What's eating my apple 'gala'?

Gala apples are highly attractive to codling moth and are known to be particularly susceptible to woolly aphid. Rosy apple aphid distorts young growth in spring, and birds peck ripe fruit in late summer. Good monitoring with pheromone traps and grease bands is essential for a clean crop.

Maggot tunnelling into the core; frass at the entry hole; fruit drops prematurely before harvest Pheromone delta traps from May to September; pyrethrin or spinosad-based sprays timed to egg-hatch; remove fallen fruit promptly

White, fluffy cotton-wool colonies on shoots, pruning wounds, and bark; galls form underneath weakening branches Scrub colonies off with a stiff brush and methylated spirits; spray with imidacloprid (garden formulations) or insecticidal soap targeting crawlers in spring

Puckered, purple-tinged leaves in spring; fruitlets stay small and misshaped; colonies visible inside curled leaves Squash early colonies; apply insecticidal soap before leaves curl; introduce beneficial insects; winter-wash bark with plant oils

Ripe Gala fruit pecked open from late August, leaving hollowed cavities that then rot Net the canopy with fine fruit netting once fruit colours; reflective tape and hawk kites as deterrents around harvest time