Apple Tree Organic Pest Control

apple-pest-control

Sweet and sometimes with a bit of tart flavor, apples seem to be the fruit of choice all over the world to snack on and make satisfyingly delicious apple dishes from sauces to pies. For these reasons, gardeners and farmers grow apple trees so people like you and I can go apple picking each year for some fresh crisp apples that come in all different varieties.

Sadly, though, most apple orchards use unnatural chemicals and pesticides to keep their apples growing to perfection and the pest away such as insects and rodents. Instead, organic methods should be used to help keep an apple orchard thriving with growing fruits.

This is because some chemicals and pesticides contain ingredients in them that are harmful to human health that can actually cause illnesses ranging from inflammatory diseases to cancer.

What are the different apple varieties?

  • Alice
  • Ananasrenette
  • Aroma
  • Discovery
  • Bramley
  • Arkansas Blacks
  • Fuji
  • Golden Delicious
  • Goldrenette
  • Gala
  • Jonagold
  • McIntosh
  • Granny Smith
  • Yellow Transparent
  • Pacific Rose
  • Lobo
  • Sampion
  • Pink Lady
  • Summered
  • Belle De Boskoop
  • Red Delicious
  • Cox Pomona

What types of chemical pesticides should not be used in orchards?

Some of the types of chemical pesticides that should not be used on orchard fruits such as apples when trying to keep pest away are organophosphate insecticides. These pesticides cause high health risks from children and adults since they can cause cancer, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders and digestive issues. These pesticides are used mainly in apple orchards to keep coddling moths under control since they are the main reason why fruits and trees are destroyed in orchards. However, other useful methods work just as well as the pesticides, but are a lot safer.

What natural methods are useful for keeping coddling moths away in orchards?

There are many natural methods useful for not only keeping coddling moths away, but also diseases too. Some of those organic methods are:

  • Planting herbs throughout the orchard along with the apple trees such as garlic, mints, queen lace, yarrow, marigolds, tansy plants, mustard plants, chives, coriander plants and henbit herbs can keep pest away too.
  • Stop cultivating the soil around the apple trees since it disrupts the root system, shocks the trees and prevents them from receiving the nutrients necessary to make juicy crisp apples. In addition, it also increases the fruit trees risk for diseases.
  • Never prune the apple trees in the winter since this opens up wounds that can make an entryway for diseases to get into it. It is better too prune the fruit trees in the summer, but only when necessary to remove dead branches and limbs.
  • Spray a combination of liquid manure mixed with nettles, compost, comfrey and seaweed to help condition the soil and keep pest and disease infestations away naturally.
  • Mulching around each tree in your orchard yearly in spring and autumn is an outstanding way to add nutrients back into the ground for the trees to eat up to produce the fruit necessary for apple picking season. Some of the best mulching ingredients to use are seaweed, wool, pea hay and straw.
  • Sprinkling kaolin clay around the orchard all over the trees and apples is a perfectly safe method for ridding insect infestations away. The clay powder sticks to the insects and kills them off, but does not cause illness to humans. In fact, kaolin clay contains minerals and nutrients that are nourishing too humans and can be washed off apples with ease without effecting the taste and texture of the apples.

An Organic Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Using natural methods as the ones you have just learned about here will not only help keep your fruit trees and apples growing successfully without being bothered by pest and disease, but they will also keep the fruit’s the trees produce healthy to eat for your apple loving pickers. After all, an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away, but only if there organic and in their purest form containing all the nutrients necessary for maintaining the body’s health.

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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