Treatment of tree borer in a cherry tree?

Question

I have a cherry tree in my back yard that was here when I bought my home. It produces some of the best pie cherries we've ever had. The last three years, we've had no cherries due to late freezes and two years of hail as the cherries were setting. Looking at it today, marking limbs to prune this fall/next spring, we noticed lots of "sap balls" on the trunk and larger limbs. What can we treat the tree for tree borers?

Answer 1

The peach tree borer is the most destructive insect pest of peach, cherry, plum and other stone fruits

Peach tree borer can be difficult to control because insecticides cannot reach the damaging larvae after they move under the bark. The most effective controls are preventive insecticide applications at the vulnerable egg and early larval stages, while the insect is on the tree bark.

Egg laying occurs during the middle of the growing season. In warmer areas, it may begin July 1 and continue into September. In general, peak egg laying occurs from mid-July to mid-August.

Peach tree borer is controlled in commercial orchards by insecticides that contain permethrin (Pounce, Ambush) or esfenvalerate (Asana). Insecticides containing these active ingredients (permethrin, esfenvalerate) are recently becoming available in some garden centers. Perhaps more widely available is carbaryl (Sevin).

Other Controls

Paradichlorobenzene (PDB) moth crystals, used as a fumigant, may help control infestations of peach tree borer within a tree. After clearing away leaves and other debris from around the tree base, place the crystals in a band 1 to 2 inches from the base of the tree trunk. Cover the crystals with enough soil to create a 5- to 10-inch packed mound around the plant. The crystals release a gas at temperatures above 60 degrees F. The gas penetrates the trunk to kill peach tree borer larvae. Applications of PDB crystals are best made in late September or early fall but also can be applied in late spring.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/INSECT...