Fruit trees with drought, heat, grasshopper plague

[HermitJohn]

Another interesting year. Weather guys were going on and on about heavy rains over last three nights. First night got half inch which settled the dust but thats about it. Second night sprinkle if even that, and third night another sprinkle. So back to the bucket brigade to try and keep fruit trees alive until my well gives out which without some serious rains will come very quickly now.

The grasshoppers are stripping leaves on most of my fruit trees, finally went after the Pristine apple though its still pretty intact.

However interestingly enough the Winter Banana apple is completely untouched. I grafted it to Antanovka root this spring. Grasshopper jump on it but dont chew it up.

The Chestnut Crabapple and the Guyandotte Pippin apple also relatively unmolested, just couple ragged leaves. I grafted the Chestnut Crab onto Antanovka root this spring and its a very vigorous grower. The Guyandotte I bought. Its on some semi dwarf rootstock. Only way I could buy it last fall, its not a common variety and I couldnt find anybody offering scion wood for it. Intended to graft scion from it onto Antanovka root, but it broke dormancy before I got to it thanks to a very early spring. So if its still around next spring, it will make a donation and I'll have second one on Antanovka root.


Any idea why these three trees are unmolested and everything else is getting chewed to pieces? Oh the Kieffer pears are established enough (second year) they shrug off anything and everything trying to molest them. The AU Cherry Plum also.

Here is a recent pic of the Chestnut Crab. No idea what fruit will be like here in summer heat of Ozarks as its a tree usually only grown in northern tier of states. But as you can tell, it likes it here, so I'll have pretty crab tree if nothing else.

[bruce2288]

Keep a close eye on those hoppers and trees. I had almost 100% loss on about a 1000 seedlings planted one year. No disscrimination on type. Oaks, ash,maple,locust,pines, spruce and 15 different scrubs. Many times they would ring bark the tree, over times eat everything. the spruce were like shiny skeletons all needles and bark devoured. They killed mature lilacs, 40 ft pine trees, mature mulberry tree. Neighbor had painted h;is fence posts, they ate the paint off the posts. Many different specie of grasshoppers, so I hope they don't do too much damage. Good luck The big yellow rascals were the worst here. Hope for damp. rainy cloudy weather and maybe they will get the fatal fungus.

[DW]

Two yrs ago the hoppers ate my peaches off the trees & left the pit hanging...they ate the whole apple! I just kept watering and the trees look pretty good this yr...last yr we had no fruit. They did kill off all my mint. Meant to add, they did not touch the mullberry trees?

[nathan104]

We lost all but 10 or so of the 45 fruit and nut trees we planted two years ago to the grass hopper. It was a plague. But, like you, there were certain trees they didnt touch.

[HermitJohn]

Originally Posted by bruce2288

Keep a close eye on those hoppers and trees. .

I can watch, but not much I can do. Too many to swat... LOL.... Last summer they wiped out peach trees, two of them were able to send out shoot from scion part of tree and making a comeback. This year, the hoppers arent touching them???? The third tree finally found a tiny bud the hoppers hadnt completely destroyed and sent out tiny shoot that existed for while then died or hoppers got it or something. No idea why they are leaving the two recovering peaches alone. Lot new tender growth that I thing would attract them.

But I will have my revenge, when the well goes dry, the trees will die from thirst before the hoppers can kill them!

[mary,tx]

Originally Posted by DW

Two yrs ago the hoppers ate my peaches off the trees & left the pit hanging...they ate the whole apple!

A friend of mine told me this happened with her peach trees a year or two ago. The grasshoppers ate the peaches off the tree and left the pits hanging. I'd never heard of such a thing! She lives maybe twenty minutes east of me, and the grasshoppers got here a couple weeks later, after we harvested ours.

[wogglebug]

I thought you might have been asking what fruit trees would resist hoppers.
Bananas would, if you had the climate and water to support them.
Figs are good.
Citrus may, depending on location and hoppers - the bitter oils seem to deter them around me.
Cactus and succulents are generally resistant. Not just prickly pear and other related Opuntias, but others, such as Dragon Fruit and Pitayo.

Anything which is bitter will deter them or poison them. There is a prolific decorative annual flower, larkspur, which will kill them if they nibble on it. Good to plant in the orchard, then it should recur naturally forever.