OT - Spraying Chestnut trees to limit insect damage from larvae

[Fygmalion]

I would like to pose a quick off fig topic question to the Chestnut growers out there. Does anyone actually spray their trees to control the nut damage caused by the wasp larvae that hatch out from the eggs the adults lay in the developing chestnuts? Is this something that is done at the commercial level? I am curious as I have never sprayed my chestnut trees and have always taken the harvested nuts and hardened them off in the fridge and stored them there for future use; in this scenario, the nuts with larvae holes and those that become soft indicating infestation or mold get discarded. I was wondering if there is a better way to manage my trees.

Thanks!

[don_sanders]

Moved to the FNBBOG forum to be on topic.

[fitzski]

maybe HarveyC will respond. He has a commercial chestnut operation.

http://www.chestnuts.us/

Good Luck!

[Fygmalion]

Yep, that would be great...

[HarveyC]

One reason I planted chestnuts in 1999 was that I don't have any pest or disease problems here to be concerned with. About 10 years ago I saw one larva of some type of insect, probably an oak weevil, emerging from a chestnut. Last year I saw two, I believe. That is out of maybe 200,000 chestnuts last year. This year I saw none. Please do not send any chestnuts to California. It is illegal, for one thing (as well as other western states) but we really don't want the weevils here!

My friend Greg Miller in Ohio sprays his chestnut trees and also hot water treats all harvested chestnuts. This guide should be helpful: http://www.centerforagroforestry.org/weevil.pdf For many people, the sanitation issue may be adequate and the presence of chickens might even help with that (they might eat any larva that escape before you gather the chestnut). Good luck!

[Fygmalion]

Thanks for the advice and info....