May In The Pecan Orchard - Pecan Casebearer Moth

The month of May is quite busy in the pecan orchard at Little Eva Plantation. Well to tell the truth - all twelve months of the year are busy! One thing so important in May is the correct timing of an insecticide spray to control the pesky pecan casebearer moth. These moths will lay eggs on the tiny pecan nutlets and when these eggs hatch one larvae can consume all of the cluster. 

One casebearer larvae can destroy this entire cluster of tiny nutlets.[/caption] The moths usually start showing up in May as the weather begins warming up. Mark hangs the casebearer traps from the pecan trees in different areas of the orchard . 

The traps have phermone bait in them that attract the moths. Mark monitors the traps daily and when he starts seeing the moth count start to significantly increase, he checks the weather forecast, orders the necessary chemicals, fuels up his tractor and pecan sprayer and goes to spraying. It usually takes two to three days to completely cover all the orchard. 

However, we have been having 10-25 mph winds on most days this May so Mark has had to spray a lot at night when the wind dies down. A fungicide and a mixture of micro nutrients was included in this spray too. The fungicide will help to control scab. The micro nutrients will be absorbed by the leaves and contribute to a healthier tree. It is so important to take good care of the pecan trees so that the trees will produce very good quality fancy pecans that we make available on our website and at our retail store for purchase.