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bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
Join Date: Feb-2005
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 814
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Pine-tip Moth Larvae: What Works?
Last year one of my JBPs in training was attacked by pine-tip moth larvae. When the tree was attacked I feared that they would spread to my other JBPs so I meticulously removed each worm from every infected tip. I counted one larva for each tip. It's a shohin that I am training for ramification so not a single bud/bug could have been missed. I even preserved 'em in alcohol.
This year I was determined to not be caught by 'em again, so two weeks ago I sprayed all my JBPs and mugo pines with Orthene (acephate). Last night I was inspecting my pines when lo, you guessed it, pine-tip moths again. This is the second year and on the same tree. It was dark so I had to wait until today to remove the larvae but I sprayed the pines with a mixture of Orthene and emulsified neem oil. To my great surprise, the larvae were still alive this afternoon! I picked 'em clean and incinerated the evidence.
So my question to all of you is this: this is the second year in a row that I have had trouble with pine-tip moth larvae... what will work to prevent them from infesting my JBPs? Any one else have experience with this pest?
Thanks,
Jim
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