Orchard People

[00:00:00] Introduction to the Urban Forestry Radio Show
Welcome to the Urban Forestry Radio Show here on Reality Radio 101. In this radio show and podcast, we learn about fruit trees, permaculture, aboriculture, and so much more. So if you love trees and especially fruit trees, Or if you're interested in living a more sustainable life, then this is the place for you.
I'm your host Susan Poizner of the fruit tree care training website orchardpeople. com Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the show
Welcome to the urban forestry radio show with your host Susan Poizner To contact Susan live right now send her an email InStudio101@gmail.com
and now right to your host of the Urban Forestry Radio Show, Susan Poizner. Hi everyone.
[00:01:06] Understanding Pest and Disease Problems in Fruit Trees
if you have a fruit tree, it's inevitable that you're going to run into some pest and disease problems at some point. And those problems can result in a really disappointing harvest. Harvest and sometimes a really messy and unhappy looking tree.
But if you have lots of fruit trees and you're selling the fruit for a living, then, these pest and disease problems can be a total disaster. So it's easy to understand why, in years past, Growers opted to use lots of sprays to protect their trees, even if those sprays might be damaging to the environment and to people's health.
things have changed for orchardists and for home growers.
[00:01:50] Introduction to Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
And that's because of a practice called integrated pest management. Organic growers use it, conventional growers use it, and guess what? You can use it too, if you learn a little bit more about it. So that's why I have a really amazing guest on the show today.
[00:02:09] Meet the Expert: Kristy Grigg McGuffin
Her name is Kristy Grigg McGuffin. And she's an expert in integrated pest management here in Ontario. She works for the Ontario Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. And she's in the studio with me today. So during the show, Kristy's going to teach us a lot about integrated pest management.
But here's my question. How much are you going to remember after the show? Lots, hopefully, if you download our new quiz app at orchardpeople. com slash app, A P P. So the quiz for this program is already online. You can take it while you listen into the show today. So just go to the website and follow the instructions.
And when you take any of the quizzes, you could win 250 worth of fruit tree care training from orchardpeople. com. So check it out. So now integrated pest management. It sounds fancy. It sounds like something you have to go to university to study. So how can IPM principles help you in growing your fruit trees and your plants?
So let's find out from Kristy Grigg McGuffin of OMAFRA. Kristy, thank you for coming to the studio today. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yay! So tell me a little bit about integrated pest management.
[00:03:31] The History and Evolution of IPM
What's, the history? When did it all start? So, it's actually, it's been around for quite some time.
Cause we're talking in 1950s is around the time people starting to think about, how their practices are impacting environment, how things should be changing and really working with the cropping system. The big change happened with Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. That kind of started the conversations.
got people really getting the ball rolling with that. So by about the early 80s in Canada fruit trees, talking specifically with fruit trees, most growers were starting to integrate some sort of, IPM practice. the early stages with it, and it's been just evolving since then. it's a constant changing practice, new ideas, new technologies coming in and really changing the scene.
but it really started quite some time ago. So tell me about the book, The Silent Springs. What was that story? so she proposed the idea of, Our impact on the environment and what are that ecological footprint idea and how our actions in particular things like with agricultural practices, how that's going to affect us long term.
[00:04:45] The Role of DDT and Early Pest Control Methods
So at that time, DDT was a big conversation piece. So that really she focused a lot on the agriculture side of things and the impacts that it can have long term. okay, you mentioned DDT. Now, she wrote this, you said in the 50s? hers was in the 60s, 1960s. So this was in the 60s.
Isn't DDT something very, tell me about DDT. And was this used on our fruit trees? Ages ago it was. Some time ago it was. and that's across the board. That was the early insecticides that were used. And if you, Google some pictures, there's some pretty amazing fruit tree pictures, set back a few years.
we're talking before the 1950s. of DDT being used. And what, isn't it like, a chemical that's used in warfare? No, it is. And so that, and that was used, but they did find that during that time, they found that it did have, insecticidal properties. So it not only kills people, it kills insects as well.
Oh my gosh. so yeah, so they started to incorporate it. But, but like I said, that with time, then the research came out, and more and more as, science progressed, and their ability to really see. see the sort of impacts the chemicals can have on certain, animals ourselves as well and the long term impacts, then things started to change quickly with that.
Wow. Okay.
[00:06:11] IPM Practices and Their Benefits
So you talk about integrated pest management as this thing that starts and then starts to change with time. Tell me a little bit, what was it like in the beginning? In the beginning, a lot was just focused on, how do we understand, we know that there are pests. What are they? is basically what they're approaching.
