The Great Field Foes of Fraser Fir Christmas Trees-Slain!
Balsam Woolly Adelgid, Twig Aphid and Spider Mites are the great foes of the Fraser Fir.
· Balsam Woolly Adelgid, an insect imported from Europe, cuts off the water supply to the tree and will literally kill a Fraser Fir over a long period of time, but even worse, it can ruin the possibility of selling it in a s little as a year.
· Twig Aphid attacks the tree in the spring, as the buds are breaking. It will stop the bud from growing a branch in many cases which makes the tree unsightly and, of course, unfit for sale.
· Spider Mites devastate the foliage and will turn a tree yellow in a short period of time. Yes, it will again ruin the crop if it occurs at harvest.
For a long time we used a very harsh and difficult to use chemical called Di-Syston for the twig aphid and red spider. We used Lindane, Assanna and agricultural oil for the Balsam Woolly Adelgid. Fortunately, if we got it right, we would hopefully only have to treat the Woolly Adelgid once in seven years. We could get away with this because of our intensive use of scouting and looking for bugs, and by determining an acceptable level before treating. The twig aphids and red spiders had to be treated once a year, in the spring immediately before the buds broke, which was very difficult because we had to wait for the aphids to hatch and then we had only a week or two to treat before the twig entered the cones where they could hide and re-attack the tree. This was especially difficult to do when you had hundreds of acres of trees. Bottom line was that spring treatment was a problem because of the short window and the lack of good weather here in the northern mountains of North Carolina.
Finally, a new solution which could be used effectively against all of these pests. They can be slain relatively easily by spraying Wisdom and Dimethylate in the fall during August, September or October. This was accidentally discovered by tree farmers when they were spraying Wisdom for Woolly Adelgid in the fall; then the details were validated by North Carolina Agricultural Extension Agency. This was a very exciting breakthrough for those of us who have been involved in this fight for a long long time and relatively boring for those of you who have never faced this foe. For those who know, let’s celebrate!
