Thank you for your ever helpful insight. I'm totally with him on not using chemicals to deal with problems, not so much on the squashing them with my thumb though, lol. I do like the jet spray for the wooly aphids and think I can control them with that if I keep an eye on it, but I think the ants are the real problem when it comes to the other aphids. I've been pondering it for a couple of weeks and should have done it then, but I've bought the nem's I need. After a bit of reading, the Mixed Fruit and Veg nematodes cover pretty much all of my current pests apart from slugs. I've noticed ants nests in about 4 of the raised beds I've cultivated, so they're definitely an issue that needs addressing and I've got pretty much every other pest on the list, LMAO

Here's what I ordered.........

https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/nemasys-fruit-veg-protection/10-nemasys-grow-your-own-nematodes

https://www.nematodesdirect.co.uk/nemaslug/8-nemaslug

Ah cool, I look forward to seeing how those take!!

I've been conundering about ants lately too, what is it with them? What are they telling us when they appear in masses like that? What is out of balance? They do aerate the soil with their burrows, so maybe they're more pest-like in soils that are on the weaker side (as yours probably are at the mo from the "care" they had before)... Or, who is missing that eats ants?
haha I only have questions on that one at the mo! :bigjoint:

Wooly Aphids.............and how much neem oil/Dr Bronners can an apple tree take?

DonBrennon

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DonBrennon

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calliandra

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DonBrennon

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calliandra

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