Recently I have had several readers asking about the problems that they are having with fruit they grow.
There are two aspects, one is diseases that affects the fruit and pests which include birds and wasps that like the sweet sugars of ripening fruit.
Wasps attacking fruit; the best solution is to make up the bait we wrote about a few weeks ago using the likes of a drink can, boric acid and orange juice.
You make up the attractant/bait with one litre of orange juice and you put into that 2 tablespoons of Granny Mins Ant Bait or Boric Acid, stir to dissolve the powder;
then take an empty coke or other similar empty can and pour a little of the solution into the can to about one third full.
So we have the can with about 50mm of orange juice with Granny Mins Ant Bait mixture at the bottom of the can; then put a straw or stick into the can through the open tab down into the liquid.
Place the can outside where there is known wasp activity and the wasps will smell the orange juice and climb down the stick into the can to take up the sweet solution before flying back to the wasp nest to feed it to the hive.
I am told that honey bees and Bumble bees are not attracted to the solution so they are safe.
Birds are a problem and unless you have a large tree of fruit and a small bird population locally then they can take most of your crop.
Bird netting I have found to be difficult to use unless on a frame out from the tree and secured completely so no birds can enter with a door for you to enter. A lot of work and not practical for many.
The Bird Gel deterrent we used last year helped but it worked best on larger birds rather than sparrows and smaller birds.
This year a gardener put me onto gauze bags that you put over the fruit and with the draw string supplied to secure it to the branch.
I was able to obtain bags cheaply of various sizes on line.
Put into Google ‘bags to protect fruit from birds’ and you will find lots and Temu has them on sale at the moment I see so very nice price for like 100 bags.
Keeps birds and wasps both off fruit but as I have found they are easier to put over a fruit or a bunch of grapes when the fruit is set and still small.
You have to allow then for a good size bag that will accommodate the mature fruit.
If too small the fruit cant expand and very difficult to get out of the bag without cutting the bag.
Otherwise they are great value. Clean and store for each seasons new fruit.
Other pests that attack fruit such as the codlin and guava moth can also be prevented with the bagged fruit.
If you would like my suggested alternative controls and preventions in regards to these two moths and their caterpillars that do the damage send me an email to wallyjr@gardenews.co.nz asking for Moth Control.
Recently I have had a few gardeners from northern parts find guava moth grubs in their tomato fruit.
Brown rot (primarily Monilinia species) is a highly destructive fungal disease that attacks a wide range of fruit, most notably stone fruits like peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, apricots, and almonds.
It also affects pome fruit sincluding apples, pears, and quinces along with berries and citrus in certain conditions.
Once a tree has caught the disease it is very difficult to eradicate as the spores will be on the tree and on the soil to cause another loss of fruit the following season.
What you can do now is a spray now of Wallys Copper Nutrient to get some copper into the tree before it rests for winter.
Last season a few gardeners using the Copper Nutrient reported less problems with brown rot on fruit later.
Cleaning up debris from under the tree and nearby and removing any mummified fruit carefully is the next thing to do after harvest has finished.
Then mix potassium permanganate at three quarters of a tea spoon with a table spoon of Ocean Solids in one litre of warm to hot water to dissolve. Then add to another two litres of water and spray that over the tree and soil under the tree after harvest has finished.
You can repeat again in mid winter as an extra precaution.
The above is designed to kill the disease spores which will cause problems next fruiting season.
When the tree begins to move in the spring apply another spray of Copper Nutrient.
Also sprinkle Ocean Solids under the tree from trunk to drip line; then Fruit and Flower power at the drip line.
Repeat the Fruit and Flower power monthly and a back up spray of Copper Nutrient at that time.
Doing the above you may have done sufficient to have saved a reasonable amount of the fruit from damage.
In the past I have suggested once the fruit have formed and got to a halfway size towards maturity then make up a Spray of Liquid Copper, Sulpur wetable powder, potassium permanganate and Raingard, which you spray over the fruit (not the tree) every two weeks till harvest.
Using this alone with the potassium permanganate sprays at end of season has proved to reduce the instance of the disease giving the gardeners a reasonable crop to eat.
As time goes on I am more convinced that growing any fruit trees from a stone or pip will give you a wonderfully healthy tree for free and first small crop within a couple of seasons or so.
So how do we get fruit trees free?
When you buy a fruit that you enjoyed then you stratify…
For stratification, stone fruit kernels benefit from cold stratification.
After cleaning, the pits should be soaked in water with MBL added for several hours to imbibe moisture, then optionally cracked slightly to help germination, as the hard outer shell can inhibit sprouting.
Place the moist seeds in a sealed container filled with damp peat moss, sand, or a wet paper towel, and store in a refrigerator for –12 weeks, or as recommended for each species.
If mould is a concern, adding a touch of cinnamon as a natural anti-fungal agent can help.
After stratification, seed can be planted outdoors where they are going to germination and grow to maturity. Put a stake as a marker next to where you plant so when your tree sprouts you will know it.
Image credit: Bozhin Karaivanov
Products mentioned are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz
Problems ring me at: Phone 0800 466464
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