And so how can we start to study the biology and behavior? seeing if there's ways that they can reduce this number of sprays that they're putting on. So before what, what a lot of commercial growers did was what was referred to as calendar sprays. So basically it's June 15th, I go in and spray. So regardless of what it's like, what, regardless of what the season's been like, if the pest is present, it was just to go in and do.
So with this introduction of integrated pest management, then it was starting to look at, let's actually start to understand the pest. Let's start to understand how it works in an agro ecosystem and how we can start to adjust. our spray programs, to account for that. So there was then a significant reduction in the number of sprays.
And then from there, it just snowballed. So it went from monitoring to starting to, incorporate other practices, in terms of cultural controls, in terms of behavioral controls, all of these other aspects of IPM that can start coming in. as a way of reducing the number of chemicals that we're actually putting on.
[00:07:29] IPM for Organic and Conventional Growers
So with regards to integrated pest management and who uses it, is it only used in conventional orchards or can organic growers use it as well? Yeah. Yeah. No, it can be used across the board. So the idea of IPM is making use of as many control tactics as possible. So that's using cultural. biological, behavioral, mechanical, physical, as well as chemical.
So in terms of organic versus conventional, that really, the difference is really only in terms of what products are being applied if there's chemicals being used. common misconception, organic does not mean no spray. It just means it can sometimes be. different sprays than what's used in conventional orchards.
But, it means that across the board, whether a grower's organic or conventional, they use a multitude of other tactics as well. So everything comes into play whether you're organic or conventional. It's funny because when I first heard about integrated pest management, it really did sound like a fancy thing to me.
it's just this is too fancy for me, I'll just look for the basics.
[00:08:32] Learning and Implementing IPM
But, is it true that everybody can use it. You don't have to have your PhD and entomology or, whatever in order to practice. Absolutely. It's really just the willingness to learn. It's the wanting to look for resources, which are everywhere and anywhere for you to find them, and learning about what you've got.
Because again, the basic IPM is really just understanding the pests that you're working with. And so anyone is able to do that. So long as They've, done their research. they have the resources available to them and, and the enthusiasm to learn about it. I got to tell you, Kristy, that the way that things developed for me was I started with, I was a gardener and I was new organic gardening, but I knew nothing about fruit trees and I'm planting this community orchard in Toronto and making all these mistakes.
And I started to think, Oh my God, there's 10 million insect pests. How will I learn them all? And there's 10 million diseases. But what I discovered was. That's not the case. No, I think on, one or two hands, I can list the key diseases that you'll see in most of the conventional fruit trees. I put this all in my training that I teach online and in my classes, I can tell you some of the key insects to look out for.
And just for people listening that, if this sounds overwhelming, it took me five years to do it by trial and error, but there are resources out there. that people can take a course and can learn. And then you are empowered. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And there's again, like you said that there's, there are, the set few that you can basically predict, the time of year, the growth stage that you're at, you can predict what sort of past you're likely going to see.
There is the odd chance that there's the one off something that's new come up, but there's easy ways to be able to get that diagnosed, to see what there is. But in general, yes, I absolutely agree that it's really. quite, quite basic in terms of if you grow an apple tree, you're probably going to see this, and this at this time, right?
Exactly. So let's, use an example here. so for example, life cycles and a pest and whether it's using some sort of a garden sulfur spray, oh, that's more disease, but let's say, why does the life cycle matter? Why is it important when you're thinking of. whether you're spraying your trees or putting up traps and stuff like that.
Yeah.
[00:10:59] Practical Examples of IPM: San Jose Scale
so, let's use something like, San Jose Scale. Is that an okay? Yeah. Scale example. Okay. Perfect. and do you wanna describe it to people? What does scale look like? Scale on apple trees scale is a very difficult pest to try and actually see. It's a very tiny pest. What you will see on apple's, the San Jose scale in particular, causes these red halos.
to form on the fruit. really common on, on yellow skinned fruit. You can really see it very easily, but it doesn't mean that it's limited to just that. but the adults themselves coat the fruit, the leaves, the bark, you name it on the tree. And with time, with a few years, if that population is unmanaged, it can really take down the tree quite quickly.
Oh, wow. but in terms of how IPM can work with that in terms of, figuring out the timings for controls, the ideal times. They overwinter as immature scale and so they don't have the insect themselves is a really soft body insect But the interesting thing about it is that it forms this waxy covering over top which protects it from any sort of sprays or anything that Might reduce the livelihood of them.
