Tuesday, July 5, 2011

This looks icky.........

I have these on my pears trees, no idea what they are but thought I'd enlarge the photos so you got a good look!!
They are not on my apple trees, but the leaves are all rusty and chewed on both the pear and the apple trees.

I took a sample of the leaf and the black things to the garden centre and they told me to spray them with this:

Now I am not one to use chemical on my garden, but the guy said I could drink this stuff if I so desired........I don't......as it doesn't contain pesticides as our Provincial Government doesn't allow it.

Molly started barking up a storm the other night, as this daft turkey went wandering by.......and then it came back for another look....crazy bird..........not sure what Molly would have done if we had let her out?
Found a new site called "What's Cooking Grandma"  I was looking for recipes for blackcurrant jam and stumbled accross this site.  My blackcurrants are starting to darken and ripen, so I reckon in another week I will make a start on picking them.  We don't like blackcurrants but I wanted to do a few pots as favours for the wedding along with the raspberry jam.  The rasps are still a couple of weeks away from being ready.

9 comments:

JohnD said...

They are 'cherry/pear slugs' - these are not true Caterpillars or slugs, but are the larvae of a Saw Fly (which is a Wasp, actually!). They are black with a white line, and with a yellow head and tail. They appear to have no legs, and slither about on their food plant, which can be many species from the plant family Roseceae.

They grow to a length of about 1 cm. They pupate in a cell in the soil. The adult is a little black wasp, with a wingspan of about 1 cm.

http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/none/slug4.jpg
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The female wasp slits the leaf of a host plant between the upper and lower surfaces and lays the eggs inside the leaf. You MUST collect all fallen leaves and any infected leaves and burn them.

Neem oil and wood ashes also works. Pure Neem oil will retain its potency much longer if stored at about 40 degreesF in low light.
Don’t mix any more than you need.
Add water and a little soap before you spray. Spray the complete plant including the potting media.Mix 1 oz in 1 gallon of water. A weaker solution may be used for maintenance. Spread fine wood ash around the base of the bush right out past the drip area.

Janet said...

oh yuk ! are they some kind of wire worm ? handsome looking turkey-is it roaming wild or was it just passing through ?

Valerie said...

Yuk! I don't know what they are but they look vile.

I can't imagine having a turkey wandering round the garden.

~Carla~ said...

Yuck! Hope you get rid of them! I don't think d be drinking that spray either! lol!

When I first read your post I thought you were going to say you were looking for wild turkey recipes!!! rotfl!!!

Jane and Chris said...

BLECH!!
Jane x

Stephanie V said...

Oh, they don't look like something you'd want to have on your leaves.

Karine said...

Ick!!! I hope that spray does the trick!

You've got wild turkeys at your place? That's so neat!!! And you can always send me some black current jam, I love it :o)

angela said...

we get these too! A dusting of baby powder kills them. and a sprinkle of wood ash around the base of trees stops them. They are born in the ground and climb up the tree. Hummmm I wonder if double sided tape around the trunks would work too. Will try it this spring. By the way when I had ducks we didnt get these. May have to get more ducks me thinks.

CannedAm said...

What great info from JohnD in the comments :)

RE the insecticidal soap -- wow did they charge you an arm & leg for ready-to-spray insecticidal soap. Check Canadian Tire or Home Hardware for concentrated insecticidal soap. It's cheaper than the ready-to-spray stuff you got :) Mix it into a garden sprayer and spray on. Since you've got trees and such a large area, that little bottle isn't going to get you very far.

Neem oil was hard to find in Ontario, but since the pesticide ban, I have seen it in Home Hardware and larger Canadian Tires. You can also purchase a concentrate. :)

Do get a sprayer if you don't have one.

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...