Blackberry Pests

Blackberry every year becomes more and more frequent guest in home gardens and orchards. Depending on the cultivar, different bushes may have a greater or lesser ability to resist various pests and parasites. As a rule, those varieties of blackberries, in the genotype of which there are no raspberry genes, are little damaged by pests and diseases – they have increased immunity. But on the other hand, raspberry-blackberry hybrids are able to pick up the whole range of diseases and parasites that are characteristic of raspberries. Detailed information about blackberry diseases presented in another article, and here you can take a closer look at those pests that can damage blackberries, and find out how you can win in the fight against them.

Classification of insects that harm shrubs

Among the endless variety of insect pests, it is customary to divide them into groups, according to which parts of the blackberry they damage to the greatest extent. Of course, this classification is somewhat arbitrary, since some pests, such as raspberry shoot aphids or raspberry beetles, can cause damage to all organs of a blackberry. However, many pests are most often specialized in certain parts of plants and, therefore, they are easier to identify and neutralize.

• Pests that live mainly in the ground gnaw the roots and thereby cause the blackberry bushes to wither, and sometimes their complete death.
• Those pests that damage the leaves worsen the general condition of plants, reduce their immunity and, accordingly, reduce the yield of blackberries.
• Among the pests living in blackberry stems, there are many tiny ones that are almost invisible to the eye. But thanks to their activity, the branches and stems begin to wither and suddenly break off. As a result, the crop may partially or completely die, and a blackberry plantation heavily infested with them will have to be completely renewed.
• Finally, a variety of pests that eat blackberry flowers and berries spoil their presentation and taste, do not allow plants to fully develop, and because of them, individual shoots or even entire bushes often have to be destroyed.

Blackberry pests that affect the root system and how to deal with them

Insect pests that live in the soil and their larvae make numerous underground passages, gnawing all the roots of plants in their path. Especially tasty for them are young thin roots of blackberries and the bases of fresh young shoots that appear from the soil in early spring.

May beetle (May beetle larva)

The May beetle in itself does not bring anything good for fruit bushes, in particular, for blackberries, since it can feed on its leaves, flowers and ovaries. But its larvae turn out to be much more harmful, because they eat up the most tender parts of the roots and young stems and, with a large number of them, can completely destroy blackberry bushes.

The life span of the larvae is quite long, about 4 years, then they turn into a chrysalis, and after 1,5 months adult beetles appear, and all this time they cause irreparable harm to blackberry plantings. Both adult beetles and their larvae of different ages overwinter in the soil. Departure to the surface of adult insects begins approximately in late April – early May, during the flowering period of most fruit trees and shrubs. At the end of flowering, the female pest lays eggs in the ground at a depth of about 20-40 cm, from which larvae soon appear.

Based on the knowledge about the life cycle of the May bug, the following protective measures can be taken:

• Before laying a new blackberry plantation, for prevention, soak the root system of the bushes in a 0% Aktara solution for half an hour. Aktara is a systemic insecticide and all parts of the blackberry eaten by the blackberry will be poisonous to the pest for 65 days (when spraying the plants with the drug) and up to 30 months (when the soil is shed).
• For prevention purposes, it is advisable to sow the areas where you are going to plant blackberries a year before planting with green manure: rapeseed, clover, mustard or alfalfa. Mustard mustard secretions can scare away the chrushka for a long time, so it is also beneficial to plant it in the aisles of blackberries.
• It is convenient to collect adult beetles by hand in the morning, when they are in some stupor. To do this, a film is spread under shrubs and trees and pests are shaken off on it, after which they are collected and destroyed in lime mortar.
• If you have a small number of blackberry bushes, then it is best to carefully dig up each bush in cloudy weather and shake it off on the film along with the ground, manually selecting all the larvae. Before planting in its original place, the blackberry roots are additionally treated with a clay mash with the addition of 100 g of tobacco dust per bucket of liquid.
• From folk remedies, it is effective against the May beetle to use a solution of iodine (25 drops per 8-10 liters of water), which is watered with blackberry bushes in April-May under the root.
• Of the chemicals, Confidor and Antikhrushch can be used in early spring, with solutions of which they shed the earth around the blackberries and process the plants themselves.
• Keep in mind that birds love to treat themselves to adult beetles: starlings, rooks, and also bats. And the larvae of the pest are tasty prey for shrews, moles and even foxes.

