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Posted on 7:39 PM by Wanto and filed under ,
By Fifi Ramond

It would be very nice to be able to say that if you grow your fruit trees and bushes on organic methods then there would be no pests and diseases to control.

It would be a tremendous advertisement for the Organic Movement if it were possible to prove that plants grown on properly fed and cultivated land were never affected by either fungi or pests. Experience, however, shows that this is in fact not true. I have I think, visited all the commercial fruit growers who are growing fruit on organic lines, and I have discovered that all of them carry out some programme of spraying or dusting.

The predator Anthocoris nemorum has been noted throughout the country area, as have a good many other of beneficial insects. The value of the predaceous insects in our orchards has been established. Their use in keeping check on pest insects in the woodland and orchard surrounds is now without question.

One instance has been recorded where its presence in an orchard heavily attacked by red spider prevented the trees from defoliating prematurely. The method of survey has enabled the life history of Anthocoris nemorum to be worked out.

I have been able to correct faults in our spray programme, e.g. in the case of winter moth control and the accurate timing of application of our spray materials. I have found that the orchard surrounds influence our orchard spray programme in proportion to the density of pest host plants present and the established existence of pest and predaceous insects.

Get to know the insects and host plants of the orchard and surround. Use the presence of predacious insects with care; know how they live; avoid their extermination. They are doing valuable work in the orchard surrounds even when not present in the orchard. Time the spray applications accurately. Apply the control materials only when the pest is present and then at the pest's most vulnerable stage.

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