Tag Archives: guava_moth

DEALING WITH CODLIN, GUAVA MOTHS and ARMY WORM IN YOUR GARDEN (Wally Richards)

October 23, 2023 Pam Vernon 3 Comments

It is that time when fruit is setting and soon to be attacked from the grubs of moths; Codlin and Guava.

Guava moth is mostly in the upper north island but there has been a few cases in other areas likely as a result of fruit been brought south from infected areas.

So share with family and friends as there is nothing worse than losing your crop to these two pests.

There are two moths in New Zealand that attack fruit namely, Codlin Moth which have apples, pears and walnuts as their host fruit. Guava Moth which has ALL fruit and nuts as their host.

The Codlin Moth is seasonal active while there is fruit on their host plants but the Guava Moth is all year around going from one host tree to another including citrus.

Both are relatively easy to control so that you can obtain a reasonable amount of your crop as long as you follow my proven advice. Firstly let us understand how these two pests operate.

Being moths they only fly at night and they find their host tree by the smell of the forming and ripening fruit. So if they cannot smell your tree/fruit they will fly on by to a tree they can smell.

This is the first step in reducing the damage to your fruit by disguising the smell of the tree/fruit.

To do this you need an overriding smell that negates the smell of the tree’s fruit.

Wallys Neem Tree Granules scattered on the ground underneath the tree from the trunk to the drip line.

Then by making some little bags out of curtain netting we hang more of Wallys Neem Tree Granules in the tree on the lower branches about head high at the four cardinal points.

So we use the Wallys Neem Tree Granules as described after flowering and when the fruit has formed to a reasonable size. One application then is all that is needed for each crop to disguise the fruit as the granules last over 2 months, slowly breaking down..

The next step in control is to prevent any grubs that hatch out near your fruit from eating their way into the fruit. Once a grub enters the fruit you have lost the battle cause even if you use a poisonous systemic insecticide to kill it?

What is the point as its going to die inside the fruit and be useless.

No you need a non toxic substance on the outside of the fruit that is going to prevent the grub from eating its way in.

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil with Raingard is the perfect answer.

You spray the fruit, not the tree so there is a coating of Wallys Neem Tree Oil on the skin of the fruit protected from washing off in rain with Wallys Raingard (lasts for 14 days before reapplying.)

The Neem Oil is an anti-feedent which means when the young grub takes its first bite it will get some Neem Oil in its gut and will never eat again starving to death fairly quickly been so young.

On your mature fruit you will have a little pin pricked scar that where it took its one and only bite.

So all you do is just spray the maturing fruit every 14 days that are relatively easy to reach and spray.

Fruit that are more difficult to spray will likely be eaten by birds later on anyway and as long as you are getting a nice amount of fruit to harvest that is all that really matters.

Then there is also another way to control moth problem by which you set up a moth lure to attract them and kill them.

Take one litre of hot water add a100 grams of sugar, one teaspoon of marmite, half a tablespoon of Cloudy Ammonia and half a tablespoon of Vanilla:

Mix well and divide the mix between two plastic milk or soft drink bottles.

Punch some holes in the side of the bottles just above the level of the mix.

Place on a stand about a couple of metres away from the tree.

At about waist height like on a small folding table.

When a number of moths are caught dispose of them and make up a new solution.

Cloudy Ammonia used to be common once upon a time from a grocery store if not so easy to find try hardware stores, there are two chains in NZ and they may have it.

If you do all three procedures for control or at least the first two then you should be able to once again enjoy your own fruit.

The Codlin Moth traps are useful as if you monitor them they trap the male codlin moths which tells you it is the time to start using the Wally Super Neem Tree Oil spray on your apples etc.

If after a month you find no new male moths in the trap you can stop spraying as it is all over for the season. (That is unless you have Guava moths in your region).

Guava moth pheromone traps are a waste of time because they are all year round so there is no time to start or stop control sprays as with the Codlin Moth………..

Army worms are the caterpillars of the Fall Army worm Moth and these hungry little pests can devastate crops of vegetables and lawns.

Some of the methods mentioned above such as disguising the smell of your vegetable by using Wally Neem Tree Granules would likely help.

The liquid trap may also help catch a few of the moths.

My thoughts are to set up a Insect Killer trap safely outside (it is powered by 230 volts) so must be sheltered from rain.

