They fly.

You cannot ambush them (you are too big to hide behind a leaf).

I would suggest an insecticide comprised of permethrin rather than carbaryl (Sevin). Start spraying when the flowers have lost their petals; follow the directions on the insecticide. Do not spray while the tree is flowering. You will need repeated sprays. Unfortunately, your second enemy will soon be along -- the Oriental Fruit Moth. Expect to spray your peaches all summer.

Here is a link that might be useful: All you want to know about the plum curculio

They're said to crawl but they fly. There are different kinds so maybe the test that claims they only crawl had one that crawled but I've had them land on me. I have 2 kinds here.

Assuming you're a homeowner and not an orchard, Spectracide Once and Done Triazicide does a fair job for me. Make sure you get the stuff that's for fruit. You can get it at Walmart and Lowes.

Otherwise if you can get professional stuff, Imidan. Even comparing it to a professional pyrethroid like Triazicide Imidan is supposed to be better.

For as long as I've been reading about PC they've been described as strong flyers. The reason people usually spray on a schedule instead of by way of monitoring is they can show up and do serious damage overnight (or so I've read).

Everyone down where you are seems to testify to a need of many spray applications to successfully grow fruit, although 2 insecticide or 4 Surround (non-toxic kaolite clay) sprays gives adequate protection most years, most sites in the southeastern NY area.

The pyrethroid recommended by most on this forum is found in a product called Once and Done, but make sure you buy the one labeled for edibles. If you are interested in trying to grow them organically try the Surround.

Thanks for the good info. I already taste those sweet Ga. Peaches. Bill P.S. checked with extenison agent this AM, got same info.THANKS for the help

Hi Harvestman,

I found here in Maryland that Surround did an ok job on peaches to keep the curculio off, but was not much use against the Oriental Fruit Moth, which starts to attack the peaches pretty early, overlapping with the curculio. I even tried putting footies on the peaches, and the fruit moth layed eggs right through them. Spinosad is organically approved and seemed to work ok against the fruit moth, but it not registered for a sufficient number of uses to control them for the whole season here in Maryland, where they have multiple generations. So I've given up on growing peaches and plums organically, though Surround plus baggies works fine on apples and pears.

For the benefit of the initial poster, Surround is a specially refined kaolin clay that when sprayed on fruit serves as an irritant to insects, discouraging them from laying their eggs on the fruit. It is approved for use in organic agriculture and is non-toxic (the clay is used in consumer products like Kaopectate).

"For as long as I've been reading about PC they've been described as strong flyers."

Organic places claiming you can get buy good enough by shaking the tree out on a sheet under it every day.

Well if you shake them every morning maybe you could. I read of a small commercial organic peach grower in the south that actually did this and claimed to harvest sound fruit. Just hearsay, of course.

Up here, PC often doesn't go after peaches and sticks to apples and Euro plums primarily. They like the J. plums too but I've harvested fruit from unsprayed trees. For some reason OFM usually only attacks the growing shoots of peaches and not the fruit itself here. Weird how differently these bugs behave in different areas. A shorter season has some advantages.

Austransplant, if you haven't pulled your peaches and plums yet send me an email and I can send you some OFM confusion lures to try this year (I got a bunch of free expired ones that still pack a lot of smell). The combo of Surround, a bit of spinosad, regular flagged-tip pruning, and confusion lures has gotten me a decent harvest of peaches and plums. Also the cotton drawstring bags keep the OFM out and I can send you a couple of them to try if you want as well.

Scott

Thanks for the offer Scott; I've sent you an email. If you don't get it could you try emailing me.

Looks like the email didn't make it .. I just sent you one, hope that one makes it.

Scott

Plum curculio I believe flies in from the hedgerows where it tends to winter over. Once in the trees on which it feeds, it has a danger response (similar to Japanese beetles) of dropping to the ground. Which is why disturbing the trees could get them to drop onto a sheet on the ground.

Surround was a frustration for me. Keeping it suspended in solution is difficult and it kept clogging my sprayer (constant unclogging made it so it took twice as long to spray and lots of wasted spray). I couldn't spray it often enough to keep down the insect population.

Chris

Chris, I have never had it clog my sprayer once in the five years I have been using it. Maybe you had a bad bag of the stuff. I have used it in three different types of sprayers all with good results.

Scott

My sprayer specifically warns against using any kind of powder in suspension, or it will clog. Something about whether it is or isn't the diaphragm type.

Maybe thats what it is. I used a diaphragm sprayer for most of the years I was spraying it and no clogs, but maybe only some brands are bad. I used an SP Systems brand diaphragm type.

Scott

You better be doing the clean up as it happens. It doesn't take long for the larvae to get into the soil.