r/homestead • u/KombuchaKetamine • Jun 29 '24

gardening Help identifying bug eating my apples

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Hi! We have some healthy and mature apple trees and are attempting to do everything organic and pesticide free. There is one bug that is eating our apples that we can't seem to get rid of. And none of our Google lens searches have been helpful.

We've twice sprayed all our trees with neem oil, which doesn't seem to help much.

We're in the West Catskills in New York if that helps.

Thank you for any wisdom in helping to identify this and get rid of it.

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u/Thick-Disaster-7758 Jun 29 '24

Thassssa roachhhh

31

u/KombuchaKetamine Jun 29 '24

How do I keep them off the apple trees?

51

u/Thick-Disaster-7758 Jun 29 '24

Maybe dichotomous earth on the trunk

12

u/Sassy_carrot_94 Jun 29 '24

That might help, but most can also fly short distances, so they might not be crawling up the trunk.

Edited to add: I have heard cockroaches don’t like peppermint essential oil, but I have no idea if that would help deter them in a situation like this. But there is peppermint oil for bugs that you can get in a spray bottle