The UV light shining out over your back yard will attract night flying insects and they will be electrocuted on the high voltage static electricity on the grid.

Same thing that used to be in old butcher shops for flies, nowadays there are smaller modern ones.

Also called a Bug Zapper.

Regular sprays of your lawn and plants that the army worm is devouring using Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Raingard added should also help control them.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

Gardening

More tips on beating those pests in your garden (Wally Richards)

September 30, 2022 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

It is a new gardening season and once it warms up the pest populations will quickly grow.

So far the temperatures have been below what would be normal for this time of the year and considering we are only a few weeks away from Labour Weekend it is most strange.

Temperatures have a great bearing on insect pest activity and population growth.

An ideal spring is an early one with 2-3 weeks of nice warm temperatures which attract the pests out of hiding to get on with their lives. Then a sudden cold snap for a week will bowl most of them out of our gardens and then delay the problems they cause till after the new year.

As the weather/temperatures are not great yet it means they are marking time for better days.

If we place controls in now and over the next few weeks we will be able to stop, confuse and eliminate a lot of the pests before their populations start to build.

This can be achieved by quick elimination of the pests that are lurking about on our plants by the use of the quick knock down spray; Wallys Super Pyrethrum.

For General use at 1ml to 2 litres of water (5ml to 10 litres of water) It is very concentrated and very cost effective.

Best used just prior to sunset when bee activity has ceased.

The spray will stay active through the night affecting any pest insects that come into contact with the residue.

Next day it will become inactive within 2 hours of direct sunlight.

You can also use Wallys Super Pyrethrum at 2.5ml per litre for a spray under eaves for spider or indoors for flies etc.

Contains: 28g/litre pyrethrins in the form of an oil in water emulsion

A 1ml pipet is supplied in addition to the measure which is on the side of the Bottle.

Note the container has 100mils which makes up 200 litres of normal garden spray strength.

If not all the made up spray is used, then place the sprayer in a dark cupboard to keep it ready for future use.

The next step in pest control is to hide your plants so the pests dont know that they are there.

Of course you cant lift the plants and hide them some where but seeing many pests find their host plants by the smell of them, then we can disguise the plant’s smell by an over riding stronger smell.

Wallys Neem Tree Granules are perfect for this and even I have been surprised by the many comments from Landscapers and gardeners about how their pest problems have reduced by simply scattering Wallys Neem Tree Granules over the soil near plants, shrubs and even trees.

Ideal in a glasshouse to stop whitefly from smelling your tomato plants.

Placed under your citrus trees and Rhododendrons it will not only disguise the smell of the plants but also clean up any pests in the canopy. Repeat another application 3 months later.

On fruit trees that maybe attacked by either Codlin Moth or Guava Moth I suggest to also make some little bags out of old curtain netting, fill with the Neem Granules and hang in the tree at the four cardinal points about your height, high.

Moths flying around at night will not be able to smell the fruit so easily and so fly on by not knowing there is a ideal place to lay their eggs.

Another excellent control is a lure and trap which can be a from a color or a smell.

Wallys Sticky Yellow White Fly traps are ideal for both inside a glasshouse and outside hanging by plants such as tomatoes.

It always amazes me how many small adult pests are caught on these yellow sticky pads.

That in its self stops hundreds of eggs being laid and the resulting damage to your plants.

Then there is also another way to control moth problem by which you set up a moth lure to attract them and kill them.

Take one litre of hot water add a 100 grams of sugar, one teaspoon of marmite, half a tablespoon of

Cloudy Ammonia and half a tablespoon of Vanilla:

Mix well and divide the mix between two plastic milk or soft drink bottles. (500 mils approx each)

Punch or drill some holes (big enough to allow a moth in) in the side of the bottles just above the level

of the mix. Place on a stand about a couple of metres away from the tree. At about waist height like on a small folding table.

When a number of moths are caught dispose of them and make up a new solution.

Ideal for both codlin and guava moths.

Then we can have control of the psyllid pest which effects and destroys our tomatoes, potatoes and tamarillos and to a lessor extent, capsicums, chilies, peppino and okra.

If you had psyllid problems on your tomatoes last season this is what you do.

When you plant your tomato seedling water it in with a solution of Wallys Silicon and Boron Soil Drench, used at 10ml per litre of water apply about a 150mls of the solution into the soil to water the seedling in. You will repeat this again two weeks later.

