Thoughts on apple maggot control

https://www.grainews.ca/2015/05/15/homemade-recipes-to-help-control-apple-maggots-and-ants/

has some recipes.  The idea is to do the critter in before it mates.  Maggots apparently feed for a few days after emergence

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The commercial maggot traps are round, and red.  Do they have to be round?  Would anything red do?  Spray fenceposts red, then spray with tanglefoot.  Do green apples get less maggot?

Some kits come with pheromones.  Comparison of effectiveness with and without the pheromone?

Anyone make their own tanglefoot?  I think I would start with a mix of molasses and glycerine.  molassses for sticky, glycerine to reduce evaporation.

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Put down tarps under the tree in early spring.  Tarps don't have to be solid, just fine enough mesh to prevent the fly from getting off the ground.  Row cover might be enough.  

Same idea in the fall may work to keep the larva from entering the soil.

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Put heavier tarps -- 5 of them, with 1 corner 4 feet up the tree and the other 3 staked down.  Apples that fall off the tree hit the tarp and roll to the edge.  The tarp keeps the larva from burrowing in.  You also will get a lot less bruising on your windfall.

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Keep a hungry pig in your orchard.  Fallen apples don't last long.

Great ideas! I especially like keeping the critters in the ground.  I have a small grouping of two Harralsons and a Spry. I covered the ground around them with cardboard covered with compost during a March thaw to prep for making fruit guilds. I may have stopped the larva with it, but I'm still going to use a very labor-intensive method of protecting the fruit this year.

I had no apples at all last year due to a late killing frost, but I've already gone out and pruned potential apples so the branches won't break (like one did in 2015). I was also pruning in anticipation of using pantyhose material soaked in kaolin clay to cover each small applet (about 1 inch diameter). It's supposed to be close to 100% effective. Because the cardboard laid down early may affect the population, it won't be a great test of the pantyhose/clay method, but it will still be interesting to see if and how it works.

No local places carried the clay so I had to resort to Amazon; arriving tomorrow. I'm supposed to soak the hose in the clay mixed with water and then let it dry before placing on the apples. But I don't see a reason why they couldn't go on moist and dry in the sun.

Great ideas. I have once again waited too long to address this. I've got fruit setting and already seeing a spot on some. I have tried to be diligent about clearing fallen apples the past two years but it always gets away from me. Hoping it's not too late as my two trees always have exceptional yields but every year, every single apple is ruined by a maggot burrow.

Is it too late to try the clay/hose? Going to google that, not sure how the hose gets secured to the apples, tying at both ends? Labor intensive for sure but if it's something I can still try at this point, it would be nice to enjoy all the apples one year!

Is it too late to try the clay/hose? Going to google that, not sure how the hose gets secured to the apples, tying at both ends?

I would go for it. I dumped a pound of kaolin clay into a kitchen wash tub, added a gross of pantyhose footies and put them on wet. I tied the end of the "footie" (they look like those things you put over your naked foot to try on shoes) by gathering both ends and stretching. It was messy, but so far things are looking good.

I ran out of footies, so I used plastic sandwich bags with a corner cut out. I slipped the baggie on the apple, with the shorter end of the closed bag near the stem and open end (drainage) pointing down. I stapled the baggie shut to prevent accidental opening. Ran out of baggies, too.

But this is a good thing because I now have one tree with all footies, one with a mix of footies and baggies and one without treatment.

Here is what I used last year....

Orchard Sox worked really well....its just nylons with the end sewn. Tie a knot at the top around the stem to keep out the earwigs too.
Sandwich bag worked okay...earwigs and spiders got in the cut corners.
Party favour bags...again worked really well.  No scab, no maggots, occasional wiley earwig.

Its almost time to put them on! I foliar spray my leaves with BT and horticultural oil. and fish kelp fertilizer and thats about it.

UPDATE on plastic sandwich bags: three bagged applets tore off the tree during high winds (40mph gusts). Everything else looks okay.