Apple tree protection

[christiebhoy]

Just being lazy as there is probably a thread with what I need to know i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/rolleyes.gif

Anyways what is the best way to protect apples from little bugs etc My tree is in it's first year of apples and though they are yet small are doing well, but I want to protect them as best I can, is there any safe sprays, or can you wrap the apples in some sort of netting that allows water, light and air in but keeps the beasties out?
Can anyone help??

[Tig]

I leave mine to fend for themselves CB. I don't mind sharing with the wildlife, there is still enough for us, and a knife soon removes any bits damaged by marauding insects

x Tig

[oldmoleskins]

Sort of with Tig on this one CB - anything you spray onto fruit may linger until the time you or the kids eat it, and although Victorian perfectionists used individual netting cases over dessert pears, the 'bug incidence' shouldn't be too troublesome.

As a 'first-year' though, the tree and ultimately it's crop may be better for a little thinning-out. There's a thing called June Drop which naturally does this, so don't be alarmed if you see a few drop off, but also, where they are bunched together, snip any small or mis-shapen apples off with scissors - it'll help the others get the full benefit of a young tree's ability to provide fruit.

OM.

[Spruance]

Codling Moth larvae can damage ripening fruits CB, but you can get pheromone traps which you hang in the tree in May and which entices the adult moths to a sticky end! Something to perhaps think about next year. i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/GWDAdmin1/Smilies/Default/wink.gif