What's eating my medlar?

Medlar is one of the most pest-resistant tree fruits available to UK and US gardeners. The most likely visitors are aphids on new spring growth and codling moth larvae inside fruit. Brown rot fungus is a bigger threat than insects. Wasps and birds can damage softening fruit during the bletting stage. No routine spraying programme is usually needed.

Curled, sticky new leaves in spring; colonies on shoot tips and leaf undersides Insecticidal soap or neem oil spray in spring; encourage ladybirds; usually resolves without intervention by early summer

Larvae tunnel into fruit, leaving a frass-filled hole; affected fruit falls early or rots from inside Pheromone traps to monitor flight; sticky bands around trunk; codling moth granulosis virus spray at egg hatch

Hollowed, eaten flesh in bletting fruit left on or under the tree in autumn Harvest promptly and blet indoors; wasp traps near tree in late summer