Sour Cherry Tree - 2023 season fruit fly or other flying pest problem - Ask Extension
Sour cherries from my ~20 year old tree were infested with maggots last season (2023) - the first time ever. Was this a common problem last summer? ...
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Sour Cherry Tree - 2023 season fruit fly or other flying pest problem #868774
Asked May 16, 2024, 5:05 PM EDT
Sour cherries from my ~20 year old tree were infested with maggots last season (2023) - the first time ever. Was this a common problem last summer? Are fruit flies the likely cause and, if so, what can I do now/this season to mitigate this problem?
Hennepin County Minnesota
Expert Response
My pie cherry trees did not have this problem last summer in Benton County. I don't recall hearing about it in other areas either. Apparently the problem fluctuates from year to year. The following web pages do not give a lot of hope, only that eating the worms is not dangerous.
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/faq/i-occasionally-find-small-white-worms-my-cherries-what-best-way-control-them
https://treefruit.wsu.edu/crop-protection/opm/western-cherry-fruit-fly/https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/w0ek3n/do_all_cherries_have_maggots/
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=extension_histall
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/faq/i-occasionally-find-small-white-worms-my-cherries-what-best-way-control-them
https://treefruit.wsu.edu/crop-protection/opm/western-cherry-fruit-fly/https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/w0ek3n/do_all_cherries_have_maggots/
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=extension_histall
