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Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

In a garden orchard, fruit tree pest control requires some attention. When you plant a few fruit trees, you are offering an invitation to hundreds of different forms of life. A tree is not a species living in isolation from the rest of nature. It immediately generates a unique habitat both above and below the ground.

Some of the birds, animals, insects, fungi, lichens and plants that interact with the tree are beneficial. Some are neutral. Others are harmful. Managing the biological equilibrium of a single fruit tree, a garden or a small orchard is a difficult but fascinating task. The fundamental task is fruit trees pest identification. Today, fruit trees can be kept healthy by means of a totally organic pest control programme.

The fundamental concept in organic fruit tree pest control is exploiting the fact that in nature, friend and foe live together in the same environment. Rather than to attempt to chemically eradicate pests, the organic method is to provide their predators with a happy home, in other words ensuring that the type of plants necessary for successful breeding are present.

Controlling pests and diseases organically

The approach to the use of chemicals in fruit growing has changed greatly over the last two decades. People now prefer to eat fruit that is free from all chemicals. In commercial fruit growing, more and more chemicals are being withdrawn, and the attitude of the supermarkets is changing too. Organic organisations such as the Soil Association are increasing the general public’s awareness of need to declare the use of chemicals in fruit production so that consumers can make an informed choice. In some supermarkets you can purchase fruit with small blemishes, priced lower than the so-called “clean”-looking sprayed fruits. In our suggestions on fruit tree pest and disease control, we privilege organic systems that help to protect the environment and people’s health.

Natural and eco-sustainable solutions

Natural predators
Grease bands
Orchard hygiene
Diagnostic leaf atlas

Some fruit tree pests and diseases

Click on the links below to read about different fruit tree pests and diseases.
Aphids
Apple sawfly
Apple scab
Apple splitting
Apricot dieback
Armillaria honey fungus
Bacterial canker
Bird damage
Bitter pit
Blossom wilt
Boot lace fungus
Brown rot
Canker on apple trees
Canker on plums, greengages, damson
Capsid bugs
Cherry blackfly
Cherry fruit drop
Cherry splitting
Codling moth
Collar rot
Foxes
Greenfly on apples and pears
Ivy on fruit trees
Mealy aphid on plums, greengages, damson
Mildew on apples
Peach leaf curl disease
Pear canker
Pear leaf blister mite
Pear midge
Pear scab
Pear virus
Pigeon damage on plum trees
Plum moth
Plum sawfly
Red spider on apricots
Scab
Silver leaf on plums
Unexpected tree death
Wasps
Whitefly
Woolly aphid

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