victoria plum problem

my mum has 2 Victoria plum trees (about 8 feet apart ) and both this year and last the fruit has little dark dots around the stones and quite a few on the effected fruits have a caterpillar / maggot in them (usually with the stone ) there arnt any entry marks on the fruit

 

Some one on faebook has tolsd me its a Plum fruit moth - now just need to get rid of them for next year

 

This has been the worst year for Codling Moth on my Victoria Plums....almost everyone of the fruits have been affected...if you cut them open and see the rusty looking frass near the stone you'll find a maggot hiding somewhere....just makes you reluctant to grab one straight from the tree and have a bite.....usually there is a small brown mark somewhere on them to indicate the entry point....You can get Moth traps that hang in the trees....never tried them but might do after this year....

 

If it's plum fruit moths they fly up into the tree and lay their eggs on the plums (by-passing grease bands) And the best time to spray when you start catching moths in traps which will be the time of year when the fruits have formed.

So is it codling or plum moth?

Plum moth http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=554




Codling moth http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?PID=489 Do they attack plums?