I don't think dormant oil is a good choice to kill codling moths.
Dormant
oil should not be applied when there is folliage or fruit on the trees.
However, that is the time when the codling moth emerges from it's Winter
cocoon (weeks after petal drop) and lays it's eggs. I don't think the
dormant oil would be effective in killing the insect inside it's cocoon,
so that rules out the effectivity of dormant oil as a control of codling
moths.
The only other technique I have tried are hanging traps in the trees.
This is a labor intensive job and the lures to attract the moths are
somewhat expensive. I quickly gave up on various pesticides, except
for 5% Imidan, which seemed to be effective.

Sherwin Dubren

Lawrence Akutagawa wrote:

I have an uncle who swears by nematode worms. There are several places
(two are Home Depot and Gardens Alive
http://www.gardensalive.com/item_dis...uctNumber=5000) here in the
US that sell them. The procedure is to spray the ground under your apples
trees - and the main trunk - with them as soon as it gets warm in spring,
with periodic followups during the season. The idea, according to him, is
to attack the insect in the pupae stage. I'm going to give this a try
starting a few weeks from now while it is still warm and the insects are
getting settled for the winter.

Another approach is to heavily dormant spray the trees several times during
the winter to kill as many of the overwintering pupae as possible. An oil
based spray will work well by suffocating the pupae. Not 100% effective
(you miss some), but it does keep the overall poplulation down.

"Sherwin Dubren" wrote in message
...
There is a chemical called Imidan in it's 5% formulation that is very
effective against Codling Moths. It used to be sold here in the States
at Garden stores, but now the government deemed it hazardous for home
orchard use. Farmers can still buy the stuff, so if you know one, you
can get some from them. It is strong stuff, so you need to take all the
necessary precautions like proper clothing and breathing mask. I can
expect the 'organics' to blast me on this one, but I have tried organics
like Rotenone, and none of them work. I don't know if it is sold in
England. Check the internet and you may hook up with a supplier.

Sherwin Dubren
Midwest Fruit Explorers (MidFEx)


Alistair Macdonald wrote:

Having problems with this pest. About a third of my apple crop has been
affected - Bramley, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious. I'm told that
grease
bands are not much use. What is the remedy?
Alistair in Kent England