The cicadas do lots of damage to trees. They cut into the branches to lay their eggs. Has anyone tried a garden blower to blow off the trees during their laying cycle?

I was thinking of getting backpack blower for the job. Or is there something else you can recommend? (Not interested in netting) Trees are 15 - 25 feet tall. Not looking for perfect solution. Just cut back the damage some.

Here is cicada damage after 1 year of recovery.

I don't know how much of a good idea that is: cicadas are better fliers than they are usually given credit for, they will just be back as soon as you leave.
Also you need to take into account the mess an improperly used leafblower (or pressure washer) will do.

You need to give systemic insecticides some thought: a soil drench is the less time-consuming form of control when everything is considered and should kill both the females during the laying cycle and any larva that may emerge. The only downside is careful monitoring is required: systemic insecticides will break down and stop being effective and it's possible cicadas will migrate from neighboring lots. In that case you will need to hit them again.
Dusting is not particularly effective unless you use a good power mister (25ft is not a small fruit tree) and even then you will be using pretty much the same insecticide as in a drench.

I wonder if a systemic would really do anything, they are not eating the plant, so their exposure is only through egg laying- by the time they are exposed, the damage is done.

sallyg said:I wonder if a systemic would really do anything, they are not eating the plant, so their exposure is only through egg laying- by the time they are exposed, the damage is done.

The female has to cut the bark in order to lay her eggs: that's where the insecticide will get her. Usually they drop dead just before laying their eggs.
It's a standard form of management in large commercial orchards where netting is eminently impractical and is only applied once the first adult cicadas start appearing.

Of course, the problem with systemic is they'll kill the pollinators as well, that's why treatments need to be very carefully timed.

I don't think you need to do anything. After a few weeks there will be no sign of them. They don't kill trees.

They might not kill the trees but it looks like they do a bit of damage to them, at the least.

Another option would be to set a bunch of copperhead snakes lose in the area. Seriously, they love cicadas, at least the emerging young ones...they hunt for them at night and gobble them from the trees.

I don't know where you're located @invisibleflash , but if you're in an area that copperheads frequent I would be aware of their appetite for cicadas...especially while walking around at night in the dark among the trees. I don't think you'll have a plague of copperheads due to the cicadas, but it *is* something to be aware of.

Check some of these links out... https://www.google.com/search?...