No Such Thing As No Spray Apple

[SwampCat]

Down here in the hot, humid, cedar filled south - I dont think there is such a thing as a no spray apple.





Dolgo that didnt have much fruit this year so I didnt spray - every apple has a worm hole



Dolgo fifty feet away, that has been sprayed three times is clean. My bigger trees, if not sprayed, will lose every apple to something

 

[Rubee]

Swampcat,
In your second photo looks like some kind of insect egg case under the left limb upper corner. Can anyone identify what the insect is that laid them? Also, what spray did you use?

 

[homerj]

Can anyone identify what the insect is that laid them?

Praying mantis

 

[Turkey Creek]

Praying mantis

Actually no that is not a Praying Mantis egg case. We have a good number of the PM cases. They are thicker, blockier and look more "papery". Someone mentioned what the egg case in the picture was from awhile back in a different post, but I dont recall right now.

 

[homerj]

Actually no that is not a Praying Mantis egg case. We have a good number of the PM cases. They are thicker, blockier and look more "papery". Someone mentioned what the egg case in the picture was from awhile back in a different post, but I dont recall right now.

Okay. It certainly looks like many of the P.M. case images I've seen.

https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=25979

Garden Help Desk: What should I do about this mystery in my shrubs?

I found this on one of my shrubs. What on earth is that thing? Should I be spraying something? Lucky you! This is a Praying mantis oothecae, or egg case. It started out as a foamy structure surrounding the eggs and hardened into a protective case for them. Somewhere in your landscape there could...

www.heraldextra.com

The Praying Mantis Egg Case and the Shrubbery — The Amazing Plant Project

Today, we’ll be talking about the praying mantis, species diversity, and ecological niches. All photographs and video were taken by me at the local arboretum and are indicative of a sort of capsule environment you might find in such a locale.

www.theamazingplantproject.com

I'd be interested in knowing what it actually is

 

[PatinPA]

That isn't a praying mantis egg sack. They look like a puffball. Similar to a hornet's nest. Very papery. I had tons of them at my old house. We'd have tiny baby praying mantis's all over the place for a while. It's really cool. Loved one particular bush in the flower bed. I forget what is was though.

 

[SwampCat]

Swampcat,
In your second photo looks like some kind of insect egg case under the left limb upper corner. Can anyone identify what the insect is that laid them? Also, what spray did you use?

I sprayed with bonide fruit tree spray - and I have no Idea what that egg case is, although I see a lot of them.

 

[Native Hunter]

What varieties of apples do you have planted?

 

[Turkey Creek]

This is the typical Praying Mantis egg case we see. Might be a different type of PM species, I dont know for sure.

Praying Mantis Egg Case: All About Mantid Oothecae

Learn about praying mantid egg cases, called oothecae, and how to watch young mantids emerge from an ootheca.

www.thoughtco.com

 

[SwampCat]

What varieties of apples do you have planted?

The only ones I have producing are dolgo, eliza’s choice, arkansas black, and granny smith. I have a variety of others that have yet to produce fruit - all varieties picked for disease resistance. A couple produced fruit for the first time this year and I knocked them off because the branches were not big enough to support coons. I dont have trouble with the vegetation on the trees - it is the fruit that either gets bitter spot or worms - or coons.

 

[SwampCat]

A guy I know who has quite a few peach trees near me says he couldnt grow a peach without spraying. He also has a few apple trees and said he has better luck with apples if he prunes them like peach trees, to open them up to allow more air flow so vegetation and fruit dry quicker with the high humidity

 

[SwampCat]

At least the deer arent part of the problem. Notice the small limb just to the right of the granny smith apple - it has been browsed by deer - as have a number of low hanging branches - but they have not eaten any of the fruit - although definitely not ripe yet

 

[Kdog]

I agree down here in the south.

Finally made it up to check out my trees last weekend knowing I had some losses due to the late freeze/frost. Lost 3 of my dunstan chestnuts but no fruit tree losses. Despite the dunstans shooting from the root balls, I decided to whack them to the ground, removed the tubes and supports. All of my pear trees received frost damage and will not have any fruit this year. Most of my apples are bearing well, but all have issues despite being disease resistant varieties. One in particular was absolutely loaded earlier this year, but aborted about have of it's fruit. Probably a good thing since I do not think the limbs could have supported the weight. No pics of the dunstans, but all had frost bit tassels that will not produce this year. Should have some next year if we do not get a late freeze/frost.

