Gall Busters WA

26/10/2021

6 days on from the first emergence and we now have a container full of wasps. I am amazed at how many insects have come out of this handful of galls and it really puts into perspective the scale of the issue at hand.

Gardeners please look at your citrus trees regularly right throughout the year and remove all galls as soon as possible. We may not be able to stop Citrus Gall Wasp, but we can certainly do much better at controlling them.

21/10/2021

Good Morning Gardener's ☀️ So here we have the first emergence of our Citrus Gall Wasp for 2021.

These were removed from the tree only a week ago and thankfully they were nice and tightly packed into this container to keep an eye on.
This shows why late removed galls needs to be destroyed, as wasps can hatch from pruned material up to 60 days after removal from the tree.

Removal and destruction of galls is always possible and is a highly recommend practice all throughout the year, particularly early in the year when wasps are undeveloped.

11/10/2021

G'day Gardener's 💚 Today was the day to chop my Gall Wasp demo tree, with emergence possibly only days away. This tree came from a reputable nursery in Perth and is one of the reasons that gall wasp is spreading so quickly and easily throughout the suburbs.

Don't assume that because you purchased your tree from a nursery that it is free of gall wasp. The nurseries including the producers are doing their best to manage gall wasp, but with no real pesticides left at their disposal they are struggling to keep on top of the problem.

Check all new citrus coming into your garden regularly for unusual lumps or bumps and, prune them out as soon as possible. Gall Busters says "If in doubt, Prune it out".

04/10/2021

G'day Gardener's 🙂 Gardener's understanding Gall Wasp is the first step towards management and Ohhh boy there is some misunderstanding out there.

So why do we need to destroyed Galls? Firstly this is only true of galls removed after the end of June and even then I believe the end of July is a more realistic date....So why? Wasps can and will hatch up to 60 days after removal from a tree, this is why we burn, freeze, microwave, bury, chop, slice, boil, bag, double bag, triple bag, tarp up and every other crazy online garden forum method of destruction you may come across to eliminate that emergence.

Citrus Guy....there must be a better way🤔 Gardener's...Yes....Yes there is. This is possibly the single most important piece of information to be shared and shared and shared. All Galls removed before the end of June can be disposed of as you would treat any other green waste. No need for crazy methods of disposal and even better, the sooner you remove them, the sooner you get fresh growth.

I highly recommend weekly checks and removal of all suspect limbs from February onwards, as young galls are easy to spot long before they are ready to hatch. Doing this simple task will ensure that you don't have a huge problem on your hands at the end of Winter and Gardener's...... it's called Gardening😜

27/09/2021

Good Evening Gardener's 🙂 Another Day on the hunt for Gall Wasp and today has given a great example of why the Potato Peeler method is such a poor option and infact detrimental to the health of your tree.

These limbs were stripped open last year in an attempt to expose and kill the wasp inside and as you can clearly see the results are appalling. Every branch that had been stripped had died and further more the tree was still full to capacity of viable galls.

Please Gardener's keep your potato peeler in the kitchen and out of the garden. Your citrus will appreciate the regular light prune, while removing yearly galls and you won't have hideous scars and dead branches inside your tree.

23/09/2021

That Citrus Guy talking the maths about Citrus Gall Wasp.https://www.facebook.com/273714696420995/posts/1255213408271114/

22/09/2021

G'day Gardener's 🙂 Gall Busters is on the hunt for Citrus Gall Wasp in your garden and today was a real success. This tree was going into it's fourth year of infestation with it's canopy bulging with thick galls ready to hatch in only a matter of weeks.

This was a two in one job with not only a full removal of all galls, but a solid reduction in size making the coming years detection and removal of future galls far easier. Due to the lateness of removal the infected material could not be transported from site, but it was easily cut to size and tarped up to sit and solarize for the next few months.

If you have any questions about Gall Wasp or have a tree that needs attention, simply message Gall Busters for all the information you need.

05/05/2021

G'day Gardener's 🙂Here is what looks to be a happy healthy Eureka Lemon, but on closer inspection this tree has quite a healthy dose of Gall Wasp. This specimen only has one seasons worth of galls and can easily be pruned out, but seasonal checks for galls will be necessary to ensure control of the pest is maintained.

22/04/2021

22/04/2021

A radio interview on 6PR with That Citrus Guy on Citrus Gall Wasp.
https://omny.fm/shows/marwick-on-sunday/citrus-gall-wasps-attacking-perths-citrus-trees

22/04/2021

Two years on and Citrus Gall Wasp is on the move. That Citrus Guy with Helen Newman on ABC news talking about Citrus Gall Wasp.
https://www.facebook.com/abcperth/videos/489343671547156/

20/04/2021