Re: [compost_tea] pear trees/ worms
----- Original Message -----
From: w.reece speas
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 9:22 PM
Subject: [compost_tea] pear trees/ worms
I sprayed some compost tea 4 times through the season on a pear tre=
e this last season that is about 35 years old maybe older that has been spr=
ayed chemically faithfully for as long as this lady can remember, this year=
the leaves were greener they stayed on longer size and shape were perfect =
not a blemish on any of them , her words,
Reese:
Check with other people in your area or your nurseries to see if there is a=
ny indicatin of this worm being wide spread in your area. CT does absolute=
ly nothing for worm infestations. Since you removed the pesticide control,=
the worm found a home. Your suggestion that the worm somehow crawled down =
the stem (I'm assuming you mean inside.) into the fruit doesn't make sense.=
Worms found in fruit are grubs of some flying bug. So some insect laid e=
ggs in/on the fruit or around the fruit, the grubs hatched and made a bee l=
ine for food. CT can't control these things. Take one to your local nursery=
and see if they can ID it. There may be an organic control.
I don't know what you told her about CT but I am very careful when discussi=
ng the results of application. I would never state that it can control ins=
ects, worms and a host of other things.
It surprises me that she is going to let you spray her apples when your fir=
st outing with her led to failure and I would classify good looking inedibl=
e fruit as a failure. I would be very careful and make sure you get some kn=
owledge of what other apple growers are doing in your area and the potentia=
l insect/grub pressure found in your area. It may be that you will have to=
use tea in concert with something else to control the insects. That's OK =
as long as you let your client know what you are doing and why. Of course,=
if you told her that CT can control insects and act as a pesticide, you sh=
ould reimburse her for crop loss or deduct the crop loss from your next pro=
ject with her.
Ted Peterson
SOE
Received on Sun Jan 09 2005 - 21:42:52 EST
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