white cottony stuff on apple tree

There is some white cottony stuff on two of my apple trees, one has some small swellings in the wood with the white stuff coming out of it. I think it is wooly aphids. Since I am not using pesticides anymore does anyone have any tips? I am thinking of spraying with a combo of DE, castille soap and a bit of oil. 1. I don't know if that would do any good, and 2. I am concerned that it might deter any predatory bugs.

If I just leave the tree alone will the problem resolve itself?

Could also be white-fly which is common on apple. We spray it off with the hose, then apply an ACV/Dr. Bronners Peppermint/Cayanne mix and it does the job.

Sounds like wooly aphids to me. A strong jet of water every few days knocks them right back. I'd say try doing it in the morning so the tree isn't wet overnight, or you may swap aphids for fungus!
Growing as many insectary plants as possible, especially 'daisy' looking ones like tansy and coriander will attract the little parasitoid wasps. I've always appreciated their (kind of brutal) hunger for caterpillars, but apparently they love aphids too.

Going to try a poo 'facial' for my trees that I saw on a youtube video. It was a paste made up of clay and cow manure applied to the trunk. Looked like it would be a good tonic for the trees regardless of whether they had problems or not.

Due to the unavailability of Ivermectin free poo I will have to use my own turkeys poo so I am planning on a mostly clay solution with very diluted turkey poo. I will be interested in how the trees react. They were VERY prolific last year.