Raspberry pests and control

Content:

The article describes in detail the pests of raspberries and the fight against them.

Like any garden and vegetable garden, raspberries can be damaged by various pests and diseases. The only thing is that the percentage of ethical attacks is an order of magnitude lower than that of other plants. Shoots, especially young ones, and buds are the most attractive treat for a large number of insects. The process of identifying the presence of such enemy pests is very difficult. But each representative of those who like to harm raspberries has their own "weak points". Your awareness of such weaknesses of pests will be an excellent weapon in your hands to fight insects, not only lonely, but also large-scale colonies of culture eaters.

Very small, inconspicuous to the naked eye, bugs and tiny midges that live in vast raspberry bushes can seem almost harmless, not capable of doing much harm. But this is only a superficial examination. With a closer inspection of each bush of your raspberry bush, you can find the initial signs of dangerous, harmful activity of such unremarkable bugs, worms, midges. Their vital activity can deprive you of the long-awaited harvest to zero, at best, to reduce it to a minimum. By what signs to recognize a useful, harmless living creature of raspberry plantings from parasitic insects, we will analyze in our article. We will also discuss ways to prevent, and in the worst case, destroy all dangerous insects in your area with raspberry plantings.

Raspberry pests: raspberry-strawberry weevil

It is almost impossible to hide raspberry plantings from this pest. The bug very purposefully conquers and leads an inconspicuous migration consistently from one site to another. It is possible to stop this process in 10% of cases of the appearance of a beetle on your site. Loss of raspberry yield increases up to 60%.

The size of the bug does not exceed 3 millimeters. Remnants of plants remaining in the fall, fallen leaves, large lumps of earth serve as a comfortable, warm shelter for wintering weevils. The established air temperature, only +13, allows the beetle to activate. The weevil boldly emerges from its winter shelter and begins feeding on young green raspberry leaves that have not yet matured. Early strawberries serve as the initial material for the formation of beetle nests, then it is the turn of raspberries.
The most favorite delicacy of the devourer is the buds. It is to them that the weevil does large-scale harm, it simply destroys them. The female makes a clutch of eggs directly in the receptacle, and gnaws at the peduncle. The flower itself, accordingly, weakens, several days pass and the flower falls off. The larvae hatch. Their initial feeding occurs with a soft bud, then the larvae begin to feast on green leaves. If you look closely, you can find very invisible punctures, holes, small sizes on the leaves in early spring. Having found, plus to punctures, weakened, damaged, fallen leaves and flower buds hanging on a thin thread, you can reveal the presence of a weevil.

Consider the methods of dealing with the raspberry lover beetle:

- two beloved berries, raspberries, strawberries, must be planted in separate plots, separated by any garden culture that is unattractive to the weevil.Refusing to plant strawberries is a very difficult decision (although experienced gardeners recommend making a choice to exclude infection with one or the other), so it is advisable to immediately burn all fallen flower buds;

- the dolphin does not tolerate very harsh, unpleasant odors. Therefore, planting garlic, for example, next to raspberries, or between the rows (at best), will help scare off a harmful bug. For the same purpose, marigolds, marigolds, nasturtium are planted. Garlic is planted at the rate of 1 onion per 3-4 bush. There is no way to plant garlic, use its infusion, for prevention: chopped garlic in an amount of 150 g, mix with a bucket of water, mix very well, a day will be enough for infusion. Treat regularly, in the evening, preferably without rain. Spraying should be done within a week, take a break, repeat again. Odors tend to fade away. Therefore, do not procrastinate with a repeated period;

-the beginning of the formation of buds. A week before flowering, use solutions of mustard or ordinary laundry soap, in the proportion: 200 g of substance per 10 liters of water. Capsicums are also great for making infusions. Take 500 g of dry or a kilogram of fresh product, be sure to grind and mix with 10 liters of water. It is necessary to insist for 48 hours, strain, squeeze the pulp until juice is obtained, add this juice to the infusion. Spraying with the resulting solution every two to three days;

- experienced gardeners always have stocks of onion husks. And celandine grows on the site. You can prepare an infusion, celandine plus onions. Take a three-liter jar, take celandine and onions in a 2: 1 ratio, put it on the bottom of the jar, pour boiling water into 1/3 of the container. Dilute the cooled solution with 10 liters of water. Add 50-70 g of laundry soap there (the soap solution allows other components of the solution to stay on the plant for a longer period). Spray each bush with the resulting mixture.

