Tree Following June 2017 Part 11.
Many thanks to Squirrelbasket for hosting this monthly meme #Treefollowing
Perfect growing conditions recently have prompted my James Grieve Apple Tree into full growth and fruit set.
The Bees have been busy on the Apple Blossoms, and now I can tell what will be a potential Apple snack, and what will fail and fall off.
Lots of fruit set.
So far this year it looks like a bumper crop is possible. But when I say bumper crop, I mean more Apples than the three I had last year..
However all is not quite as it seems, it appears my Apple tree has become a feast for many pests.
the Black Aphids and yellow CATERPILLAR eggs….
I don’t know what the Caterpillars eggs will hatch into, but it could be the same caterpillars as I found on other leaves.
Unknown Caterpillar beastie.
A strange mix of black Caterpillars and yellow ones. According to my pest book it could be any number of apple pests, or even interchangeable caterpillars that just used my apple tree to lay eggs on. I guess I will just have to wait and see what emerges.
I’ve decided not to use any spray on my Apple Tree, because the pest damage is not really too bad yet, and I’m capable of picking off or squashing any bugs and also because I’ve already spotted Ladybirds feasting on the Aphids… hurrah.
Ladybird Attack
Also I’ve witnessed some behaviour from Bumblebees that I’ve never seen before, I’ve seen ants milking Aphids before in order to collect honeydew from the Aphids, but not Bumble Bees.
Bees milking Aphids.
I watched at least 3 different Bees working their way around the tree, and discovered they don’t really like being poked whilst working on the Aphids.
So any sort of pesticide spraying I might want to do in order to beat the aphids and caterpillars will certainly have a devastating effect on the Ladybirds and Bees. So I’m not going to spray at all.
All in all, so far this year it’s all looking good, I’ve been watering around the base of the tree in hot weather, and adding a bit of calcium in order to try to prevent the Bitter Pit in last October’s Tree Following that I identified was affecting my Apple Fruits.
Calcium to water in.
Until next month… bye for now…..
Late again? You really must catch up, you know! 🙂
Some say that bees will go for honeydew only when sources of their favourite nectar have been depleted. And, of course, others say that bees will routinely milk the aphids (wooly aphids are apparently preferred). I wonder if the eggs are ladybirds, given the food source for an adult.
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My old appple tree is looking a bit sad.
Last year it had too many apples (I should have thinned them) but this year there’s hardly any. Maybe that’s how it goes… or maybe a late frost got to the blossom, or the very dry spring is the reason.
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All looking very optimistic! Nice to see nature finding a balance, all in the space of one little tree. 🙂
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