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I once had the opportunity to talk with some apple growers in Washington (state).

They said that they regularly sprayed their trees with a mix of water and soft detergent early in the season, to prevent parasites and larvae from taking hold. As I understood it, they viewed soap as a simple solution. It was not completely organic and natural, but it helped to keep pests away and it did not seem to cause undue harm to the orchards or the apples.

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Interesting, I'll give that a try this Spring! Thanks for the tip. Soapy water in general doesn't seem like something that's problematic as far as eating the oranges later... whether it's technically "organic" or not is secondary for me. I guess that maybe raises an eyebrow about what "organic" means, if soapy water isn't acceptable.

The second year of the leaf-miners, I would go out there every morning and look for affected leaves, just so I could squish the little bugger inside the leaf before it could become an adult moth. It was satisfying, but never really helped.

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