Time to net!

To protect your fruit from Queensland Fruit Fly, the best option is to cover your trees with insect exclusion netting. For best protection, this needs to be done around 6 weeks before harvest.

If you have apricots, early peaches (eg: Bendigo Beauty or Anzac) or early nectarines, they may be ready for harvest in December. Despite all the hard work that has been done so far this season, there is no guarantee that we have managed to trap all the fruit flies that survived winter. Any female fruit flies that managed to survive, and find a mate and suitable host fruit (loquats, summer oranges, etc), may well produce the first generation for this summer.

Insect exclusion nets can be purchased from BKIT (we will have some next week), Bunnings or Swan Hill Chemicals – and possibly other outlets in Swan Hill. If you cannot get an insect exclusion net with fine holes, get the finest net you can lay your hands on, and cover your tree/s. Research has shown that a net with holes large enough for a fruit fly to climb through, still reduced infestation. Apparently the colour white is known to repel fruit flies and netting which conceals the crop profile is a visual barrier for females searching for fruit to lays eggs in.

Got a question or need help? You can contact us via text 0466 011 950, email us at bkirrigation@bigpond.com, or call us on 5030 2444. Please note our office is open on Tuesdays & Wednesdays only.