And so as their image overwintering as that immature scale then That shell isn't completely formed. So if you're going in with a dormant oil spray, which works for suffocation, that's coating right over top of the scale. As they're starting to mature, the respiration rate is increasing, and so you're getting that suffocation happening.
If you were to wait, and put that on later on in the season, say just before bloom, they've already matured. So they start as soon as the sap starts to flow, they've already matured and you've got that thick waxy covering. So putting on the oil really isn't going to do much for them. So then in terms of monitoring for them, once that shell is on, They're there.
They're not going anywhere. The thing is that the females actually produce live young. And so those crawlers are the things that are going to start moving across the tree, going to the fruit, going to new parts on the branches, just spreading out. And so having Things like sticky tape on the trees to monitor for that crawler movement so that you know when you can start doing your next sort of control option.
So say if you're going to do summer oils, you'd wanting you're wanting to be targeting those crawler stages. And so having that tape there, you're starting to look and see when those crawlers are actually active. It's amazing. So basically what we're doing is we're making friends with these insects.
We're getting to know them like you're getting to know a neighbor. Completely. What are their habits? When do they leave the house? When do they go to work? when do they throw their trash on your front lawn so that we can stop them before they throw the trash and say, Oh Bob, you know what?
This is my front lawn. Please don't throw your trash here. You okay with that? Why don't you go to the other neighbor on the other side? So I love that it's basically coming from this fog of I don't really know what to do into the specifics of okay, so maybe San Jose scale is a problem in my community.
Maybe that's one of them that I want to learn about. and we'll talk about a few more specifics in a bit. One thing that I've noticed, I took a class with you that I really enjoyed. I was so happy that you could come to that. Oh my God, it was such a great class. Kristy's a great teacher and, it was lots of fun and I learned a lot, but what was this class?
[00:14:17] Training and Resources for IPM Scouts
It was teaching young people mostly how to be. Integrated pest management scouts Yeah. Yeah. So we started it originally as specifically for scouts, but it's surprising how much it's growing. And so we get a really nice mix. We it's, growers, consultants, it's really open ended.
Anybody is welcome to come in bonus. It's free. So it's perfect for public as well. And it's just a nice chance to, to learn about the pest complex of apples. Now, that's not the only week. Course that's offered. That's just the one that I teach, but we do cover practically all horticulture crops. and again, focusing specifically on IPM training with it.
so here's what struck me. And by the way, in lots of communities, we are in Ontario, but then lots of communities, there is support. And we'll talk about that later in the show. And there is training out there if you can find it. But here's what struck me. They were young people. These are people who aren't even necessarily studying, the plant sciences.
And they were able to, in a day, be empowered enough to then go out and spend their days. Their summer job will be looking at orchards. Tell me a little bit about what that's going to look like for them and what kind of preparation they need in order to do that. Yeah. So yeah, so IPM Scouts is a great opportunity for summer students.
So it's usually high school, university students, whether it's companies that hire them out or whatever. individual growers or groups of growers, or researchers such as myself, then we would hire summer students to do the IPM training. So I think the key for them is to understand that they are, they don't have to be an expert, that nobody in this field is an expert with it.
And you don't have to know everything. You just have to know where to look for it. if you need answers. And so for them, it's just a matter of introducing them to, to what is around, what they're likely going to see and give the resources at that point. And then for them, it's knowing who can they contact for questions or what books can they read or where can they look online to try and find exactly what they're wanting.
So I just want to remind the listeners. We'd love to have your questions and we're going to get into all sorts of nitty gritty details about pests and disease. So you can always email us your question to instudio101 at gmail. com or tell us about your experience with pests and disease in your fruit trees or yeah, and just remember to put your name and also where are you, emailing us from?
Now here's the fun part guys. If you want to call in, you can actually call in today too. And you can talk to us in person and ask your questions in person. Here's the number. I am sure it's toll free. 1 866 905 7325. So the number is 1 866 905 7325. Okay. now the other thing that struck me when I, did, some of these IPM classes was.
Weeds was part of the curriculum. Why? Believe it or not, yes, pests don't just involve insect disease, but we're also talking weeds and vertebrates, too. deer, rabbit, birds, all of those are pests that growers deal with on a regular basis. And so why not try and find alternate means to try and manage and, live with them, basically.
Oh, wow. Okay, super.
