Woolley Aphids on apple trees

[terryc...@gmail.com]

This isn't exactly a cider question, but my "favourite" apple tree which I use as a base for cider is suffering from an infestation of Woolley Aphids. Has anyone dealt successfully with this problem?

Dr Google suggests "organic" remedies like hosing them off, spraying with soapy water and neem oil, spraying with eco-oil etc as contact solutions. These approaches only seem to be marginally effective and it is becoming a daily flog. In fact as of this afternoon I seem to be losing the battle.

It is the end of Spring here in Australia and the tree is a Fameuse/Pomme de Neige. We only have a small rural domestic orchard and have been making cider "for fun and friends" for five years or so. As it turns out we won't have much of a crop next year due to an antarctic breakout at exactly the wrong time which produced -10C frosts followed by strong winds that effectively trashed any buds and developing fruit in our district. So, a short life/witholding period systemic spray wouldn't be out of the question as we are looking at 18 months before getting a decent crop again.

Any suggestions will be very much appreciated as I don't want to lose the tree.

[Ray Blockley]

Not "organic" but can certainly be applied extremely accurately & localised, is to use a small / fine brush dipped in Methylated Spirits & brush directly onto the Woolly Aphids? 

It's worked very well for me. 

Ray
Nottingham UK

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[Les Price]

Sorry to here about your weather. Here in the US there are several good non systemic insecticides available to us that would easily wipe out an aphid problem. Unfortunately as a holder of an applicators license I am not allowed to advice you on specifics. The brand names of these may be different for Australia also. Try Keystone Pest Solutions for at least some ideas on good knock down chemicals.

The long term solution is delayed dormat oil sprays maybe with an insecticide mixed in.

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[Colin Feather]

I’m just a hobby home cider making living in North East Victoria, Australia. I too have had to deal with a major Woolley aphid infestation that took two seasons to work them out.

Here are some things that I found on my quest to bet them:

1. The nature of their “wool” makes it hard to smother them with soapy water or home made white oil meaning that some organic or other insecticide is needed as well in the spray mix.

2. They are very good at hiding in the bark, branch forks and every nock and cranny of the tree.

3. When spraying them the pressure of the spray can knock them off the tree but they will “get backup”.

4. You need to spray every nock and cranny of the tree including bark, fruit, leaves and the ground under the tree.

5. They breed quickly so daily inspection is required until you can no longer see them.

6. They can tap into the tree sap via cracks in the bark and will kill off sections of the tree.

7. After trying organic insecticide + white oil treatments I unfortunately had to revert a commercial insecticide with white oil.

Good luck

Colin

North East, Victoria, Australia

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[terryc...@gmail.com]

Thanks for all the replies. We have had success. I thought I would wait for a while before giving some feedback for others who might have a similar problem.

Ray, your methylated spirits approach was very successful, especially in getting control of the major colonies around pruning wounds and new branches. It seems to dissolve the wool and exposes the aphids to the metho resulting in any survivors being vulnerble to subsequent spray treatments. Fortunately our trees are on dwarf root stock, otherwise treating large trees might be a little difficult. I got a bit enthusiastic and tried spot spraying with metho but it didn't do the nearby leaves much good (they went brown and fell off!), so that approach was abandoned. Brushing  the occasional large new colonies with metho works very well (fortunately the wool is a give-away where they set up camp). 

 Once the bulk of the infestation was treated with metho, the population was reduced, but came back again quite quickly. Another metho treatment followed by spraying the whole tree with a "Naturally Based Insect Spray" now has the infestation largely under control (but not quite eliminated because the little beggars keep appearing occasionally, but new leaves and branches are growing). I think the secret of success was to "nuke" the major colonies with the metho treatment which then allowed the spray to mop-up and control the residual. Limited spot spraying is now a maintenance regime if small colonies of the aphids appear. 

A major attack is planned for the pruning wounds when the leaves are gone in winter.

I am using a local spray called Beat-A-Bug and there are probably similar products in the UK and USA. While it is not safe for bees and so has to be used with some caution, at present we are getting towards the end of Summer and there are no flowers on the fruit trees hence no foraging bees. For anyone looking for something similar, the concentrate active ingredients are 150g/L garlic, 40g/L Chilli, 4g/L Pyrethrins, 16g/L Piperonyl Butoxide (a pyrethrin enhancer) and is mixed with water (2-4 tsp to 8 litres of water) , so a little goes a long way. 

The next move is IPM with predatory insect attracting flowers and a close watch for any aphids next Spring which we will look to control with bee friendly sprays until the fruit has formed. For those interested, we have already planted allysum nearby as some USA research indicates that this attracts hover-flys and lacewings which feed on and substantially reduce aphid populations.

[Andy Backinsell]

Nasturtiums have a good reputation for attracting woolly aphids away from the trees, certainly a little of them go a long way too! 

[David]

I would never use a pyrethroid on apple trees, they devastate most if not all predatory insects. It will usually cause more harm than good.

Stick with the meths and a paintbrush especially as it is just one tree.

There is a product made from orange peel extract that is said to be effective against wooly aphid, it's from South Africa. I think it is called Orowet or something similar. No idea if it is available in Australia sorry. 

Same firm makes wetters that can be got in UK so they are definitely international. Probably don't sell it in small packages though.

[terryc...@gmail.com]

Thanks David. Unfortunately Orowet doesn't seem to be available here. It seem to be made from orange peel and works like soap etc (but better) to desiccate the exoskeleton of things like aphids

[Nik Saunders]

It's not a solution for a bad infestation but as with most things, I crush the nest of wooly aphids where ever and when ever I see them. So far I'm keeping it under control and we have around  60-70 apple trees of varying sizes. I'm doing the same for tenting caterpillars too.

My main problem is white spot mould on apples and plums so if anyone knows of a solution to that which doesn't involve chemicals I'd be interested.

[ciderman]

Aphidius colemani  is parasitic wasp that could be used for Aphid control.  It is more of a greenhouse control but can be used in outdoor applications if you purchase enough wasps/larvae.  This product widely availible in the US not sure about other countries.

good luck

Mike Beck

Middle of the Mitten-USA