While cherry blossom viewing has taken off in recent years, few are aware that the flowering season is the period in which pests pose the most danger to the trees, Hsinchu County cherry farm owner Huang Cheng-hui (黃政慧) said.
Longhorn beetles — the most common pest — will usually burrow into the trunk and lay their eggs around the end of winter and the start of spring, Huang said.
While some farmers spray the roots with pesticide, Huang said pesticides could harm the environment if they are too strong and could lead to the beetles burrowing into a higher spot on the trunk, making them harder to exterminate.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsun, Taipei Times
Huang said he instead elects to patrol his farm more diligently, and scrapes off the tree gum created from gummosis, which is sometimes caused by beetle larvae burrowing deep into the trunk of a tree through a gash.
Huang’s worries were echoed by officials from the county’s Bureau of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Conservation, who said that gummosis could be caused by fungal diseases and called on farmers to check whether there are holes in the trunk, which might indicate visits from longhorn beetles.
If holes are discovered, farmers should inundate them with pesticide to remove the beetles, the officials said.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
The gum scraped from the trees should be removed from the area and preferably burned, the officials said, adding that this was to prevent the larvae from hatching after its removal, or — if caused by fungus — the disease spreading.
The officials suggested that farmers wrap the bases of the trees 1m high from the ground with non-woven fabric or black polymer sheets, which are usually used to prevent weed growth.
They also suggested that farmers remove all deadwood and fallen leaves from the area where the trees are growing because they are potential hotbeds for larvae, and added that some species of the beetle are attracted to light and could be removed by placing a light source under a mix of detergent and water.
Spraying the bases of the trees with pesticide four to five months after the first sighting of adult beetles could also prevent pests, they said.
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