Question
I just cannot get rid of worms mainly in peppers and fruit trees.
Peppers are my worst nightmare, the worm (larvae?)inside the pepper will eat most of the inside leaving a pepper crumpling apart. Even when I pick a perfectly grown and good looking pepper, it will after a few days in storage a worm will develop inside and cause the same damage. It is very frustrating, I am lucky to get one good pepper per plant if none at all! I generally do not use any pesticides, but I will try anything to solve this problem.
The other main problem is with the cherry tree, the cherries are full of worms when picked or after having them in storage for a short while....basically the same problem as the peppers.
I would appreciate so much any help you can give me, I live in the Toronto area Canada in Zone 5. thanks...Danny

Answer
Danny:
I sympathize. Sounds like fruit flies. Different ones on each, but same problem. You need to control the adult. Sticky traps can reduce the damage in the cherry trees. You can buy red ball sticky traps or make your own. The yellow ones work too. They might work for the peppers as well. A lure of vinegar or ammonia and water can be hung below the traps.

You can also try dusting the peppers with diatomaceous earth. See if you can find out when the adults lay eggs in your area - it's usually mid-summer, and time the dusting for shortly before that.

There is also a product called Surround, which is really nothing but finely milled clay. I'm not sure if it is recommended for cherries or not, I've used it on apples and pears, I'm sure it would also work on the peppers. It does the same thing as the diatomaceous earth - disguises the fruit to discourage the flies.

The only other solution is to eat, freeze or cook the produce soon after harvest.

Elyse