Okay, Kristy, tell me a little bit. We're going to talk about apples now. You've brought in this book. Tell me about the book.
What kind of book is it? So this is a resource that, that we put out with OMAFRA. So that's our abbreviation. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, we call it OMAFRA for short. So this is publication 310, and this is specifically for apples. Your common insect and disease that you'll see and in it, it goes through with pictures as well.
It goes through identification period of activity. what sort of thresholds, if anything is established, any sort of management recommendations in terms of all aspects, not just chemical management. And so it's a really great resource to just be able to see what there is. It's a nice reference point. and yeah, so it's for anyone that's also interested.
It is also available online too. so we've converted it into a crop IPM. So if you did Ontario. ca slash crop IPM, you'll see a number of modules that we have and apples is one. And again, it goes through the breakdown of your typical insect disease that you see. some mention of vertebrate pests as well in both the book, as well as online.
Oh, that's so handy. And so it's a 50 book, but you can get it online. That's amazing. So talk to me about this. This hand lens. It looks to me like a little tiny jewelers. It's a little tiny. It is actually a jewel often jewelers lens. So this is as this is actually from a pest company. So if I'm I don't mean to plug it, but Solida is a great pest company if anyone's looking for it.
Wonderful monitoring supplies. So if you're looking for anything in terms of traps or anything like that, IPM related, then it's a great local resource based in Quebec. But, but anyway, so this hand lens, I can't stress enough that one of the best tools to have for IPM is a hand lens. Why? Pests are small.
They're not, just the ones that we can see with our naked eye. so using a hand lens to get up and close to the leaf, to the fruit, to the bark of the tree really helps to give you a good picture of what you're dealing with. if you start to see a leaf turning brown, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a nutrient or that there's some sort of disease that's impacting it.
If you got close with that hand lens and you started looking for mites or you started to look for any sort of other small insect. then you get a better idea of how you should be approaching the management. So hand lens is definitely something to always have in your pocket when you're going to the fruit tree.
[00:20:02] Monitoring and Inspecting Your Fruit Trees
So how many times a week should we be looking at our trees and inspecting them? So how many times a month? I don't know. So IPM it's It does take a lot of commitment, in order to get a really good idea of what's going on in your orchard, it's recommended once or twice a week to really see how things change, because depending on what's happening with the weather, things can change pretty quickly.
Pests develop rather fast, and so being able to get that vulnerable life stage for either an insect or a disease is knowing then, what's happening at that current time. So getting in as much as possible, given how much time you have, ideally once or twice a week. That sounds great. And in our orchard, I think every time we have stewardship, we just go, we have a look at the trees, see what's different.
Absolutely. Check out stuff. I got to tell you, we've got a really nice email from Phil. Hello. I'm a new listener, says Phil. He's from Manitoba. Great show. Wonderful information, Phil. Thank you so much, Phil. It's great to hear from you. okay. So you're out there, you're inspecting you and, what kind of things would you be looking for this once or twice, a week visit to your apple tree?
what are you going to look for? Yeah. So it's really, you have to start big picture and then really start to zone in. So like you said, a lot of times it is just really walking around and noticing. The tree. So before you're really approaching and laying your hands on the tree, it's looking and just seeing how does it look?
Is it drooping? Are the leaves changing color? Is there anything that's really stand out different from before? And then you can zone in a little bit more and figure that out. But just getting a big picture really helps to kind of start to just get the groundwork laid out for what you're dealing with.
And then you slowly start to move in closer to the tree. So then you're starting to look at the leaves, top to bottom. That's the big thing because a lot of the pests hang out underneath the leaves. So you might not see them if you're just doing a general look. So it's slowly looking under the leaves.
It's looking on the branches. It's getting in close personal with the tree and looking at the trunk and seeing what's happening there as well as once the fruit starts to develop, then it's looking to see what sort of insects are going to be going after the fruit directly to the other important thing is the.
base of the tree. Always, look at the base of the tree. There's a lot that can happen right at the soil level that can really impact the rest of the tree.
[00:22:22] Understanding Tree Health Holistically
So if you start to see a tree is dropping or it's getting some browning leaves, it's really easy to just say, Oh, it's this and hone in on those leaves.
But really what's happening is something that's much. Further down in the tree blocking that nutrient flow. So it's getting the big picture thinking of the whole tree as a system in itself Interesting in the word holistic jumped out at me like it's like holistic medicine your finger hurts. This may be Inflammation from somewhere else in your body.
