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Cherries with maggots are not very appetizing. However, if you have your own cherry tree, you will hardly be able to avoid it. Some effective measures to reduce the infestation are presented here.
Identify cherry fruit flies
Cherry fruit flies are insects a few millimeters in size that resemble a normal fly. However, differences to the house fly are the banded wings, the green eyes and a yellow dorsal shield. The cherry fruit flies lay their eggs in cherries that are just beginning to turn red. The maggots hatch and eat the flesh of the cherries. As a result, the fruit begins to rot and falls from the tree before it is fully ripe. The adult maggots hatch on the ground and pupate in the upper layers of the earth.
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Affected Fruits:
- have holes
- feel soft
- have rotten spots
- when pressure is applied, juice escapes at the point of attachment of the stalk
Fighting the cherry fruit fly
In dry, warm years, the flies can multiply en masse, while cold, damp weather does not do them any good. If the infestation is severe, almost every cherry on the tree can contain a maggot. So control is very important if you want to harvest maggot-free cherries.
Notice: It is not permitted to chemically control cherry fruit flies in private gardens or allotments.
cover floor
Covering the ground around the cherry tree will not prevent this year's infestation, but it will prevent another infestation next year. If the ground around the tree is covered with foil or an impermeable fleece from the end of May, this prevents the larvae of the cherry fruit fly from landing in the ground and being able to pupate there. The fallen fruits or maggots are regularly disposed of in the garbage. They shouldn't be put on the compost heap, they would still pupate there.
protective nets
Crop protection nets, if they are woven very tightly, not only prevent the laying of eggs by cherry fruit flies. They also protect against bird damage, which can cause considerable damage. The downside of protective netting is obvious with larger cherry trees. Old sweet cherry trees, which were basically grafted as tall trunks, are much too big to be able to protect them with a net. It is therefore only suitable for small or young cherry trees. You must also make sure that no other animals, such as birds, get caught in a safety net. In order for a net to provide adequate protection, it must enclose the tree completely and tightly.
beneficials
You can buy nematodes for biological control in specialist shops. These attack the larvae of the cherry fruit fly on the ground and kill them. The nematodes are tiny and mixed with water are spread out directly on the ground around the cherry tree using a watering can. This measure also offers no protection this year, but prevents the next generation of flies from hatching the following year.
Source: Bob Blaylock Whidou (date removal), 20100814 175958 FungusOnDeadnematode HarposporiumAnguillulae, edited from Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
fall
Yellow panels are less suitable for controlling fruit flies than for determining an infestation and the extent. The yellow cardboard or plastic boards are coated with glue that reliably holds the flies in place. An attractant is often added to the glue. With such a trap, other pests are also caught. Sometimes, however, beneficial insects can also stick. Less endangered are:
- bumblebees
- bees
- hoverflies
- and all other insects that prefer flower nectar
They are attracted neither by the yellow of the panels nor by the attractant. In order for yellow panels to have a sufficient effect, you must distribute them in large numbers in the tree and exchange them regularly. As soon as the cherries are fully ripe, the bars are removed again, which also protects beneficial organisms.
Prevent
Most of the measures taken to combat it serve more to prevent another infestation next year. Other options are:
Plant early cherry varieties
Since the cherry fruit flies attack ripening fruit, it is worth planting varieties that are already ripe and therefore red to dark red when the fruit flies are in their breeding season. They are then of no interest to the insects. The same applies to fully yellow varieties.
Notice: However, be careful with the spotted drosophila, which attacks fully ripe fruit!
keeping chickens
Since the maggots pupate in the ground, chickens are good, scratching up the ground around the cherry tree and eating any insects they find. For this reason, chickens are generally very useful in an orchard. However, keeping chickens is not possible in every garden.
keeping chickens in the garden
planting distance
Cherry flight flies don't fly very far, so a suitable distance between the cherry trees makes sense, it avoids that the flies meet for reproduction.
promote beneficials
If you mainly cultivate your garden organically, you can rely on the help of beneficial insects. These include, above all, smaller songbirds that eat the cherry fruit fly. Nesting boxes, water points and winter feeding ensure that many beneficial insects find their way into the garden.
What is not helpful - glue rings
A ring of glue around the trunk of a cherry tree will not stop the cherry fruit fly. It is only suitable for pests that crawl up or down the tree. However, larvae of the cherry fruit fly drop easily and both sexes of the fly are capable of flight.
Glue ring on the fruit tree trunk