How to Keep Worms Out of My Chestnuts Trees
- 1). Pick up fallen chestnuts as soon as they fall from the tree to prevent birds or animals from opening them, and to prevent more weevils from entering the soil. Examine the nuts for larvae exit holes. Place damaged nuts in one bucket for disposal, and place undamaged nuts in a second bucket. You can treat the undamaged nuts in a hot water bath to kill any eggs, and they will still be edible.
- 2). Wait for adult weevils to appear on the tree crown, which usually occurs in late summer. Apply a carbaryl insecticide to the tree, following the package's application instructions. Repeat the application once a week until you stop seeing weevils in the tree crown. Apply the insecticide on still, warm days when weevils are most active.
- 3). Rake up any remaining fallen chestnut leaves, nuts, or burs under the tree in the late fall. Burn this material to prevent any worms in the material from maturing.