Prevent cherry worms without poison or spray

Kootenay Covers are available at the following locations:

Springfield Nurseries Ltd (Art Knapp Plantland), 1994 Springfield Road, Kelowna

Kaslo Building Supplies, 6521 Highway 31, Kaslo

Bylands Garden Centre, Kelowna

Nelson Farmers Supply, Nelson

Home Hardware, Osoyoos

Swan Lake Fruit & Garden, Vernon

Columbia Valley Greenhouses, Trail

Sunset Seeds, Creston

Mylo's, Scotch Creek

Click here for research data, instructions, and other Kootenay Covers information. To navigate through this presentation, scroll up and down.

For more information click on the following links:

Bag Description

Movie of Installation
History of Kootenay Covers

Most commercial cherries, even "organic" cherries, are usually sprayed over and over with poisons to prevent worms. That chould change soon, thanks to a new invention called Kootenay Covers. This revolutionary method creates a physical barrier to the cherry worm, preventing infection without sprays or poisons of any kind. As an added benefit, it also protects the fruit from birds, wasps and other pests.

Even people who have only one cherry tree either have to spray often or harvest their fruit long before it is ripe, when the worms are still small enough not to be too noticible. If the cherries are left to ripen on the tree without spraying, by the time they should be large and sweet, most of them are instead pre-digested by the worms inside.

The idea for Kootenay Covers is simple - a large net bag that goes over the tree before the first flies emerge and stays on till the fruit is harvested. The holes are just small enough to keep out the flies, but large enough to let in the sun and light rain. Large raindrops are broken into a mist, preventing heavy rain damage; some small drops filter through the net and the rest runs down to the drip line.

The netting is highly UV resistant and should last for many years. Nets which have been used three seasons still look new except for a few leaves and stains. I even used mine on an apple tree this fall after the cherries were harvested to keep turkeys and kids out. The netting is still like new.

If you grow cherries that you want to protect from worms, but you don't want to use spray or poison, please call (250) 353-2264 or email any questions you may have to:

	*note: This is not a clickable link so bots can't find me to send spam. You should type this address into the to: line of your message.

By using a cover, no poison residue develops on the cherries, and there are zero worms in them, so dried cherries could be an excellent secondary product. This could lead to a whole new market being developed which would extend the cherry season from a couple of months to the whole year. The flavour is incredible, and they're safe to eat.

This page was first created January 10, 2006 by Marilyn Roberts

Last updated May 21, 2008