apple maggot - Ask Extension
We used to use a bonide product for spraying our apple tree and it seemed it was necessary to spray only once when the apples were about dime size. No...
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apple maggot #869220
Asked May 20, 2024, 10:59 AM EDT
We used to use a bonide product for spraying our apple tree and it seemed it was necessary to spray only once when the apples were about dime size. Now I read on your site that there isn't a spray for such. We've had the tree for about 20 years and sometimes it has been affected by what I believe to be the apple maggot. (The extension service in our county told us that was the problem quite a few years ago.) So we've been spraying our tree all this time for nothing? Is the problem bad some years and not others? If this problem can't be controlled, I'm ready to cut the tree down! I do attempt to keep a clean area such as no rotting apples under the tree but I usually throw them a good distance away. Perhaps that's not enough. More often than not the tree either doesn't produce or has worms. There was at least one good year in the last 20. Do you have any suggestions or have I overlooked something? The tree is a honeycrisp.
Thank you.
Anoka County Minnesota
Expert Response
Apple maggot can be managed. How severe the pest is from one year to the next can vary because the environment influences how many apple maggots are present. You might not have to spray every year however if the pests find your tree one year they usually find it the next.
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/apple-maggot#pesticides-1814714
Is your tree in full sun? That influences apple production. Apples like most fruit trees alternate between a year with fruit and then a year of rest. Commercial growers do floral reduction to get fruit every year.
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/apple-maggot#pesticides-1814714
Is your tree in full sun? That influences apple production. Apples like most fruit trees alternate between a year with fruit and then a year of rest. Commercial growers do floral reduction to get fruit every year.