This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Formal intro (but not a formal garden)

My Goodness Cyndi, you do have SOME problems!!! We admire your
determination to "carry on regardless"!!

Can't answer most of your questions - that would best be done by people
who live in your area I would think - but I am concerned about that dead
cherry tree!

Moira and I have not been able to get a definitive answer as to whether
or not "Silver Leaf Disease" is found in the USA, but if it DOES occur,
then I would want to inspect the remains of that tree carefully for
symptoms!

Silver Leaf is a fungus that attacks cherry trees and a range of other
plants (mainly Rosaceae). It gets in through some injury (like a pruning
cut, or a naturally-broken branch) and it then fills up the
water-conducting tissues of the host plant, causing, at first, a partial
dehydration, and eventually killing the tree. The characteristic symptom
in a live tree is that the leaves get a pale silvery sheen to them, and
new leaves are smaller than normal. The branch first affected will die,
and the symptoms will soon be seen in another branch. If you cut off an
affected branch, the presence of the fungus will show up at the cut as a
brownish ring (complete or partial) in the wood, a short distance in
from the bark.

In a dead branch on a still-live tree, or anywhere on a tree that has
been killed by this fungus, the "fruiting bodies" of the fungus will
appear through the bark, from whence they will scatter their spores to
infect other susceptible plants in the neighbourhood. These fruiting
bodies are sometimes described as "small bracket fungi", and we have
seen that form, but more commonly they appear like small, flat, brownish
"scabs", usually with raised, slightly frilly, edges. In either form
they can show a purplish tinge, especially if damp. They are not large -
1.0 by 0.5 inch typical, but are often seen in long rows along much of
the length of the affected part(s). They only appear after the part is
dead, and while it is then too late for that treee, this is when they
become infective for other trees/plants in the area.

If you see anything like this (and ask your local sources whether in
fact this disease does occur in your area), then please get the
invaluable Mikel to chop the remains of the tree down! The remains
should be disposed of in whatever way is available to you that will not
allow the fungus to continue to spread itself around, it should not be
composted or shredded, nor should it be left lying around for longer
than is unavoidable.

> The land used to be commercial orchards and the soil here is just > amazing.

You lucky people! Old orchard (or truck crop) land is usually in very
good condition, unless it has been over-dosed with fertilizers and
sprays!!

> and when I send Mikel I end up with fushia leaves instead of          > flatleafed parsley (this really happened!)). 

Mikel will probably - eventually - learn quite a lot about plants from
you! You've no idea how much I have learned from my Moira! But it has
taken over 45 years - so far! I'm still learning slowly, but I am still
not an enthusiastic gardener, although I do love to be of assistance to
her around the garden!

> So far, the only pest problem that does anything worth noting, is > coddling moths in the apples. 

Here, we can buy simple traps containing the sex pheromone of the female
codling moth, I would expect something similar to be available where you
are. You hang these in the tops of your trees (one trap is supposed to
manage up to five trees if they are fairly close together) and they
attract the male moths which get stuck on the sticky pad inside. The
idea is that the females will not get mated, and will lay sterile eggs,
which don't hatch - therefore no grubs in the apples.

Our experience of these is that the traps are insufficient on their own,
although they reduce the problem. However, if you inspect the trap
regularly, you can see when the male moths start to get caught, and if
you *then* spray with something that will not bother you, you can get
very good control. Pyrethrum which has not had "synergists" added is
harmless to most people (I presume you know that p. is a natural plant
extract?) and is effective if sprayed at the times when the traps tell
you the moths have "arrived", but if it does bother you, then it is
possible that neem oil may be OK for you. Neem is another natural
product which has been used in India for centuries and has only recently
become available in the west. Neem works by interrupting the life-cycle
of the /immature/ insects, it has no effect on the adults, but it
definitely kills larvae, and is said to kill eggs too. 

We are not yet certain whether it works on codling moths as this is the
first year we have been able to obtain neem. We are using it on our
trees now (Southern hemisphere - our apples are swelling now, and the
traps have shown us that the moths have arrived).

> Mikel makes great baked goods.

Oddly enough, I'm the baker in this family!! (Hi, Mikel!!).

Tony
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index