Urgent Help

[ungreenthumb]

ok i have three questions, first i'll yall i found two peach trees that are in fruit yay

questions
1 what can i do to stop insects and fruit bats from eating my mangoes, i thought of putting bags over them but i think that might attract some green ants

2 how big should my peaches be before i pick them? they are about 2 inches across?

3 how do i stop animals from eating my peaches?

i would like to harvest my little crop this year, it would mean so much for me to get something from them after 5 years

[boo]

Seems to me you need some sort of fruit net. Sorry , I don't grow fruit trees so I'm not sure what more there is. :unsure: I'm pretty sure that won't stop the insects though.. :blink: maybe the big ones.

Are you organic?

[ungreenthumb]

yes and no

i use round up to kill weeds but not near the trees
they all have natural mulch and organic matter but i added a little fertilizer to them this year

[TransplantShock]

First off, get bird netting and drape it over your trees...


then use tanglefoot (a very sticky substance) on your trees trunks to keep the bugs from climbing up the tree.

Peaches will smell really good when they are ready to be picked...mmmmmm!

lastly..round up is very harmfull to amphibians....not the weed killer itself but the substance they put in teh bottle with it that helps it absorb into the leaves. So if you have a lot of frog and toads, and like seeing them, I wouldnt use it.

in fact it is more harmfull then other herbicides towards amphibians.

[gardenlady]

fruit bats! where are you? and the netting idea is a good one. :D

[arcticwolf8]

I just wanted to say firs i have no clue as to you problem with the insects and bat's
But when i had a peach tree The fruit was amazing, some of the peaches were the size of softballs but tender, sweey and juicy. i have no idea what kind they were because the tree came with the property. You should wait to pick it till it is springy
not hard or mushey. and also they will have a wonderful sweet peachy smell.
Hope this helps some.

[Rowan]

okay... how about an organic fruit tree spray ... my mum mixes the stuff (and I just steal her full spray bottles ^_^ ) so I haven't got the exact recipe but you want to take equal ammounts of garlic andground cayenne pepper about twice or three times as much oil (fish oil I think) and some cider vinegar.... I think that's everything.... mix it up together like salad dressing and then add water to dilute it enough to work in a pressure sprayer or spray bottle (depending on the height of your trees).... it will smell quite nasty and needs to be done every other week (every week in really rainy weather) but it stays pretty well because of the oil
animals can't handle the smell/taste
insects can't handle the cayenne and
molds can't handle the acidity of the vinegar
I'm not sure for bats but you'd still want a net to keep away birds anyway

and here's a general purpose insect spray
Home Spray For Insects
1 whole head of garlic, mashed
1 tablespoon fresh crushed cayenne pepper
1/4 onion, mashed
2 quarts warm water

Add together, allow to steep for two or three days. Strain into a pump spray bottle, and add a drop or two of a mild dishwashing liquid detergent. This really works well against flea beetles as well as other insects.

[Soilman]

Cool!!! Your mum, is quite a lady indeed!
Cheers!

-the soilman

[ungreenthumb]

thanks all i guess i'll try it
when it stops raining

[MrSeedy]

I would reccomend the bird netting as well, but I'd suspect those big fruit bats might be persistent enough to get tangled up in the netting and that would be an ugly scene trying to untangle those big bats from the netting. I don't think they're the smartest critters , so the tangles might be a problem. Even small birds here sometimes get tangled in the stuff, though not often. It's hard to say what to do about the bugs there that bother your fruit since you most likely have many different ones there than we have in our gardens, so I'm not sure what would work best. Perhaps lots of lizards and snakes in the trees to eat the insects!!

[TransplantShock]

I was wondering...since bats use radar to see where they are going what if you put up some kind of scare crow device in your tree branches? Something that moves with the slightest breeze that will make them think its danger there- like strips of bird scare tape?