David Hare-Scott wrote:

Tom N wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:

I have been pulling apples, pears and quinces this week. The pears
are still hard, hopefully the timing is right and they will ripen
off the tree this time.

The Granny Smith apples are beautiful; crisp, sweet and slightly
tart. We had some visitors and I pulled one off the tree and
offered it around. They said "aren't you going to wash it?" I said
"why?"

Yes a fresh apple off your own tree is fantastic and makes the best
of bought apples look average.

Are your apples free of codling moth or do you use a non-spray method
of control?

I haven't seen the moth in the area but there are not many orchards.
What is a non-spray method of control?

I have only used spray but IIRC you can wrap several layers of cardboard
around the trunk at the right times of the year to catch the grubs and I
have some vague memory of there being other methods (maybe biological
controls or other traps).

We used to have a great Granny Smith apple crop but ut has been very
poor in recent years. Recently I was told that possums eat apple
blossum which could well be the cause, so we will net much earlier
next year.


The little beggars were crossing 150m of paddock patrolled by a kelpie
to get to mine.

Our possums just leap from tree to tree mostly. Rarely go on the
ground.

We also have a fuji apple but it has never had more than a few apples
on it (maybe the possums have been eating the fuji blossum since day
one).

Interestingly, possums don't seem to eat nectarine blossums (we get a
great crop of them - no spray - just buggerising around with nets to
keep out possums, birds, rats and bats).


They were lifting the net to get to my stone fruits even with bricks
every metre along the bottom.

I hold my net down with garden stakes with bricks on them.

You might find that if you built a fence around the bottom with welded
wire mesh (like chookwire but stiffer) that it would keep them out (at
least until they discovered they could climb it). Wouldn't work for my
place as they aren't on the ground to start with.

I'm told possums don't like climbing wobbly wire mesh fences so if you
build a fence that tips over a bit when they climb it, you might keep
them out.

Our possums would just jump onto the net from another tree and then lie
on it like a hammock. They'd stick their paw through and eat nectarines
through the net. But with a net there they don't eat much and they
choose ripe fruit by smell I suppose and they eat the whole fruit.
Other pests take a bite to see if it is ripe and rarely eat all of the
fruit so in the end they damage a lot more fruit than possums do.

Bats are farely easy to keep out with nets as they are fairly clumbsy
unless flying.

We have a rat or two which is too smart for rat traps or poisons. It
gnaws a hole in the net. The birds (particularly introduced thrushes)
patrol around the net looking for holes and will find any little hole to
get through.

Tom N wrote:

I have only used spray but IIRC you can wrap several layers of cardboard
around the trunk at the right times of the year to catch the grubs and I
have some vague memory of there being other methods (maybe biological
controls or other traps).

Forgot to say that codling moths spend part of their lifecycle in a cocoon
under bark or in the ground, hence the wrapping of the cardboard around the
trunk which catches them on their way down from the fruit.

Quite a lot on google if you look for "codling moth organic control"

e.g. http://www.greenharvest.com.au/pestc...moth_info.html
It talks about the cardboard method, parasitic wasps (commercially
available), home-made traps, and covering fruit with exclusion bags.

You can yse Lebaycid spray (which I have used), but you are supposed to use
it every 2 weeks until 2 weeks before picking (when I used it, I didn't do
it more than a few times a season).
http://www.yates.com.au/problem-solv.../codling-moth/

Whats missing is a shot gun and a wild tempered Tom cat.
Or maybe a Dingo or two....


Tom N wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:

Tom N wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:

I have been pulling apples, pears and quinces this week. The pears
are still hard, hopefully the timing is right and they will ripen
off the tree this time.

The Granny Smith apples are beautiful; crisp, sweet and slightly
tart. We had some visitors and I pulled one off the tree and
offered it around. They said "aren't you going to wash it?" I said
"why?"
Yes a fresh apple off your own tree is fantastic and makes the best
of bought apples look average.

Are your apples free of codling moth or do you use a non-spray method
of control?
I haven't seen the moth in the area but there are not many orchards.
What is a non-spray method of control?

I have only used spray but IIRC you can wrap several layers of cardboard
around the trunk at the right times of the year to catch the grubs and I
have some vague memory of there being other methods (maybe biological
controls or other traps).

We used to have a great Granny Smith apple crop but ut has been very
poor in recent years. Recently I was told that possums eat apple
blossum which could well be the cause, so we will net much earlier
next year.

