In previous years I haven't bothered to spray my peach tree for fruit
fly because the tree wasn't mature enough to produce sufficient fruit
to justify the cost of the spray. Instead I just plucked off the young
fruit to let the tree grow. Why pay $20 for spray in order to protect
$5 worth of peaches?
But the tree is finally big enough that it is producing generous
quantities of fruit (i.e. bucketloads of it).
Obviously its too late to spray this season, the fruit on my tree has
already matured and given my lack of spraying lost almost the entire
crop to fruit flies. (Am now cleaning up the maggotty fruit
appropriately in order not to create a bigger problem for next year.)
The peaches were ready for picking around about Christmas (I've now
noted this in my diary), so for future reference when should I spray?
(If anyone has any organic/home made recipes for fruit fly baits or
sprays which really work as well as commercial pesticides I'd be glad
to hear about them.)
And can anyone share any tips on when and how to prune, and what level
of fruit thinning, watering and fertilising in order to get good sized
fruit?
Also, my pear trees have plenty of small pears growing on them, will
they require any kind of spraying?
And finally, my grape vines have produced ample quantities of fruit but
the grapes tend to go brown and wither before they ripen. If its
relevant, the vines grow quite close to the ground, I've been thinking
of building a taller trellis to grow them on. Is the lost fruit due to
too little water or something else?
Travis