There is a threat of the formation of a horde of weevils, this is when the spraying did not help, or was not carried out systematically, you will have to use a more serious method, less desirable for any gardener. Chemicals are used in the most extreme cases. An example of such funds is Kemifos, Fufanon-Nova (before the formation of inflorescences and after flowering), Iskra-M (after picking berries and before flowering). Some recommend Karbofos-500, which has excellent, proven properties.

Raspberry pests and control: raspberry beetle

Anyone who at least once faced the harvesting process or simply eating berries could observe very small worms with chaotic movements. You can observe them in almost every area, and this is a fact. The impression, of course, spoils at the sight of such a picture. The worms are the larvae of the raspberry beetle. In early spring, the feeding of larvae and adults consists of pollen from handy weeds, and any, without a choice. On such nutrition, the larvae develop, grow stronger, gain the necessary strength and fully begin to attack the raspberry plantations. It is practically impossible to exterminate this pest. You can only reduce its quantity and area of distribution. In late autumn, the beetle goes to winter, hiding in the depths, in the soil. And again, in early spring, it begins its parasitic activity.

Outwardly, the raspberry beetle is quite small, only up to 4 mm along the length of the body. Nutrition occurs exclusively with raspberry flowers, but eggs are deposited only in berries. When ripe, the berries increase in size, respectively, and the larvae also increase, feeding exclusively on the very juicy, tender pulp of the fruit. Carrying out a superficial examination of the bushes to identify the habitat of the beetle, you may not notice the presence of malicious larvae.Viewing berries up close is almost the only way to detect a pest. This fact makes it very difficult to fight the beetle. In the first days of June, the beetle is most active, before the beginning of extensive flowering. If you still grow raspberries and strawberries on your site together, and the second began to be processed much earlier than the first, then the beetle will easily move to the untreated areas of raspberry plantations. This can happen much earlier, around the end of May. After all, strawberries begin to bloom earlier, respectively, treatments that are aimed at saving inflorescences are carried out at an earlier period. The beetle boldly moves to an affordable treat.

The female beetle is capable of laying up to 40 eggs per season, lays directly in the flowers. Lays diligently, one egg in each ovary. For what and why so. She takes care of her offspring, so that each individual feels comfortable and has sufficient nutrition. A lot of fruits fall off, and it is almost impossible to find the bugs parasitizing in such berries. And, as a rule, such individuals calmly go to winter in the autumn, burrowing into the soil at a depth.

Some methods of dealing with harmful insects can be distinguished, the most common:

- raspberry plantations are an excellent treat for an insect, and the beetle itself is a favorite food for large butterflies, flies and other dipterans. You can independently attract helpers to your site, just plant garlic next to raspberries, and a danger will be created for the beetle to live fully in your culture;

- be sure to loosen the soil in early spring and the last days of autumn, the depth of loosening is at least 20 cm, before the process, spray dust from tobacco or ordinary ash on the surface. Remove all vegetation around the shrub before loosening. And just organize regular weeding;

- you can apply an infusion of tansy (dilute 350 g of dry material in five liters of water). Insist for 24 hours, the resulting infusion must be boiled for 30 minutes, then strain, bring water to 10 liters;

- a solution of manganese, pinkish, can be used for preventive irrigation of bushes. The process must be carried out in the early morning, when only raspberry inflorescences begin to open towards the sun's rays, while the air warms up no more than +12 degrees. During this period, the state of the bugs is half asleep, inactivity. All harvested pests must be immediately destroyed;

-If the problem takes on a large-scale threat, you can use heavy artillery: drugs-Kinmix, Iskra. A solution in the amount of one and a half liters is consumed for 10 bushes.