The little beggars were crossing 150m of paddock patrolled by a kelpie
to get to mine.

Our possums just leap from tree to tree mostly. Rarely go on the
ground.

We also have a fuji apple but it has never had more than a few apples
on it (maybe the possums have been eating the fuji blossum since day
one).

Interestingly, possums don't seem to eat nectarine blossums (we get a
great crop of them - no spray - just buggerising around with nets to
keep out possums, birds, rats and bats).

They were lifting the net to get to my stone fruits even with bricks
every metre along the bottom.

I hold my net down with garden stakes with bricks on them.

You might find that if you built a fence around the bottom with welded
wire mesh (like chookwire but stiffer) that it would keep them out (at
least until they discovered they could climb it). Wouldn't work for my
place as they aren't on the ground to start with.

I'm told possums don't like climbing wobbly wire mesh fences so if you
build a fence that tips over a bit when they climb it, you might keep
them out.

Our possums would just jump onto the net from another tree and then lie
on it like a hammock. They'd stick their paw through and eat nectarines
through the net. But with a net there they don't eat much and they
choose ripe fruit by smell I suppose and they eat the whole fruit.
Other pests take a bite to see if it is ripe and rarely eat all of the
fruit so in the end they damage a lot more fruit than possums do.

Bats are farely easy to keep out with nets as they are fairly clumbsy
unless flying.

We have a rat or two which is too smart for rat traps or poisons. It
gnaws a hole in the net. The birds (particularly introduced thrushes)
patrol around the net looking for holes and will find any little hole to
get through.

Tom N wrote:
Interestingly, possums don't seem to eat nectarine blossums (we get
a great crop of them - no spray - just buggerising around with nets
to keep out possums, birds, rats and bats).


They were lifting the net to get to my stone fruits even with bricks
every metre along the bottom.

I hold my net down with garden stakes with bricks on them.

You might find that if you built a fence around the bottom with welded
wire mesh (like chookwire but stiffer) that it would keep them out (at
least until they discovered they could climb it). Wouldn't work for
my place as they aren't on the ground to start with.

I'm told possums don't like climbing wobbly wire mesh fences so if you
build a fence that tips over a bit when they climb it, you might keep
them out.


I have 40 trees all up so this is too hard, I am making more wire pegs for
next year to peg down the bottom

Our possums would just jump onto the net from another tree and then
lie on it like a hammock. They'd stick their paw through and eat
nectarines through the net. But with a net there they don't eat much
and they choose ripe fruit by smell I suppose and they eat the whole
fruit. Other pests take a bite to see if it is ripe and rarely eat
all of the fruit so in the end they damage a lot more fruit than
possums do.

Bats are farely easy to keep out with nets as they are fairly clumbsy
unless flying.

Yes but wait til one gets tangled in the net, you will find getting them out
quite entertaining unless you use the shovel anesthetic method (I don't).
For vegetarians they have a very fine set of teeth and are not shy about
using them. Some are disease carriers too.


We have a rat or two which is too smart for rat traps or poisons. It
gnaws a hole in the net. The birds (particularly introduced thrushes)
patrol around the net looking for holes and will find any little hole
to get through.

I buy ratsak in 3kg boxes and put it out all round the buildings in the
warmer weather. I will coexist with them out in the garden but they are
just too destructive in the house or shed.

David

David Hare-Scott wrote:

Tom N wrote:
Interestingly, possums don't seem to eat nectarine blossums (we get
a great crop of them - no spray - just buggerising around with nets
to keep out possums, birds, rats and bats).


They were lifting the net to get to my stone fruits even with bricks
every metre along the bottom.

I hold my net down with garden stakes with bricks on them.

You might find that if you built a fence around the bottom with
welded wire mesh (like chookwire but stiffer) that it would keep them
out (at least until they discovered they could climb it). Wouldn't
work for my place as they aren't on the ground to start with.

I'm told possums don't like climbing wobbly wire mesh fences so if
you build a fence that tips over a bit when they climb it, you might
keep them out.

I have 40 trees all up so this is too hard, I am making more wire pegs
for next year to peg down the bottom

The pest problem just gets worse in my experience. When we first
planted fruit trees, we had no problems with insects or animals or
birds.

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.

Was once at a farm where they had an old orange orchard and a problem
with sulphur crested cockatoos destroying the fruit just for the seeds.
The cockies could recognise someone with a rifle and would stay out of
range, but would ignore people without a rifle.

