August 2011 Fruit Tree Care - Northstar Cherry and others

Fruit crops vary this year depending where your garden/orchard is located. I have some apples in Reno and Paradise Valley, but nowhere near a full crop. I did get a good harvest off my 3 yr old Northstar cherry; it lives up to its name as a tart cherry, but will make a good jam or pie.
If you have apples and pears and are tracking codling moths, now is the time to hang your second trap. When you catch moths three nights in a row, you will have your second biofix.

If you have cherry trees, you will want to check for pear sawfly larvae damage. Although a pest of all fruit trees, cherry trees seem to be especially susceptible in northern Nevada. Examine the leaves on your cherry tree for leaf damage evidenced by the green upper surface of the leaf is gone leaving only the brown skeletal veins. Then look on the leaves for a small (3/8 inch long and 1/8 inch wide), slimy, dark brown to black, little slug—the larva of the pear sawfly (a small wasp). For more info, go to: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r603302211.html.

If the damage is extensive (more than 20 % of the leaves effected) and the larvae are still present, take action. I generally will spray with Sevin. Organic methods include picking them off by hand (yuck) or sprayed off with a water hose. If unchecked, the larvae will strip the leaves on a large portion of the tree and severely damage the tree if not kill it.

Check your soil moisture by digging a small hole just beyond the drip line of the tree; the soil should be moist but not soggy. If the soil is hard and dry, increase your watering time. You will also want to check the moisture in your garden and yard as well.

Now is the time to apply Bt to tomatoes to kill the tomato hornworm before one eats one of your tomato plants for dinner; you can also use it on cabbage to control the cabbage looper (the 1” green caterpillar).  Buy a small container; it goes a long way. I mix and apply with a sprinkler can.