Medvedka

This is a large insect, up to 5-6 cm long and up to 1,5 cm wide, with four wings, powerful jaws, digging holes and passages for itself with its front legs. It feeds mainly on young roots and shoots, but along the way it is able to gnaw through any powerful blackberry roots, thereby dooming the bush to death. Larvae laid by females during the summer turn into adult insects only the next year.

If you notice wilted shoots and even whole blackberry bushes, it is recommended to carefully examine the soil under the plants in search of holes, up to 3 cm in diameter, which may be the entrance to the underground dwelling of the bear. When a pest is found, you can first thoroughly loosen the soil around the blackberry bushes, and then try to apply one of the well-established folk methods of struggle:

• Pour a bucket of water into the hole with a handful of washing powder dissolved in it. This will force the bear to come to the surface, after which it must be destroyed. Caught bears are happy to eat chickens, ducks and other poultry.
• When planting blackberries, pour eggshells, dried marigolds, chrysanthemums into the holes.
• Scatter sand moistened with kerosene near the bushes.
• Pour the blackberry bushes under the root with a solution of ammonia in the proportion of 3 tablespoons per bucket of water.
• Install a windmill on a metal wire that creates vibration in the soil and repels pests.

  

• Traps are set in the form of jars, with honey-coated edges, dug into the ground.
• In autumn, small holes are dug and filled with a mixture of straw and manure. Medvedka settles in them for the winter, and after the onset of frost, the straw with manure is pulled out and distributed over the surface – the pests die.
• In early spring, poisoned baits made from bread and match heads are placed in minks.

If you want to quickly get rid of the pest, then you can use special chemicals – Medvetoks, Medvecid and Boverin, which are mixed with the soil near the blackberry bushes.

What insects harm blackberry leaves

Blackberry leaves are very attractive not only for various types of aphids, mites, but also for caterpillars and flea beetles.

Raspberry leaf aphid

Aphids are a nasty pest species that attack primarily blackberries with raspberry genes (Tyberry, Texas varieties, Thornless Loganberry). These insects are very small, no more than 3 mm in length. Those that live on blackberries are characterized by a light yellow color.

The eggs overwinter at the ends of the shoots, near the buds, and with the onset of spring, wingless insects begin to appear from them, which live in small groups or singly on the underside of the leaves. At the beginning of the activity of leaf aphids, blackberry leaves only slightly bend and there is no noticeable damage to them. But during the summer period, mass reproduction of pests occurs, several generations of aphids are replaced, as a result of which mass leaf fall can even occur in the midst of summer. Blackberry yields are reduced, and the frost resistance of shoots is reduced to zero. But the main danger of aphids is that they carry almost incurable viral diseases.

True, it is quite easy to choose how to spray blackberries from pests that can destroy all plantings. In early spring, relatively harmless biological agents can be used to treat raspberry leaf aphids: Agravertin, Aktofit, Fitoverm. Spraying is repeated 2-3 times in 5-7 days.

Perfectly cope with aphids and powerful systemic insecticides, such as Confidor, Mospilan. Spraying with these products must be carried out before the start of flowering blackberries.

If you notice the pest too late, after bud break and in the summer, then spraying with tobacco infusion can help: in 10 liters of water, insist 2 g of tobacco dust for 200 days. The infusion can be used throughout the day. After 8-10 days, the blackberry treatment is repeated.

blackberry aphid

This is just one of the varieties of a large family of aphids, characterized by a relatively larger size and a yellowish-greenish color with a dark ornament on the body. Otherwise, the way of life and the degree of harmfulness are very reminiscent of raspberry leaf aphids, therefore, the methods of pest control are the same.

Spider mite

Ticks are small spiders and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Their presence betrays the appearance of whitish and speckled spots on blackberry leaves. They live on the underside of the leaves and sometimes give themselves out by the formation of a small cobweb between the leaves and stems. Most of all, they harm young seedlings and blackberry shoots. The leaves quickly turn yellow, dry out and fall off. Adult bushes suffer from a tick much less often. The pest reproduces especially intensively in hot and dry conditions, therefore it is most often found in greenhouses and in the southern regions.

Affected blackberry plants stop growing, reduce yields, and young seedlings may even die.

