March 15th 2012 Issue

Organic control for flea weevil

Apple flea weevil can be a problem for organic growers who don’t apply pesticides early in the season.

Damage by apple flea weevil. Matt Grieshop Organic apple growers in the Midwest appear to have a relatively simple solution to their problems with apple flea weevil, which appeared suddenly as a problem in Michigan two years ago and took out 90 percent of the fruit in some orchards. The best solution, entomologists say, is to spray Entrust (spinosyn) very early in the season, at green tip to pink. While pyrethrum materials such as Pyganic do kill the weevil, as does M-Pede, neither of these provide residual activity after they dry. The apple flea weevil adult does its most serious […]

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March 15, 2012

Pest Management, Insects and mites, Richard Lehnert

Richard Lehnert

After growing up on a Michigan dairy farm, Richard Lehnert began writing about farming in 1962, while still a junior studying journalism at Michigan State University. He worked at newspapers for a year before joining the staff of Michigan Farmer, where he spent 26 years, the last 15 as chief editor. He was a member of the staff of Good Fruit Grower from 2010 until 2015. Read his stories: Story Index

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