been searching the web... the problem is .. TOO MUCH INFO ... all i want is a simple answer ....

from various websites.. it appears i have the classic signs of the above noted .... the brown tips... curled ... but i don't see any sign of the exit holes .... but i am looking at the wrong time of year .... maybe they healed up .... i have checked about 20 dead shoots.. only find sign of a tunnel on a few .... but i wonder if the borer fills the tunnel with its own by product... to be civil about it ... again ... could my diagnostic be flawed due to the time of year i am looking???

anyway .. the websites seem to indicate that they are currently in the ground .... but i don't see any treatments that indicate i can treat them in the ground .... are you aware of any ....????

it also seems that a vast majority of the damage is within about 8 feet from the ground.. lets say 3 meters from the soil .. am i imagining this.. or is this true to some extent .????? .. i am currently raising these sylvestris to about 6 to 7 feet .... about 2 meters .... is there a limit to how high they can go in spring???

all this said .. what can i do about all this... within a budget of nearly nothing .... i can not afford to hire this job out.. and i do not have a sprayer to reach the 20 to 30 feet to spray the entire tree ....

my collection of pines is reaching over 120 .... and i cant afford to have this plague spread to collector plants ... i would have no problem removing the plain old p. sylv. [yeah i know Michael.. heresy ...lol] ....

but if they are in the ground.. how far will they migrate ....

the info seems to indicate that the bugs are rarely fatal to a given tree .... but i want to protect my investment in the collector plants ....

in addition ... i have the other bug .. that lives in the pine tar .... as i am pruning .... i am finding globs of resin in various locations .. no plague per se .. but a few.. is this something to worry about ....

the bottom line.. this line of sylvestris needs about another 5 years .. before i will be prepared to be done with them .. enough time to let plants on the 2 acres north of them .... to get big enough to hide the neighbors ... before i just cut them down completely ....

thoughts.. comments... please ... can i treat them in the ground this winter or spring .....

thanks.. ken