The treatment of blackberry seedlings with Fitoverm or Akarin will help to save the situation; from folk methods of fighting against ticks, an infusion of onion or garlic peels is used (400-500 g per 10 liters of water). In severe cases, spraying blackberries with Neoron or Aktellik is used, but only after harvesting the berries.

raspberry mite

Microscopic in size, arachnids of a reddish hue in spring come out from under the scales of the buds, where they hibernate, and settle under the leaves of blackberries. As a result of their activity, the leaves are bent, become corrugated, discolored. The spots are somewhat reminiscent of a viral mosaic, so pest damage is often confused with this disease.

In the warm season, to combat the raspberry mite, a 1% sulfur solution is used to spray blackberries, as well as Akarin and Fitoverm.

Raspberry hairy mite

The pest has a whitish worm-like shape and two pairs of legs. Otherwise, it is very similar to the raspberry mite, so the methods of dealing with it are exactly the same.

Raspberry leaf sawfly

In this pest, which looks like a fly, larvae similar to caterpillars do the most harm to blackberries, which is why they are often called caterpillars. If left unchecked, they can destroy more than half of the leaves on blackberry bushes.

The larvae hibernate on the soil surface among the fallen leaves in cobweb cocoons. Early in spring they pupate, and in the second half of May already adult sawflies fly out, which begin to lay light-colored eggs on the underside of blackberry leaves near the veins or along the edges. The larvae appear literally after 6-8 days and begin to intensively eat away the blackberry leaves, starting from the lower tier. Pests prefer mature leaves, do not feed on young ones, therefore, by the end of summer, they gradually move closer to the top of blackberry bushes, leaving behind perforated or completely gnawed leaves.

As a result, already in the current season, the yield of blackberries is reduced, and the plants do not have time to form full-fledged buds for the next year’s harvest.

As measures to combat the sawfly, it is necessary to loosen the ground under the blackberry bushes and mulch it with a layer of 6 cm or more. From a small number of bushes, caterpillars are harvested by hand. Blackberries are also sprayed with an infusion of tobacco, garlic, wormwood or a solution of carbolic soap (100 g per 15 liters of water).

Cruciflo flea

Often in hot and dry weather, the common cruciferous flea attacks the blackberry leaves and makes holes in them. In general, the damage from the activity of this pest is insignificant. As a protective measure, the leaves are powdered with a mixture of wood ash and tobacco dust.

Various caterpillars

Caterpillars of many butterflies can also gnaw out blackberry leaves, leaving only skeletons from them. The caterpillars of the fire moth and raspberry glass are especially fond of blackberries. With a small lesion, it is most convenient to collect pests by hand and feed them to poultry. If you missed the moment, then you can use the spraying with the biological product Lepidocid. Chemical preparations against leaf-eating pests (Karate, Fufanon, Tiovit-Jet) can be used strictly at the very beginning of blackberry budding, no later than 5 days before flowering.

Blackberry shoot pest control methods

Shoot pests on blackberries can be detected by careful and regular inspection of the bushes. The usual measure to combat them is cutting and burning the affected shoots, but sometimes it is necessary to use chemical means of protection.

Raspberry fly

If you find wilted tops of young shoots on blackberries, then the raspberry stem fly most likely worked here. This is a very small fly of gray color, no more than 5 mm long. Forms only one generation per year. Eggs are white, larvae are light. Lays eggs at the base of the leaves on the tops of the shoots. The larvae that have appeared penetrate inside the shoot and make an annular passage in it – the upper part of the shoot fades.

And the larvae gradually descend along the stem to the base, trying to get into the soil for pupation and wintering. On blackberries, lateral shoots and their small branches are most often damaged, so the damage is small. Nevertheless, the affected shoots must be removed and burned, and the soil around the raspberries must be mulched so that the pest cannot fly out and lay eggs in late spring.

Raspberry shoot aphid

The crimson shoot aphid is very similar to its relative, the leaf aphid, which was described above. It only settles in large colonies, sticking around young buds from the beginning of spring and sucking juices out of them. Then the pest occupies the shoots, leaf petioles and, finally, gets to the buds and inflorescences. In the summer, the pest has the possibility of live birth – that is, females give birth to larvae immediately, bypassing the egg stage. This allows you to speed up the process of reproduction of insects several times.

