Its Panic Time! ? Ambrosia beetle control-naturally:.

This is the written part to the above radio show:

An Organic Solution to Ambrosia Beetle

Polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB), Ambrosia Beetles and a fungus (Fusarium sp.)

You should look google this pest if you want more information on it.

First off. one should ask themselves what is it that these native trees, some types of ornamental and some types of fruit trees have in common? This pest attacks over 200 species of trees including the native Coast Live Oak and the California sycamore and 52 species of trees so it seems crossing from one plant species to another, which in itself is unusual.

Well the first thing is the beetle, so if I could talk beetle talk I would ask Mrs Beetle what makes her go after these trees and not others? So basically if we can stop the beetle from choosing the trees, the beetle population will not only die but would move to a place where they would have a food source or in this case a host source.

The females create galleries under the bark  for fungus to grow a fungus which spreads and becomes food for the females eggs when hatched.  

The key reason here is to understand . The beetle picks the tree that she thinks will be a good host for the fungus to grow.

if the beetle picks the wrong tree, the fungus will not grow and her larvae will die.

What is the different between a tree that the fungus will grow on and a tree that it will not?

Find that and you can then control this beetle.

First off the beetle will have to eat a certain amount to drill an entrance and to work her way under the bark. That means that what what they eat is un-comparable to them or rather that not all trees will taste right to them.  They will not be able to eat into it. How do we do this?

If you were to test the trees that are being attacked you will find that they all will be having a trace mineral deficiency! 

Of course lack of water stressed out plants and the weaker ones  first start to have problems getting the trace minerals they need. The healthier ones have deeper roots and have found a deep source of water so that the minerals will be able to continue to be absorbed and transferred thru out the tree.

Then what one must realize is that there is a relationship between the Brix level of the tree and the mineral level as well as the carbohydrate level. Insects cannot digest carbohydrates and so a plant with a high carbohydrate level will not be as tasty as one that has low levels of carbohydrates. So the higher the Brix the Higher the Sugar levels but also the higher the mineral and carbohydrate level. If one gets to be good at reading a refractometer, one gets to understand the Blurry Line, that point where the dark meets the light on the refractometer reading. This Blurry line also determines what types of minerals and in what abundance. A sharp line means less of a variety of minerals and more of one type of mineral.

To protect your trees from getting this nasty beetle you first need to make sure you are not only providing a deep watering once a month but you are also providing the required minerals.

Any questions? Email me andy@invisiblegardener.com

and mention this article or just use the comment below

 Andy Lopez

Invisible Gardener