Absolutely. Same thing with the tree same thing the tree and it's the health of the tree, too I always like to say that it's just like how we would take care of ourselves is how we should take care of the trees. So if we keep ourselves healthy and we have our water, lots of water, we have nutritious food, we get lots of sleep, we limit the numbers of stress in our life, then we're better able to fight off anything that might be coming at us externally in terms of infections.
Trees are the exact same way. As long as we keep the health of the tree up, then it's better able to defend if something should come in. Mhm. Absolutely.
[00:23:24] Dealing with Aphids: Real-Life Experiences
I'm seeing that big time this year with aphids as any bit any of you listeners, have you guys had some aphids on your trees this year? Wicked year for aphids.
Oh my goodness. And they hit cherry trees a lot, cherries and apricots. So people call me a lot to say, Oh my God, look at my tree, something's wrong. And I got to say, I'm very proud because in our orchard park, Our trees did really well. They did get the aphids, a bit at the tips, but they fought it off and they, the beneficial insects fought it off.
And so because we care for our trees really, well, we give them lots of love. We make sure they're irrigated. We make sure that they get, good nutrition every year. And of course they're correctly pruned every year. So I must say, is that bragging? I've just been bragging. I'm sorry. okay.
So tell me.
[00:24:15] Best Practices for Apple Tree Management
With apple trees, are there some top integrated best management secrets that you can share with us? And it's just we're going to keep it to ourselves. It's me and you and the listeners and guys, we're not telling anybody else, right? So I well, I can't stress enough about having resources. So it's getting in, and knowing what you're looking for.
So I, I already plugged the, crop IPM, right? So Ontario. ca slash crop IPM. One of the awesome things that are on there, is actually a calendar of all of the typical past. that you'll see and when you'll see them so that when you're going in, okay, it's tight cluster. I need to start looking for aphids.
I need to start looking under the leaves for that, this sort of thing. so that's a big thing is knowing what you're going to be looking for before you start looking. so you're not caught off guard for anything. Also taking, keeping in mind, there's going to be Thousands of other things you're going to see on that tree.
It doesn't mean it's a pest. There are very few pests and lots of beneficials and lots of other random visitors as well. So knowing the difference between a pest and a beneficial will help huge. as well as, just again, knowing, when they're active and, and when to expect certain things.
So hand lens is key for looking at that stuff.
[00:25:38] Essential Tools for Tree Care
Big secret. flagging tape is also surprisingly my best friend because whenever you see something, it's nice to monitor and see what happens as the year progresses. So sticking up some flagging tape in that tree right at that area, say if there's a branch that's questionable or you want to see what's happening, say for instance you found scale at that point, flag it so that you can come back.
It's surprising when you look at something when the buds are just starting to break. It's really easy to see. Come back in August and try and see once that foliage is nice, dense and lush, trying to find that same thing is next to impossible. I love that. And by the way, you call it flagging tape. If people, if you don't have flagging tape, you can use a ribbon, you can use any sort of marker.
And it's so interesting because often when I'm pruning and if there's something I'm not quite sure about, I've never really. I thought, I think to myself, I want to come back to that branch to see how it responded to this particular pruning cut and what happens. And so really just that ribbon, a bit of yarn, whatever you've got to tie it on the branch.
bright color, Yeah, nice bright colors. Yeah. Okay. So those were a few tips. let's see what else are good things to have. always have a pocket knife with you. Now, keep in mind, if you start digging on the, at the tree, you're going to hurt it. But if you're seeing something, it's really good to get a closer look to it.
So having that either a pocket knife or a pruner to be able to take that off. Know if you've got any sort of diagnostic labs around your area that you can submit things to, or if you've got any sort of resource in the area that you could take samples to having collection vials with you to be able to sample any sort of insects if you need to bring them back.
best thing if you collect an insect either in a bag or in a vial and you want to I. D. Them, they're pretty fast. So stick them in your freezer when you get back home, don't tell your family members. Bring them back out in a couple minutes and they'll have slowed down and you can really get a good look at them to be able to really identify what it is that you're dealing with.
So you want to keep them alive? I would like to keep them alive. That's again, the thing with IPM. It's not about eradicating. It's about living with it. And so it's trying to find that level that you can keep them at so that, anything more and there could be significant impact on the yield, but you're still letting that population thrive and build.
now we have an email again. I love our listeners. We've got great listeners. So Jerry writes, wow, have you answered my questions today? Amazing. Thanks. And he's from Orlando, Florida. Thank you so much, Jerry. Okay. So these are really good. And this is a lot of what I learned in the course with you that I really enjoyed.
