What to do if there are cobwebs and caterpillars on an apple tree?

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Published: 06/09/2019

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Caterpillars appear when butterflies lay eggs. These small caterpillars are very voracious by nature. In addition, they are unpretentious to environmental conditions. Caterpillars eat the leaves, fruits and flowers of apple trees with equal success, no matter what the weather is, and they do this from early spring to late autumn. If you don't fight them, the worms will completely destroy the apple tree.

In most cases, they are easy to detect; to do this, carefully inspect the tree. Almost all types of caterpillars are large enough to be noticed.

In our area, the most common species found are ermine moths, moths, ringed and gypsy moths, and hawthorn. The most noticeable are the silkworm larvae. The length of their shaggy body reaches seven centimeters in length.

Hawthorn looks much more modest. This black caterpillar is smooth and very small. It's harder to notice.

Such an insidious parasite as a moth larva can generally be detected only by eating leaves, the larvae are so small. If you do not start an urgent fight against the caterpillars on the apple tree, then these “invisible insects” will very quickly multiply and completely deprive the tree of foliage, flowers and ovary.

• 1 Consequences from the pest
• 2 How to get rid of caterpillars on an apple tree
• 3 How to deal with codling moth
• 4 How to treat an apple tree against leaf roller caterpillars
• 5 Traditional methods of struggle
• 6 Chemicals
• 7 Prevention

Consequences from the pest

Initially, the caterpillars hide under the bark of apple trees. At this time, it is difficult to detect them. Meanwhile, they carry out their harmful activities under the bark. Caterpillars are able to gnaw channels in a tree trunk, which contributes to the appearance of fungal diseases, which are much more dangerous for apple trees.

The caterpillars cause the greatest damage when gardens are in flower. They eat buds and ovaries. Luckily, they are easiest to spot on flowers. Apple blossoms are most readily consumed by leaf rollers, codling moths and hawthorns.

It is worth saying that the leaf roller caterpillar also affects gooseberries, pears, currants and garden flowers.

How to get rid of caterpillars on an apple tree

In order to successfully fight black and any other caterpillars on an apple tree, you need to take preventive actions and determine what kind of pest is on the tree. If you find gray caterpillars, it means they are hawthorns. If a cobweb has formed on the foliage or branches, this indicates that an apple moth has appeared in the crown of the tree. The presence of leaf rollers on an apple tree causes the leaves to curl.

Preventive actions include spring whitewashing of trunks with lime mortar, timely pruning of branches, proper and regular fertilizing and, of course, watering on dry days. This work should be carried out regularly from early spring to late autumn, then caterpillars will not appear on the leaves of the apple tree.

Description of caterpillars and habitat

Caterpillars can be called one of the brightest representatives of nature. Pest habitats:

• trees;
• shrubs;

• flowers;
• herbs.

Parasites are characterized by migration over long distances. Caterpillars are unusually voracious. On apple trees they destroy leaves, fruits, flowers, and tree bark.

There are several thousand varieties of pests. Lifestyle can be open or closed. In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish the symptoms of apple tree lesions.

How to fight the codling moth

The codling moth is very common in our gardens. Its pupae spend the winter in the soil near the trunks of apple trees. With the onset of spring, butterflies emerge from the pupae and lay eggs on the leaves of the apple tree. It is difficult to see them; they are extremely small. In early summer, tiny worms hatch from these eggs. These are the caterpillars of the moth. They feed on the core of the fruit, rendering it unusable. Under their influence, unripe apples fall. How to treat apple trees in June?

To successfully combat the pest, first of all, collect all fallen apples and destroy them. Adhesive catching belts, which are attached to apple tree trunks below the very first branch, have proven to be very effective.

After the apple tree has finished flowering, treat it with insecticidal preparations. This is a solution of chlorophos (0.2%) or karbofos (0.3%). Experienced gardeners first spray one tree and watch it for a day. If nothing bad happened to the apple tree, then the remaining trees are treated.

How to treat an apple tree against leaf roller caterpillars

Green caterpillars emerge from the eggs of leaf roller butterflies. They love apple buds when they are still young, then they switch to flowers, and then to leaves. The waste products of leaf roller caterpillars look like cobwebs. Under its influence, the leaves curl into tubes, inside which the caterpillar lives.

How to deal with apple tree pests? Mechanically. Tear off all curled leaves and burn. If in the spring there are too many of these pests on the tree, then before flowering, spray the apple tree with a 3% solution of nitrafen. Repeated treatment can be done no earlier than two weeks later.

Folk methods of struggle

Gardening goes back thousands of years and, of course, during this time people have come up with many folk remedies for killing caterpillars on apple trees.

Washing off the caterpillars with a tight stream of water is a fairly effective method. Of course, all caterpillars need to be collected from the ground and destroyed.

Black caterpillars can be successfully combated by shaking the branches of apple trees. These insects practically do not stick to leaves or branches and immediately fall to the ground even with gentle shaking. Before doing this, you need to spread a film on the ground so that the parasites can be easily collected and burned.

If you plant tomatoes between the rows of apple trees, the smell of their tops will repel caterpillars.

Glue belts on the trunks of apple trees will prevent the larvae from reaching the crown.

