What Pesticides to Use for Aphids and Fruit Borers Before and After Peach Trees Bloom? Explaining the Evil-Warding Belief
The peach tree is a small deciduous tree; its leaves are narrowly elliptical to lanceolate. It originated in China and is widely cultivated in all provinces and regions. It is planted throughout the world. So do you know why it is said that peach trees can ward off evil? What pesticides should be used against pests such as aphids and fruit borers before and after blooming? Let's take a look together below.
Why is it said that peach trees can ward off evil?
The belief that peach wood can ward off evil comes from legend.
Legend One
In ancient Chinese mythology, it is said that there was a world of ghosts, in which there was a mountain, and on the mountain stood a great peach tree covering three thousand li, with a golden rooster at the tip of the tree. Whenever the golden rooster crowed at dawn, the ghosts that had wandered out at night had to hurry back to the ghost realm. The gate of the ghost realm was located to the northeast of the peach tree, and beside the gate stood two divine figures named Shen Tu and Yu Lei, each holding a peach branch, whose sole duty was to capture demons and seize evil spirits.
If a ghost had done something outrageous during the night, Shen Tu and Yu Lei would immediately discover it and capture it, bind it with a rope made of miscanthus reed, and send it to be fed to the tiger. Therefore all the ghosts in the world feared Shen Tu and Yu Lei. So the common people carved their likenesses out of peach wood and placed them at their own doorways to ward off evil and prevent harm. Later, people simply carved the names of Shen Tu and Yu Lei onto peach wood boards, believing that doing so could likewise suppress evil and drive away wickedness. This kind of peach wood board was later called a “peach charm,” and is also regarded as one of the origins of the art of New Year pictures.
Legend Two
Ancient books record that Hou Yi was struck dead by a peach wood club, and after death was enfeoffed as the deity Zongbu. This deity often stands under a peach tree, holding a tiger on a leash, and every ghost must come forward for inspection; as soon as Zongbu Shen sniffs, if it is an evil ghost, it will be eaten by the tiger. One account relates this to Kuafu: it is said that Kuafu died of hunger and thirst while chasing the sun, and before dying he threw down the staff in his hand, which transformed into a forest of Deng, that is, a peach grove, so that later generations who chased the sun could eat sweet and delicious peaches; the reason is that Kuafu was closely connected with the sun, so ghosts fear peach wood.
It comes from ancient times, saying that peach wood is the essence of the five woods and can suppress and subdue evil.
What pesticides should be used against pests such as aphids and fruit borers before and after peach trees bloom?
1. Before and after blooming
From late March to early April, most varieties of peach trees in North China enter the blooming period. Because pollen and stamens are sensitive to many chemicals, it is generally not suitable to spray chemical pesticides. But this period is an important time for flower thinning, flower preservation, fruit thinning, and fruit setting; measures for flower thinning and fruit setting should be determined according to the amount of flowers, tree vigor, and nutritional status, so as to ensure a high and stable yield of the fruit trees.
(1) Flower thinning measures: Peach trees have many flower buds, and many varieties have a high fruit-setting rate, especially mature trees, whose fruit set can easily exceed the load capacity. Excessive fruiting inevitably produces a large number of small fruits, reducing fruit quality and fruit utilization rate, so attention should be paid to timely flower and fruit thinning; generally, flower thinning is most effective after full bloom. Within 10 days after full bloom, spraying naphthaleneacetic acid at three concentrations of 20, 40, and 60 mg/kg gave flower thinning rates of 26.6%, 30.1%, and 58.4% respectively; spraying naphthaleneacetic acid at three concentrations of 20, 40, and 60 mg/kg 2 weeks after full bloom gave flower thinning rates of 20.8%, 23.6%, and 35.7% respectively.
(2) Flower and fruit preservation measures: Because peach trees bloom relatively early, normal blooming and pollination are often affected in production by rainy, windy, and cold weather; or because flower buds were affected by certain factors when they formed last year, there are fewer flower buds. Measures are generally needed to increase the pollination rate and reduce flower drop, thereby ensuring high and stable yield. At the same time, taking measures to preserve flowers during the blooming period is the simplest and most effective. This is because after peach trees drop their flowers, there are three fruit-drop periods at 3 to 4 weeks after bloom and in late May, and the cause of most fruit drop is failure to be pollinated or cessation of development of the fertilized embryo. Therefore, applying hormones and micro-fertilizers during this period to promote flowering and pollination is the key period for preserving flowers and fruits. According to the blooming situation and weather conditions, generally bees can be released artificially during the blooming period, and a 0.3%-0.5% borax solution + 0.3% urea solution, or a 0.3%-0.5% borax solution + 0.1% granulated sugar solution, can be sprayed at full bloom; spraying once when 6%-7% of the central flowers have opened can preserve flowers and can promote pollen germination and prevent peach fruit shrinkage disease. In addition, spraying 2,4-D at 20 mg/kg, triacontanol at 1-2 mg/kg, and gibberellin at 20-50 mg/kg from the blooming period to the young fruit period can increase the pollen germination rate and promote fruit setting. It can also be combined with spraying 3000-fold Fengchan Su solution or 3000-fold Aiduoshou solution during the blooming period.
2. Aphids
(1) Trunk painting with pesticide: Mix 1 part 40% omethoate with 1 part multi-functional plant synergist and 2 parts water to prepare a liquid. Use a brush to paint a ring of pesticide about 10 cm wide on the trunk. If the bark is rough, the old scaly bark can be scraped off first before applying the pesticide. After application, wrap it well with newspaper or plastic film.
(2) Trunk injection: Pierce holes obliquely downward from top to bottom on the main trunk with an iron awl, reaching deep into the xylem, then inject 40% dimethoate with a No. 8 syringe, and seal the hole openings; after 2-3 days, more than 95% of the aphids can be killed.
(3) Spraying pesticides: There are many pesticides that can be chosen, and those commonly used in production include: 35% endosulfan emulsifiable concentrate 1500-fold solution; 50% pirimicarb 3000-4000-fold solution; 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate 1500-fold solution; 40% omethoate 1500-fold solution; 50% malathion (Marathon) emulsifiable concentrate 1000-fold solution; 10% imidacloprid (Puji Ya) wettable powder 5000-fold solution, etc. To improve the control effect, a certain amount of spreading agent can be added to the liquid; several pesticides should be used alternately, and the use of a single pesticide should be avoided as much as possible.
3. Fruit borers
(1) Do a good job of orchard cleanup, that is: scrape the old scaly bark of peach trees clean and dispose of it centrally to eliminate overwintering larvae.
(2) Fruit bagging: Bag peach fruits; for early-maturing varieties, spray pesticide once before bagging in combination with the control of other diseases and pests, to eliminate the eggs laid by early peach borers.
(3) Destroy dropped fruits and remove infested fruits to eliminate the larvae inside the fruits.
(4) Pesticide spraying for control: Spray pesticide during the peak egg-laying periods of the first and second generations of adults. 50% fenitrothion emulsion 1000-fold solution; 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate 1000-fold solution; 25% deltamethrin emulsifiable concentrate 5000-fold solution; 2.5% Kung Fu emulsifiable concentrate 3000-fold solution.