Insect pests can do a number on harvest hopes in the organic orchard. Damage is either to the foliage or the fruit itself. Some of this consists of adult feeding, but more often than not it’s the egg hatching out a very hungry caterpillar or grub. Looking at family groupings within the insect world is a quick means of getting a handle on potential pest situations. Safe spray tools to deal with all this require that we understand righteous timing and appropriate mode of action. A core paradigm of holistic orcharding states that we spray not so much to “kill” as to create health so that the system can take care of itself. That begins with helpful allies in the orchard ecosystem which keep balance to the fore.