Raspberry pests: a description of the raspberry kidney moth

A favorite place for moths are very old, not cultivated for a long time, simply abandoned areas of raspberry plantations. The color is bright red, the head is bright black. Kidneys and raspberry shoots suffer from the active actions of this pest.
Garden debris left over in the fall, dead cover of the bark and lower branches of an adult plant, serve as an excellent place for long wintering of caterpillars. They hibernate in small cocoons. Already in early spring, the vital activity of parasites begins. They crawl out onto the stem, the caterpillar begins to feed the culture by the buds, completely eat up their internal content. The kidney inevitably begins to swell and gradually dries out. The caterpillar continues to harm the plant, eating away young, immature after wintering shoots.

Butterfly larvae live in the kidneys, where signs of their presence appear in the form of small black dots. She herself shows her presence at the first signs of flowering. Eggs are laid right in the receptacle. The earliest raspberry varieties are the most vulnerable.They are the ones who are the first to suffer damage from the butterfly. The flowering period of such varieties falls at the time of the reinforced, main clutch of eggs by the pest moth. Sometimes, depending on many seasonal conditions, yield losses can be 90% of the total you would like to receive from your plantings.

Among the measures used to combat moths are the following:

-mandatory, systematic thinning of raspberry plantings is necessary, timely cut off unnecessary, weakened and, simply extra shoots, capable of thickening plantings to a critical state;

- there should not be any abandoned plantations in the vicinity of cultural plantings. It is these that contribute to the spread of moths to neighboring, well-groomed, healthy areas;

- when the process of swelling of the kidneys occurs, at an early stage, you can spray the raspberry bushes with a solution of chlorophos, 3%, in proportion to water, dilute 30 g of powder with 10 liters of water;

Raspberry stem gall midge

Otherwise, this pest is called a raspberry mosquito, it bears a great resemblance to an ordinary mosquito and therefore remains invisible, almost always, but a very harmful insect. It has an almost microscopic size, no more than 2 mm, but upon close examination, slightly yellow stripes can be observed along the black body of a mosquito. The presence of the pest becomes noticeable already when the formation of clusters of mosquitoes, in the form of a ball, is visible. Such an accumulation can be observed along the shoots at the bottom and in the middle. In 99% of cases, this picture denotes only the fact that the settlement of gall midge larvae has already taken place. A globular formation is a galla, a small growth on a plant.

Such an outgrowth is very detrimental to the plant, creates an obstacle to movement in the stems, and this is the reason for the complete drying of the shoot. The affected area becomes vulnerable, the spores of fungal diseases easily penetrate into the plant, a spotting, purple hue is formed. As a result of such penetration, the death of fruit buds, the leaf cover and other parts of the plant also die. The larvae do not settle in separate individuals, they form orders in the amount of 10 pieces, and the galls-outgrowths are the dwellings of the larvae.

Large-scale eating of the pulp of the stems occurs during the early spring, the plant gradually weakens. Repaired varieties are most exposed to mosquito colonies, due to their extended fruiting period, and cease to bear fruit in mid-autumn.

Let's highlight the most effective ways to combat gall midge:

-already at the end of June, you can begin the fight against parasitic insects, first of all, cut off all damaged shoots at the root and be sure to destroy them, for example, burn them;
- to carry out systematic spring and autumn spraying with Bordeaux liquid, 1%. This solution not only destroys insects and their larvae, but will bring a complex effect of preserving raspberries from damage by various diseases.

A 0.2% emulsion of Karbofos is also suitable;
-the rules of agricultural technology must be unconditionally observed in any scenario, they were invented for a reason, and their relevance has been proven by many years of experience. Raspberries do not like blackberries in the neighborhood. Mechanical damage to the bark on the shoots can also cause damage by pests and diseases.