[00:28:23] Resources for Tree Care in the US and Canada
Now, in the States, they have a little bit different resources. Can you talk a little bit about the difference if you're Canadian and if you're American, how, where would you reach out to? Yeah. So, in the States, then a lot of their state universities actually have extension specialists. and so they're the ones they're basically my counterparts, right?
So I work with government, and. And we have a series of field specialists that work, in the fields actually with the growers. And so we provide a lot of that extension material, and work closely with the industry, whereas in the States, a lot of their extension, is, from the universities. Or within arm's reach of university.
That's the difference, but we both have similarities in terms of there are a lot of private consultants. there are a lot of industry partners that do a lot of extension work as well. so it depends on what region you're in terms of where you can reach out to get them. so for instance, down, down in the States, then, really wonderful resources, but that I rely on heavily to, Michigan State University, Penn State University, Cornell.
Washington State, Oregon State, they all have wonderful extensionists that work there. Great. And check their websites and stuff. Okay. We've got an email from Janice. Hi, listening from Wilmington, Delaware. I love that you're discussing these issues in simple terms for lay growers like me. Very interesting.
Thank you so much, Janice, and I just want to say about that, that I think when I started learning about fruit trees myself, that was the challenge that I came up with, because a lot of the stuff was just written in this really complicated scientific way. And I don't want to be a scientist.
I just want to grow fruit trees. yeah. and I think that's been my challenge. That's why I wrote my book, Growing Urban Orchards. And it was all about what is the minimum that I have to do? In order to keep my trees healthy and productive, the minimum, just tell me in simple terms.
Yeah. And so now for the, then I created my e learning course and again, it's what is the minimum I need to do to keep these healthy trees. But now with IPM, I'm getting really excited about taking it to the next step. Awesome. it's just so much less scary if you do it one step at a time.
And my friend says this about gardening in general, there is always so much to learn. There's always more to learn, and that's the good thing. Completely, yep, yeah. instudio101 at gmail. com, we'd love to hear from you. I'm just wondering if you've had interesting experiences with extension services, with reaching out to master gardeners, about fruit trees, and where have you found advice?
and information. and I'd love to hear from you instudio101@gmail.com or 1 866 905 7325. So in the next part of the show, what are we going to talk about? We're going to continue talking about integrated pest but we may also branch out into a few other types of trees. I already have a question on cherry trees that we'll talk about.
Okay, so we've been talking about all sorts of really interesting stuff.
[00:31:37] Listener Questions and Expert Advice: History and Observations Approach vs. Quick Fix
I want to ask you a question because As I mentioned earlier in the show, it's been a really nasty year for aphids, and various pests, at least in our region here in Ontario. And I've had many people reaching out to me, saying, Oh my God, my fruit tree, it's terrible, it's covered with these things.
And they're telling me that their tree care people, I don't know if these are certified arborists, they're not, are offering them Injections. Injections that go into the tree. Have you heard of such a thing? So I've heard of, injectable insecticides.
So something like, Emerald Ash B orer they do use that a lot. So the idea is to actually, inject the insecticide into the tree. And this is something that's systemic. So in other words, that moves up through the tree and it travels to all of the new growth. So it protects the tree from any insect that then starts feeding on it.
so in terms of. aphid use or aphid control in fruit trees, that I'm not. aware of their being registered products for that. what I do suggest those people that are being approached with that, a really great resource, to check is Health Canada's, pesticide label search. So all you have to do if you know the name of the product that they're talking about, pop it into that search, check the label for yourself, and make sure that what's on there, the fruit tree that they're putting it in, and the pest are both on that label because that is what is regulated within the country.
so anything used off label is considered an illegal use of that product. Thank you so much for enlightening me on that one because I Googled, I got the names in a sneaky way. I got in the name of the product and I Googled it and I read the, all the specs of this product. Nowhere did it say did that it helped aphids and nowhere did it say that it helps cherry trees.
I think it was a cherry tree. Okay. But it was like for edible cherries. Yeah. and our types of aphids that we really deal with in a lot of things like stone and palm fruit trees, the aphids, with the exception of something like woolly apple aphid, where they're actually feeding on, say the roots of the tree or, causing, issues right in the cambium of the tree itself.
