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Ants and Fruit Trees

So you want to grow organic fruit and your trees are maturing with new shoots and your hard work is paying off. However on your next visit you notice that someone else is working hard:

Someone who has no chief, officer or ruler but boy are they regimented.

Ants and Fruit Trees

When it comes to your scale on your citrus and other fruit trees Ants are quite happy to farm aphids and eat the sweet honeydew which the aphids secrete leaving a scale on your fruit trees and hampering new growth.

So let's assume that we are all responsible gardeners and don't want to spray our plants with poisons. What are our organic options?

One of our staff members Kath has taken some pictures of how she uses some grafting tape and Vaseline to stop not only ants but also vine weevil and earwigs.
Kath says on the art of Banding Citrus Trees: "the ant would reach it and then slip off the tree, then I put a big fat wadge of Vaseline around the tape to stop the little fellows climbing my tree. That has them stumped for a few days at least"

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CorreyAdd Your Comment (2)
Published: Correy ,Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Comments so far: 2

Blogger Suburban Farmer said ...
That is a very helpful set of pictures! I'm off to get some grafting tape! Thanks!
Time: Tuesday, February 05, 2008  
Blogger findingthetruth said ...
wherecan i get grafting tape? i bought a glue band for my young pear tree and got more on my fingers than anywhere else and the band is well useless!
Time: Thursday, July 24, 2008  

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