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Spray advice for borers.

9 years ago

Need some help trying to control a borer problem Im having. I have a couple dozen stone fruit trees including cherry, peach, apricot, plum and nectarine. Im having a terrible time with borers. They sucessfully killed 2, 6 year old trees this year. I never saw any signs of damage, but when i dug into the soil, it was like clear jelly and the main root was infested with borers. Is there a product and spraying schedule some one can help out with? I was trying to keep everything organic but I think that is unrealistic at this point. Thanks in advance.

Comments (9)

  • 9 years ago

    If you do not mind spraying chemical, try Triazicide by Spectricide. Find the one that labels for fruit trees. Sold at Lowe's, Home Depot.

  • 9 years ago

    Spraying for borers is only effective if you apply when the adults are laying eggs. Therefore you need to identify the specific pests involved and know their lifecycle in order to apply any spray at the appropriate times. Otherwise borers are best addressed with some sort of systemic product applied to the root zone.

  • 9 years ago

    had same problem.I hate them.They destroyed my Blenheim apricot tree.I had to took it out and opened the trunk to see it and any eggs and bugs... disgusting... I am wondering if I can plant a fig tree in the same spot right away or should I treat the soil first. by the way I used neem oil and organic garden spray which they did not help at all.you should go with chemical and not eat the fruit this year...

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    imidacloprid is the chemical you want. Bayer makes an insect control using it and labled for fruit trees so it's safe to eat the fruit. I have dosed my little orchard after losing a cherry and pluot to the flat nose peach borer.

  • 9 years ago

    Fireball,

    You'd better re-read the side effects of imidaclopid. It is a systematic insecticide that plants can absorb and it goes up the tree into flowers and fruit. Fruit is not that safe when you spray with this product. It is very toxic to honey bees because it damages the bee's nerve system.

    I would definitely skip imidaclopid.

  • 9 years ago

    Just a thought. Has anyone had any good results with painting the trunk all the way down to the root collar? Ceiling white (water based) is called for... some say to use it cut 50/50 with water, but we have used it closer to full strength. Every hear it needs to be redone all the way down below soil level and keep any mulch pulled back about 6" from trunk. If you live in HOT country, like we do, it helps prevent sun damage to trunks, also ... such as splitting.

  • 9 years ago

    I lost 2 trees with well painted trunks to borers. They may have gotten in through a crack but I really think they just chewed through the latex.

  • 9 years ago

    That's no fair. I had hoped this might work for all of us. So far, so good here. When the trees are growing fast the paint can be split open during the summer. The old borer treatment (for here anyway) was to dig a trench down to the root collar and place moth crystals at the bottom, then cover with soil to hold those fumes in. This was done in late September to early October depending on where you lived. Guess that's the time to worry about the egg laying "wasp". One way or the other, it's a yearly operation.