Most are just feeding on the leaves and the fruit. causing issues that way. so having an injectable into the actual bark and wood of the tree, I'm not sure if it would have as much of an impact as other control methods. I'm, to the listeners, guys, I've learned from experience, beware of the quick fix.
Really, when your tree is sick, you need to start thinking, how have you been caring for the tree in years past? How can you start caring well for the tree so it can function? Fight its own patch so it can protect itself. And so think of the big picture and beware of the quick fix because people just are like, Hey, this tree produced since I bought the house and the fruit was great, but now it's not good and I'll pay whatever.
I'll pay 400 for a quick fix of some poison that could poison other, beneficial insects or other animals or your cat who knows. Yeah. Who knows? It's important to do research and, and to, yeah, to follow the tree along. I think, you made a really good point of know the past, right? The history of your crop is so important.
Then you know what you're dealing with each year. If you know that you've got problems with mites in this variety of tree, go back to that year after year. And that's going to be the point that you start your monitoring with, right? That's going to be the baseline. So having the history is really important.
Taking kind of that ownership in terms of, you're responsible for the tree year after year. And if you let that slide, the bugs aren't going to wait for you, right? People, I think the problem is so many of us think that, fruit trees can. can take care of themselves just like native trees can, and so it is a different thing.
We have a question here from Linda and it's, she, says contest, that's the title. The book that you're talking about to be won, where can we buy it? Thank you. And Linda's from Dallas, Texas. so can you answer that question? Yeah, So that book is actually, it's available. If you go onto our website, Ontario.
ca, and you search publications, you could actually Google, publication 310, 3 1 0, and that's integrated pest management for apples. And it would take you directly to the site and give you all of the contact information. So you contact Service Ontario. It's either, online or by phone and you can order the book that way.
Or you might just win it. Who knows, Linda? So there's a good chance here. and we have, let's see, Anthony has emailed us as well. hi Susan and Kristy, wonderful show. I understand that we cannot eradicate pests totally from an orchard, but I want to, rid as many of them as possible. oh dear, so how to deal with Japanese beetles.
In Maryland, we have a wonderful resource. The University of Maryland Extension Service that provides training, workshops, and online resources. Absolutely. So Anthony's writing from Baltimore, Maryland. Thank you so much for writing in. That's really good to know. Yeah. And their extension service is definitely excellent.
Okay.
[00:37:08] Managing Japanese Beetles
Japanese beetles. Yeah. Japanese beetle. So, the interesting thing, what I have to say first with them, and again, here it comes back to understanding the behavior and biology of the past. Japanese beetle. actually does two things. One, it admits an aggregation pheromone. So basically it's sending out a bat signal to all the other Japanese beetles in the area saying, I found this awesome spot, come and check it out.
So that brings all the Japanese beetles to the area. The other thing is once they start feeding, it actually causes the plant to emit volatiles that say there's feeding happening here, which all the ones that didn't get those aggregation pheromone messages, get the vile tiles, brings even more in. So you get these congregations.
So basically where there's one, There's going to be many. So Japanese beetle is best to get a handle on it ahead of time. Like almost every past. When you see them. Yeah. So now, in terms of Anthony's question that, it depends, on the size of what you're dealing with. So if you just have one or two trees, best thing that you can do is actually go out, hand pick them.
put them in a bucket of soapy water. If you've got a larger orchard and you've got the labor to do it, that's also a really great method. There are other chemical controls that can be used if you're a, an actual, certified grower, and you do have the pesticide license, then there are options.
Japanese beetles are actually quite easy to knock. down if you have the products available. If you are a homeowner though, and you're not, or you're not a licensed grower, it gets a little bit more difficult. So that's where you do have to put the labor into. As I said, doing the manual removal, pruning out areas.
If you see them in large batches, the problem is that they fly really easily. So actually getting ahold of those suckers and getting them out is the best thing. I do also want to bring up two Japanese beetle traps. Because they are commercially available and they can be actually very effective in terms of trapping beetles if they're done properly Because the thing is that these traps use those aggregation pheromones So if you put that right in your orchard, you're basically pulling in All of those beetles that wouldn't normally be there, put it outside of the orchard, put it away from the orchard and check it on a regular basis.
So I apologize to any, listeners that are a little squeamish, but if you're not changing it on a regular basis, and almost daily, if not more, depending on your pressures, what happens is that Those new guys that come in, those new beetles that come in will actually climb up the bodies of the ones that are already in there and crawl back out.
