The Hort Report: Homemade moth trap will help fight worms that get into apples

The calendar says spring, but the weather hasn’t been agreeing with it. We are having cool nights and not normal warm days, along with not enough rain for this time of year. Hopefully these will get better in the coming days. 

Fighting Codling Moths in your apple trees is easy by making Codling Moth traps. We try to put out these traps in our apple trees each spring. It helps to fight the worms that can get into apples this year.

We make traps out of one- and half-gallon milk jugs. Mix one cup of cider vinegar, 1/3 cup molasses, 1/8 tsp. plain ammonia. Add enough water to make 1½ quarts of liquid for each jug. 

Cut two holes about two inches from the top shoulder of the jug. The holes will allow the moths and other insects to enter the trap. They will get down into the mixture and get stuck and die. You can add a banana peel to the mix. This will help the mix last longer.

Hang the traps a several locations in your apple tree. Hang three or more traps per apple tree, and hang them as high as possible in your apple trees. Check them after a few days to see if you need to add more mix. Remove any dead moths and flies. Rehang the traps and keep checking them every few days after that. 

Doing this now and in the coming years will help prevent worms. 

I was asked about using Epsom Salts on garden plants. Epsom Salt has both magnesium and sulfur in it. They can both be helpful to plants, but studies from Auburn University and Delaware Valley College have shown that Epsom Salt doesn’t link to higher yields and help plants grow healthier. The main reason is that it will build up both magnesium and sulfur in the soil. That will harm plants and tie up the plant’s ability to use other types of nutrients.

Some people think Epsom Salt helps prevent blossom-end rot, but that is caused by a calcium deficiency, not a magnesium deficiency. 

If you notice your garden vegetables are not doing very well, just do a soil test at the end of the growing season. You will have all winter to correct your soil problems.   

I really appreciate all your questions in the past and look forward to them in the future, so please keep them coming. Call me at 573-588-2040, visit me at Shelby County Implement in Shelbina, Mo., email at sci63467@hotmail.com or go on Facebook to Greenwell’s Greenhouse Group. I really enjoy you asking me anytime you see me.

Enjoy the great weather.

Pat Greenwell is the owner of Shelby County Implement in Shelbina, Mo. He was a high school agriculture teacher for 11 years. He has taught adult vocational agriculture since 1987. He also is a research assistant at the Truman State University Ag Department Farm.