Our possums would just jump onto the net from another tree and then
lie on it like a hammock. They'd stick their paw through and eat
nectarines through the net. But with a net there they don't eat much
and they choose ripe fruit by smell I suppose and they eat the whole
fruit. Other pests take a bite to see if it is ripe and rarely eat
all of the fruit so in the end they damage a lot more fruit than
possums do.

Bats are farely easy to keep out with nets as they are fairly clumbsy
unless flying.

Yes but wait til one gets tangled in the net, you will find getting
them out quite entertaining unless you use the shovel anesthetic
method (I don't). For vegetarians they have a very fine set of teeth
and are not shy about using them. Some are disease carriers too.

When were down to the last ten nectarines on the tree, a brush-tailed
possum got inside the net somehow and was trapped there until the next
day. It charged around flinging itself into the net when we went out to
allow it out. Got a bit tangled at one point but I can imagine a bat
being worse.

We have a rat or two which is too smart for rat traps or poisons. It
gnaws a hole in the net. The birds (particularly introduced
thrushes) patrol around the net looking for holes and will find any
little hole to get through.

I buy ratsak in 3kg boxes and put it out all round the buildings in
the warmer weather. I will coexist with them out in the garden but
they are just too destructive in the house or shed.

This rat we have is purely a garden rat. Too smart for ratsak or traps
or the wax poison blocks. It used to get into the compost bin until we
buried the edge of it down 15cm (it is one of those commercial plastic
bins with no bottom).

We did have a rat or two in the garage at one point and it ate a whole
packet of snail bait (the one with the bitter additive to deter children
and pets). The rat ate half one the packet one night and I saw the half
empty packet and thought the culprit would be dead and wouldn't come
back, and the next night it came back and ate the rest!

I reckon a lot of wild animals like foxes and rats and probably feral
cats live on pet food and scraps given to pets outside. I occasionally
see foxes around here and I am sure they patrol back yards for food
scraps.

The garage rat used to bring in lamb chop bones and nectarines and I was
cleaning out secluded parts of the garage and the carport behind some
boxes and other stuff, and I found dozens and dozens of nectarine stones
and chop bones. The nectarines were from our tree but the chop bones
must have come from someone else's yard.

Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and nibbled a
couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more wire clips and
chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds are
eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David

David Hare-Scott wrote:
Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds are
eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David

Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep marauding
birds away. You could cut it out of fridge carton material and hang it
from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It *could* work...
y'never know until you try!

OR

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Trish Brown wrote:
David Hare-Scott wrote:
Tom N wrote:
Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have
berries bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to
keep out the assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40
trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

Having excluded them from the fruit trees now the satin bower birds
are eating my tomatos. I may have to net them too!

David

Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?


I have real snakes but no turkeys.

I wonder whether a cutout shape of an eagle might work to keep
marauding birds away.

I have the real thing there too. They have a nest on the mountain but don't
spend much time here.

You could cut it out of fridge carton material
and hang it from a tree or fencepost. I'm only half joking. It
*could* work... y'never know until you try!

Maybe so, perhaps a searchlight with and eagle cut-out, like the Batman call
sign.


OR

What about a scarecrow??? Now *that* would add a talking point to your
garden! ;-D

You'll be suggesting gnomes soon.

David

Trish Brown writes:
The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

The Yanks often talk of "tanglefoot" traps for rats. Is that stuff
available here? It's a sticky pad critters get their feet stuck to,
something like industrial-strength fly-paper. (Stepping on it would
probably give the neighbour's cat a few anxious moments, too.)

Remember a few years ago when someone got rid of her brush turkeys by
leaving a few lengths of garden hose lying around ('snakes')?

A suggestion I've heard is to place rubber snakes among the tree
branches. But as some birds soon suss out fake snakes, I'd try moving
the snakes around under cover of darkness, so they are seen to be in
a different spot each day. Bats might not see the snake in the dark,
but an electronics whiz might be able to modify a solar light to give
the plastic snake some internal LED lighting during darkness.

I have previously mentioned the idea of a large teddy bear in
a fruit tree to repel possums. Possums, being territorial,
see that the tree has already been claimed, and so avoid a fight
by moving on. Well, that's how I've heard it explained, but I have
not tried it.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

Tom N wrote:

Tom N wrote:

Apart from the fruit trees planted in the ground, I also have berries
bushes and an apple in pots. I have made a wire cage to keep out the
assorted buggers. Works well. Bit expensive for 40 trees though.