So you're not doing anything in terms of trapping them. So put it outside of the orchard away from those trees and change it regularly. And you could potentially have some mass trapping effects happening there. So listeners instudio101@gmail.com we've got a little bit more time with Kristy so I'd love to hear more questions and thank you Anthony.
Anthony would you like to hear my secret? Maybe even Kristy can learn from my secret. I know how to deal with Japanese beetles. So what you do is you catch them early on, you have a bowl and you catch them in your garden and again this is between us right? We're not going to share this information. You have your soapy water and you brush a few of the beetles into the water.
And you leave them there out in your garden so that all the other Japanese beetles can see what happened to their brethren. If they come into your garden or into your orchard, they'll be like, Oh my gosh, she is vicious. We're not going to hang around her garden or orchard. So you can Great idea. Yeah.
Isn't that a good idea? Anyways, that's my secret. So I have a couple of questions here I want to make sure I get to ask.
[00:40:41] Preventing Fruit Rot in Cherry Trees
I've got a question from Alan. I think Alan was from Toronto. My cherry tree got hit by theme of today by aphids earlier this summer. I ended up cutting the infected areas off and the problem declined.
Awesome. Good. Ironically, it didn't result in much of a problem since there were very few cherries this year. My issue with my tree is that when there is a good year for fruit, inevitably I don't get to harvest much before they all go moldy. What do I need to prevent this ongoing year after year problem?
That must be super frustrating. so I will do a shout out first to my colleague, Wendy McFadden Smith. So she is actually our OMAFRA specialist that works with Tender Fruit. And I'm sure that she would agree with me that says pictures are worth a thousand words, absolutely. So it's hard to diagnose completely what it is, without actually seeing.
I would suggest going to ontario. ca backslash crop IPM. check out the tender fruit module. I would suggest Heading to brown rot, maybe check that out first, get some information, see what the description is, look at those pictures and see if that's what you're dealing with. Because I suspect that might be the issue.
it's a really common issue in stone fruit, especially in cherries. it tends to be more common in a year when the cherries are bunching together. So if you've got a good fruit crop and they're really, there's a lot in that one area, then brown rot can really develop there. so you can take a look at that and see one of the best things.
What stands out to me is to saying that it's happening year after year, which means that the inoculum is there, it's not coming in. So what you need to do is get that inoculum out. So something like brown rot, it tends to, you, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the term mummies, fruit mummies.
So it's basically shriveled fruit that stays on the tree into the fall and winter. So it doesn't actually drop off the tree. excellent source for disease pathogens to stay and overwinter. So things like brown rot, black rot of apples, bitter rot of apples, everything like that really tends to harbor within those fruit mummies.
So getting those off the tree is key. Looking at the tree for any sign of cankers, removing those twigs, getting those cankers out. So you're trying to really reduce the inoculum that's there. If you see fruit that's rotting, that is just sporulating and going to cause more and more infection. Get those out.
So harvest those as soon as you see monitor your trees, watch what's going on, get rid of any rotten fruit that's dropped on the ground. That's so amazing, like so much a part of what I teach in my online course is just be meticulous. Absolutely. keep the area around your tree clean. Yep, completely.
[00:43:26] Conclusion and Additional Resources
Thanks everybody for participating and sending in your questions, and it's been great, Kristy, to have you in the studio. so much for having me. Maybe we can lure you back again sometime. Definitely. that was IPM expert Kristy Grigg McGuffin of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with me right now in the studio.
Okay, so the Urban Forestry Radio Show is just about over and I really hope you enjoyed it. I have so much more to share with you on my website. So go to orchardpeople. com and you can read the blogs. You can check out some free videos. I also have online fruit tree care training and it's called beginner fruit tree care, but you can even be intermediate and learn quite a lot from it.
And arborists take my course, gardeners and home growers. Also on my website. site, you can listen to archived episodes of this radio show and podcast, and you can see how much information we have on the show.
You're listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show. I'm Susan Poizner from the fruit tree care training website, orchardpeople. com. Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to digging into a new fruit tree care topic with you guys next month.
You've been listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show on Reality Radio 101. To learn more about the show and to download the podcast where I cover lots more great topics, you can visit orchardpeople. com slash podcast. This show is broadcast live on the last Tuesday of every month. And each time I have great new guests talking to me about fruit trees, food forests, and arboriculture.
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Thank you so much for tuning in. It's been wonderful to have you as a listener. And I hope to see you again next time.
Thank you for listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show. With your host, Susan Poizner, right here on Reality Radio 101.