CYD-X causing reduced yield

[mattsfbay]

I've been using CYD-X as a OMRI pesticide to give my coddling moths a virus for the last 3 years or so.

The good news is that my apples have (as of this year) no coddling moth damage.

The bad news is that there are very few of them. I estimate that the number of fruit that set and make it as fully grown is down 90-95% in both of my trees (one a Cox's Orange Pippin, one a Jonagold).

I don't see any online mentions, which is perplexing. Has anyone else tried this treatment, and what did you observe?

 

[Meadowlark]

Sounds like maybe the pesticide is killing the pollinators which in turn reduces the crop.

 

[Chuck]

https://progardenreview.com/cyd-x-for-codling-moth-control/.

I don't think the cyd-x is the cause for reduced fruit production. According to this link the active ingredient in this product kills ONLY coddling moth larvae and nothing else. If I were to guess I would say that the problem is weather/temperature/wind related in which your normal pollinators are unable to function normally.

 

[mattsfbay]

Thanks, Chuck. That's correct. The virus only affects coddling moth larvae.

Your theory is good, but unlikely. My apples are about 20 feet from my beehives. Also, the fact that this happened the three years that I used cyd-x and ONLY those 3 years at least is a strong correlation.

 

[Meadowlark]

Thinking more about this @mattsfbay and the strong correlation. It seems plausible to me that the trees have needed that time to recover from the previous moth damage.

My research says it can take that long in severe cases especially if the moth is still around some in the first year of treatment.

Next year, your trees should be back to near normal, if my theory is correct.