The $^#% rat found some way to get inside the cage last night and
nibbled a couple of apples. Spent a while today applying some more
wire clips and chookwire to hopefully keep the bugger out.

The $^#% rat still made it inside last night. Nibbled or chomped on 3
apples. Since this is the first year for this tree, the rat has nibbled on
most of the crop so far.

"Tom N" wrote in message
...


The $^#% rat still made it inside last night. Nibbled or chomped on 3
apples. Since this is the first year for this tree, the rat has nibbled
on
most of the crop so far.

Yes, same here, is it the year of the rat or what? I've had fruit trees for
years and Never had rats going near them except for this season. They are
the only critter that has defeated the nets! They got just about all the
apples, because unlike the birds, possums & bats, they have figured out that
it's no problem to chew holes in the net. Think I'll have to get a puddytat.

Ed wrote:


"Tom N" wrote


The $^#% rat still made it inside last night. Nibbled or chomped on
3 apples. Since this is the first year for this tree, the rat has
nibbled on
most of the crop so far.

Yes, same here, is it the year of the rat or what? I've had fruit
trees for years and Never had rats going near them except for this
season.

Rats have been a steadily worsening problem for us over the last few years.

They are the only critter that has defeated the nets! They
got just about all the apples, because unlike the birds, possums &
bats, they have figured out that it's no problem to chew holes in the
net. Think I'll have to get a puddytat.

I've been thinking about an electric fence. It would be relatively easy to
set up the fence to keep rats from climbing the trunk, though they'd likely
search for other ways.

So perhaps a chook wire fence around the circumference of the tree (not
electrified, since it is in contact with the ground), then an insulated and
electrified section, with a net above that.

Tom N writes:
We did have a rat or two in the garage at one point and it ate a whole
packet of snail bait (the one with the bitter additive to deter children
and pets). The rat ate half one the packet one night and I saw the half
empty packet and thought the culprit would be dead and wouldn't come
back, and the next night it came back and ate the rest!

I found it very frustrating to spread snail bait and next day find
not a single pellet anywhere, and no dying snails either. Finally
I sighted a rat, around midday, skipping around the garden bold as
brass collecting each pellet of snail bait. I replenished the bait
each day, hoping it would spell the end of the rat, but no such luck
and I had to resort to rat bait before I could lay out snail bait.

I reckon a lot of wild animals like foxes and rats and probably feral
cats live on pet food and scraps given to pets outside. I occasionally
see foxes around here and I am sure they patrol back yards for food
scraps.

You forgot Indian mynahs!

The garage rat used to bring in lamb chop bones and nectarines and I was
cleaning out secluded parts of the garage and the carport behind some
boxes and other stuff, and I found dozens and dozens of nectarine stones
and chop bones. The nectarines were from our tree but the chop bones
must have come from someone else's yard.

You ruled out the possibility that the rats had progressed to
slaughtering sheep?
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

John Savage wrote:

Tom N writes:
We did have a rat or two in the garage at one point and it ate a whole
packet of snail bait (the one with the bitter additive to deter children
and pets). The rat ate half one the packet one night and I saw the half
empty packet and thought the culprit would be dead and wouldn't come
back, and the next night it came back and ate the rest!

I found it very frustrating to spread snail bait and next day find
not a single pellet anywhere, and no dying snails either. Finally
I sighted a rat, around midday, skipping around the garden bold as
brass collecting each pellet of snail bait. I replenished the bait
each day, hoping it would spell the end of the rat, but no such luck
and I had to resort to rat bait before I could lay out snail bait.

You could try coffee as it deters and kills slugs and snails apparently
(not tried it myself).
http://www.lensgarden.com.au/hintsNtips.htm

I reckon a lot of wild animals like foxes and rats and probably feral
cats live on pet food and scraps given to pets outside. I occasionally
see foxes around here and I am sure they patrol back yards for food
scraps.

You forgot Indian mynahs!

And those imported doves we get in Melbourne. They both tend not to be a
problem for fruit though (in my experience).

The garage rat used to bring in lamb chop bones and nectarines and I was
cleaning out secluded parts of the garage and the carport behind some
boxes and other stuff, and I found dozens and dozens of nectarine stones
and chop bones. The nectarines were from our tree but the chop bones
must have come from someone else's yard.

You ruled out the possibility that the rats had progressed to
slaughtering sheep?

Yes, until I see one with a saw to cut through the bones neatly.