In early June, apple trees can be sprayed with a rich decoction of pine needles, celandine, tansy or burdock. Caterpillars cannot stand their smell. Two weeks after the end of flowering, it would not hurt to repeat this treatment again.

The caterpillars also do not tolerate the smell of tomato tops decoction.

A decoction of wormwood or yarrow also helps get rid of caterpillars.

No less effective methods of combating caterpillars are solutions of baking soda, vinegar or laundry soap. You can use ash instead of baking soda.

Traditional recipes have one drawback. They need to be alternated, since caterpillars are able to adapt to a specific means. You can treat apple trees with these products at intervals of one week.

Microbiological preparations

It is worth fighting with special drugs

Folk remedies are ineffective against large numbers of pests, so it is recommended to use biological preparations. They are safe for humans, animals and bees, but are fatal to insects.

The only limitation is that they can only be used in dry weather at temperatures above 15°C.

The most effective:

• Lepidocide;
• Fitoverm;
• Bitoxibacillin;
• Dendrobacillin;
• Entobacterin;
• Bicol;
• Verticillin.

Fitoverm is considered the best biological product. However, it has toxic components that are lethal to fish. Therefore, it cannot be used near bodies of water.

But it starts working at 18°C ​​and doubles its efficiency at 25°C.

It is important to carry out regular treatments (2-3 times per season), and the fruits can be consumed already on the 3rd day after the procedure.

Unfortunately, biological products have no effect on ticks and do not work well on aphids.

Chemicals

The use of chemicals to combat caterpillars is a last resort when it is impossible to get rid of them by other means. Here we are talking about the use of poisons. Use chemicals strictly according to the instructions, which are always printed on the packaging. You need to work with them wearing protective clothing, rubber gloves and goggles. Be sure to use a respirator.

• Intavir is available in tablet or powder form. No more than three treatments per season are allowed.
• Tanrek is a systemic drug. The product has a detrimental effect on caterpillars within three weeks. It can be used only before the apple trees begin to bloom and after the harvest is completed.
• Karbofos and Fufanon. Both drugs have a contact method of influencing caterpillars. Under their influence, insects' digestive systems are paralyzed and they die of hunger. The insecticides contain malathion, which lasts ten days in the absence of rain. These products can only be used during the growing season of apple trees, no later than 3 weeks before the start of apple picking. No more than two sprayings are allowed in one season.
• Fitoverm does not contain chemical toxic substances; it is a biologically active means of combating insects. One ampoule is designed for 2.5 liters of water. You cannot spray apple trees with this product during flowering.

Terms of work

There are several stages of work carried out in the garden at the right time.

Before sap flow begins

The first work is carried out even before the kidneys begin to wake up. But the ambient temperature must not be lower than -5⁰С.

You need to do:

1. Visual inspection of the apple tree.
2. Collect and destroy all the masonry from the web.
3. Inspect the bark, open all passages and holes.
4. Treat the tree with insecticides and copper sulfate.

After these procedures, the young buds will be protected from caterpillars.

Before flowering

The next treatment of the apple tree is carried out when the buds have already woken up, but flowering has not yet begun. During this period of time, it is necessary to destroy the caterpillars that love to feast on young growth.

It is necessary to spray with preparations containing copper and organophosphorus insecticidal preparations.

Treating an apple tree against caterpillars.

During flowering

It is advised not to use chemicals during flowering so as not to reduce the number of ovaries. These substances have a detrimental effect on beneficial insects that carry out pollination.

If the situation is very dire and intervention is necessary, you can use Bordeaux mixture and karbofos. But it is better to use folk remedies that will not cause much harm to beneficial insects.

After flowering

When the apple trees have bloomed, they should be treated again for caterpillars. But you can spray only those varieties that are at least a month away from ripening.

It can be treated with chemicals or folk remedies. At this time, it is important to combat the codling moth.

During fruiting

Although there are chemicals that decompose quite quickly, it is better not to use even them so as not to risk your health. During the fruiting process, you can only manually collect and destroy large hordes of pests.

After fruiting

When the entire harvest is harvested, the trees need to be properly prepared for winter. At this time, several procedures are carried out:

• collecting and burning fallen leaves;
• digging and treating the tree trunk with insecticides;
• tree pruning;
• treatment of wounds and whitewashing.

These measures will help destroy the remaining pests and not leave them a chance for a warm, comfortable winter.

Prevention

• Inspect apple trees regularly to detect harmful insects and their larvae.
• In the spring, destroy all egg-laying and spider nests found on the tree, and also whiten the trunks with lime mortar
• Throughout the season, pluck and burn all the leaves rolled into a tube.
• Periodically spray the soil under apple trees with endobacterin.
• Don’t be lazy to spray apple trees with folk remedies against caterpillars.
• Place several feeders in the garden for birds that eat caterpillars.

If you follow the entire complex of the above measures, then caterpillars will not appear on your apple trees, which means that you will definitely reap a good harvest of tasty apples.

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Useful tips

Don't think that a few leaves on a tree don't matter and you can ignore their infestation. The entire tree functions as a full-fledged organism, so damage to any of its organs will cause a weakening of the immune system.

And the impact of caterpillars on apple trees should not be underestimated either. They multiply quickly and eat various parts of the tree, causing irreparable damage to it. Even if they are not present at the moment, it is better to periodically check the crown, because they can appear completely by accident and quickly begin to act.