 

[SwampCat]

I agree down here in the south.

Finally made it up to check out my trees last weekend knowing I had some losses due to the late freeze/frost. Lost 3 of my dunstan chestnuts but no fruit tree losses. Despite the dunstans shooting from the root balls, I decided to whack them to the ground, removed the tubes and supports. All of my pear trees received frost damage and will not have any fruit this year. Most of my apples are bearing well, but all have issues despite being disease resistant varieties. One in particular was absolutely loaded earlier this year, but aborted about have of it's fruit. Probably a good thing since I do not think the limbs could have supported the weight. No pics of the dunstans, but all had frost bit tassels that will not produce this year. Should have some next year if we do not get a late freeze/frost.

I had two producing Dunstan Chestnuts. Drought looked like it killed them both last summer, but one limb, on one tree, leafed out this year. Did not bloom. I no longer think about planting a tree where I cant get water to it from a hose. Hauling water is a fool’s erand if you have more than a couple trees - at least down here where 100 degree heat is not uncommon and neither are months without rain

 

[H20fwler]

I’ve always considered praying mantis as a good thing that help fruit trees eating lots of bad bugs like aphids and beetles. I guess they do probably eat some beneficial bugs too like honeybees.
I see lots of the egg sacks in winter and spring around here in pasture and orchard.

I feel for you on the trouble with fruit trees you have down there Swampcat, that sucks.

 

[SwampCat]

If I dont spray my trees - they will almost certainly lose all apples to bitter rot.

 

[SwampCat]

And I should add, if the bitter rot doesnt get the apples, the coons most certainly will

 

[bigboreblr]

Disease resistant varieties atleast dont add more problems to catepillars, ants, and aphids. Didn't even get the beetles yet. Lckily got some chubby ladt bugs around.

The disease resistant varieties got beat up by bugs more than problematic common varieties. Liberty is growing well, but getting eaten up well too. Spray bonide monthly here. Least bitten uphere has been whitetail crabs crossbow. Great groth and cortch angles too. Think it willl be a good one. 30-06 has been a fast grower and not too badly bitten up. Droptin grows well and not too badly bitten up, got som rust on the leaves though. Nothing horrible though.

 

[Lucky_P]

This is the typical Praying Mantis egg case we see. Might be a different type of PM species, I dont know for sure.

Praying Mantis Egg Case: All About Mantid Oothecae

Learn about praying mantid egg cases, called oothecae, and how to watch young mantids emerge from an ootheca.

www.thoughtco.com

As stated near the end of that article, that big 'polystyrene'-looking eggcase is from the introduced Chinese mantis, which have become naturalized over a large portion of the country.
The one in the original photo, on the apple stem, is one of the native Preying Mantis species (there are several) .
Some 'nativists' want us to destroy the Chinese ootheca when we find them... but IMO, all PMs are good. I find both types here, with regularity.

'Disease-resistant' apple varieties are pretty much selected for resistance to one or more of the following: Cedar-Apple Rust, Apple Scab, Fireblight, Powdery Mildew. Other fungal/bacterial maladies not so much... and insects like plum curculio, Oriental fruit moth, Codling moth... not at all.
I don't spray any of mine - and I anticipate insect damage... and I'm growing these to eat. Any that I might have planted out for wildlife... fugeddaboutit, I am not gonna spray... I don't care if a deer eats a wormy apple or pear.

 

[sandbur]

As stated near the end of that article, that big 'polystyrene'-looking eggcase is from the introduced Chinese mantis, which have become naturalized over a large portion of the country.
The one in the original photo, on the apple stem, is one of the native Preying Mantis species (there are several) .
Some 'nativists' want us to destroy the Chinese ootheca when we find them... but IMO, all PMs are good. I find both types here, with regularity.

'Disease-resistant' apple varieties are pretty much selected for resistance to one or more of the following: Cedar-Apple Rust, Apple Scab, Fireblight, Powdery Mildew. Other fungal/bacterial maladies not so much... and insects like plum curculio, Oriental fruit moth, Codling moth... not at all.
I don't spray any of mine - and I anticipate insect damage... and I'm growing these to eat. Any that I might have planted out for wildlife... fugeddaboutit, I am not gonna spray... I don't care if a deer eats a wormy apple or pear.

I don’t spray deer apples, but most of those in the home orchard get spray about the first of June and the first of July.

The spray didn’t do me much good last year after we had two hail storms.