This gets the silicon into the plant through the roots and the plant takes it up readily because of the boron.

You then mix Wally Silicon Cell Strengthener Spray used at 5ml per litre of non-chlorinated water and

Mixed with Wallys Silicon Super Spreader used at just 1mil per 5 litres of non chlorinated water.

(Comes a 100ml bottle makes 500 litres of spray, use the 1ml Transfer Pipet supplied to measure)

Mix these two products into a one litre Trigger sprayer which will be 5mils of Wally Silicon Cell

Strengthener Spray with quarter a mil of Silicon Super Spreader which drives the spray into the tomato plant. Spray the young plants each week till about a metre tall.

The spray keeps ok so just place out of direct sunlight to use again next time, after giving the contents a shake.

Once a metre tall spray 2 weekly and then when you reach the stage when there is a good fruit set spray once a month for any new growth.

Done correctly you will wipe out all the psyllids in your back yard or glasshouse and be free of the pests next season until they find their way back from the neighborhood.

Remember that a lot of pests are brought home on plants obtained from elsewhere including places you purchased from.

Root mealy bug is a curse insect as is root nematodes both suck goodness out of the roots of plants they are feeding on. On container plants and out doors they can be treated with Wallys Neem Tree Powder sprinkle a little on to the potting mix then cover with a little more potting mix

On lawns you can do the same but in gardens where the pests are just use Wallys Neem Tree Granules. Often gardeners are surprised at how good the treated plants are after a few weeks of application.

Thats because they dont have the pests sucking out their goodness anymore.

Here is to a reduced pest problem this season.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Part II of the Act covers a broad range of Civil and Political Rights. As part of the right to life and the security of the person, the Act guarantees everyone:

1The right not to be deprived of life except in accordance with fundamental justice (Section 8)

2The right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment or punishment (Section 9)

3The right not to be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without consent (Section 10)

4The right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment (Section 11)

Furthermore, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 guarantees everyone: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.
This includes the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief,
INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO ADOPT AND HOLD OPINIONS WITHOUT INTERFERENCE (Section 1)

Gardening

Protecting your fruit crops from Codlin & Guava Moth (Wally Richards)

October 31, 2021 Pam Vernon Leave a comment

I wrote this article a few months ago but as several gardeners recently have been asking how to protect their fruit crops from both Codlin Moth and Guava Moth

I think it is well worth repeating this information. Guava moth is mostly in the upper north island but there has been a few cases in other areas likely as a result of fruit been brought south from infected areas.

So share with family and friends as there is nothing worse than losing your crop to these two pests.

There are two moths in New Zealand that attack fruit namely, Codlin Moth which have apples, pears and walnuts as their host fruit. Guava Moth which has all fruit and nuts as their host.

The Codlin Moth is seasonal active while there is fruit on their host plants but the Guava Moth is all year around going from one host tree to another.

Both are relatively easy to control so that you can obtain a reasonable amount of your crop as long as you follow my proven advise. Firstly let us understand how these two pests operate.

Being moths they only fly at night and they find their host tree by the smell of the forming and ripening fruit. So if they cannot smell your tree/fruit they will fly on by to a tree they can smell.

This is the first step in reducing the damage to your fruit by disguising the smell of the tree/fruit.

To do this you need an overriding smell that negates the smell of the tree.

Wallys Neem Tree Powder scattered on the ground underneath the tree from the trunk to the drip line.

Then by making some little bags out of curtain netting we hang more of Wallys Neem Tree Powder in the tree on the lower branches about head high at the four cardinal points.

So we use the Wallys Neem Tree Powder as described after flowering and when the fruit has formed to a reasonable size.

One application then is all that is needed for each crop to disguise the fruit as the powder last over 2 months slowly breaking down..

The next step in control is to prevent any grubs that hatch out near your fruit from eating their way into the fruit.

Once a grub enters the fruit you have lost the battle cause even if you use a poisonous systemic insecticide to kill it? Whats the point its going to die inside the fruit and be useless.

No you need a non toxic substance on the outside of the fruit that is going to prevent the grub from eating its way in.

Wallys Super Neem Tree oil with Raingard is the perfect answer.

You spray the fruit, not the tree so there is a coating of Wallys Neem Tree Oil on the skin of the fruit

protected from washing off in rain with Wallys Raingard (lasts for 14 days before reapplying.)