Raspberry stem fly

Flying insect, very small, no more than 7 mm, the color of the calf is brown, with a grayish tinge, the wings are transparent. The harmful activity of the fly begins in the May period, not only raspberries, but also blackberries are affected. The start of action may shift slightly depending on weather conditions. The most important condition for active action is enhanced development and growth of shoots. The place where the female will lay her eggs is selected the axils of the shoots, still young, immature, gaining strength.The larvae begin their development, the size increases and this will lead to the death of tissue just above the area of the trunk where the female tore out the habitat for the larvae. As the larvae grows, the appetite of the larvae also grows, food becomes scarce and they begin to gnaw through the stem itself, purposefully heading to the very base. Blackening occurs and the subsequent drying of the stem completely. Spots of a bluish tint are formed around the larva's passages. Having reached the base of the stems, the larva organizes a shelter for itself for long wintering.

Spring has come. The air temperature has already reached 13-15 degrees. Insects wake up, and with them the raspberry fly begins its actions. It gets out to the surface from its secluded winter dwelling and the whole process of harmful life begins in the same order. Same as last season. If you do not carry out a cardinal struggle with it, it will not disappear, but will only increase its number. Accordingly, after 3-4 seasons, your raspberry plantings will already be very difficult to rehabilitate. Each gardener in his area sometimes observes a picture: the shoots begin to rot and are very weak in development. The first thought is illness or some kind of mechanical damage. In most cases, this opinion is wrong. Most likely, a pest fly already prevails in this bush. And here the main thing is to react in time, urgently cut off and be sure to burn the entire part of the bush, together with the fly's dwelling, where the egg laying is based. If you leave some part of the nest, the larva will find a new place and calmly go to winter. Next spring, the process will be repeated and so on ad infinitum. This method is only successful if you have time to cut before the larvae hatch from the eggs.

What measures can be taken to eradicate the raspberry fly? Let's choose the main, the most effective, recommended by perennials, collected by more than one generation of amateur gardeners:

- it is preferable to start the fight with the fly in the autumn. Initially, dried, simply damaged and excess shoots are cut out. The soil between the rows and between the bushes must be loosened. The compacted soil is a comfortable place for the wintering of larvae and adults. Thus, loosening creates air exchange in the soil, even if a certain number of bugs remain inside, they can die in extreme cold. All shoots to be destroyed are cut to the very base of the bush and completely burned;

- if you inspect the bushes every day and urgently cut off the weak shoots just below the place where the stem begins to wilt, then by about 90 percent you can get a guarantee of getting rid of the misfortune. The larva will not be able to approach the base of the bush, the plant will be saved;

- for spraying a crop, you can use the drug Aktelik, the calculation of the consumption is 1.5 liters per 10 square meters. The procedure is carried out before the formation of inflorescences, the height of the shoots is not more than 15 centimeters;

- Regular baking soda serves as a complementary remedy. The solution (2 tablespoons per bucket of water) is used for spraying raspberries once, in the spring, when the fruit sets.

Many pests of raspberries are microscopic. At a superficial examination of the plantings of parasites, it is very difficult to detect. They hide throughout the plant, from the roots and along the entire length of the shoots. Clear signs of appearance are observed already at the stage of active activity of insect pests. This makes the fight against them more difficult. Sometimes simple folk remedies cannot be dispensed with, it is necessary to use drugs, but strictly according to the instructions, very carefully. It is not always possible to save the plant. That is why preventive actions are so important to PREVENT the formation of various parasites.Most importantly, do not be lazy, if you run your site, the rescue can take a long time, this is not even one season, but for years you can try to completely get rid of problems with caterpillars, mosquitoes, bugs. Everything must be timely. Then your garden will delight not only the eye, but will bring a tasty, healthy, long-awaited harvest.

Raspberry pests