In order not to miss the moment of intensive reproduction of shoot aphids, it is necessary to inspect the tops of young blackberry shoots regularly. At the first sign of the presence of pests, the shoots are cut and burned. And the remaining stems are sprayed with Fitoverm or Aktofit.

Crimson stem gall midge

Blackberries are harmed by the larvae of this small flying insect, orange-yellow in color. The pest is easy to identify by the presence of thickenings on the shoots, in the form of growths – galls. It is in them that the larvae of the stem gall midge live and feed. That’s where they winter. In spring, pupae appear, and when the weather is warm (+10°+13°C), adult gall midges appear from them. The shoot usually breaks in places where the larvae are concentrated, and the total number of damaged shoots can reach up to 40-50%.

Pest control consists in cutting and burning all shoots with growths in autumn or early spring.

Raspberry gall midge (raspberry mosquito)

An even more dangerous representative of gall midges, since no pronounced gall growths form at the points of its penetration, but they can be identified by how brown spots first form on the shoot, and then this place turns black. Orange-red larvae, in contrast to the stem gall midge, winter in the upper soil layer (2-4 cm) at the base of blackberry stems.

Therefore, among the control measures, it is also important to loosen the soil between the blackberry bushes in the fall, and mulch in the spring to prevent adult insects from flying out.

Sometimes, with severe damage, treatment is used in early spring before flowering with chemical systemic preparations, such as Confidor or Aktara.

Raspberry Nutcracker

Another blackberry pest, in the places where the larvae live, swellings are formed on the shoots – galls. The galls are elongated. Blackberry branches, on which galls are formed, are doomed to death, so one cannot expect a large harvest from damaged bushes.

In the galls, the larvae overwinter. Therefore, to destroy the pest, it is only necessary to find, cut and burn all the blackberry shoots with galls in the fall.

Pests that harm buds, flowers, buds and blackberries

These pests not only spoil the appearance of the berries, but also worsen their taste and yield characteristics.

Raspberry weevil (flower beetle)

The pest is a small gray-black beetle up to 3 mm long with a proboscis. In spring, females damage blackberry buds by laying eggs in them. And in July, young beetles that have emerged from the larvae actively feed on blackberry leaves before leaving for the winter in the soil.

The best way to cope with the weevil is to spray the blackberry bushes during the budding period with an infusion of mustard powder with an interval of 5-7 days. To do this, dissolve 100 g of mustard in a bucket of warm water and insist 12 hours. Loosening the soil near bushes in autumn and early spring also helps to reduce pest numbers.

Raspberry kidney moth

A pest of small size, whose caterpillars eat young blackberry buds, adult butterflies feed on buds and nectaries in flowers, and larvae hatch in fruits and eat drupes, which is why they stop developing.

The activity of the pest at least leads to a decrease in yield, but can also lead to the death of blackberry bushes. Of the folk remedies for combating it, wormwood tincture is effective (2 kg of fresh grass per 10 liters of water), which is treated with blackberry bushes 3-4 times with an interval of 8-10 days during budding and flowering.

Among other methods of struggle, they cut and burn all the old shoots and leaves, loosen and mulch the ground.

Shaggy bronze

A small black beetle with white spots and yellow-gray hairs. The pest is most active in warm sunny weather from 10 am to 16 pm. Eats pistils from blackberry flowers, but does little damage. The best way to protect is manual collection.

In regions where the number of bronzes is greatly increased, you can use the Calypso insecticide.

The raspberry beetle

This pest is more typical for raspberries; it is rare on blackberries. It is able to damage both leaves and stems of blackberries, but lays eggs in inflorescences and in fresh ovaries. It has the appearance of a flying beetle, no larger than 4 mm, grayish-brown in color with rusty hairs.

To combat it, in autumn and spring they dig up the ground near the bushes, and then dust it with a mixture of tobacco dust and wood ash.

In early spring, it is effective to shed the ground with a solution of Confidor, and at the first appearance of blackberry buds, spray it a second time.

blackberry mite

The pest belongs to arachnids and can be spread by wind and in infected planting material. Blackberry mites are very small, hibernate inside blackberry buds and, with the onset of warm weather, begin to intensively feed on its inflorescences and berries. They inject special substances inside that change the composition of the berries, which worsens their taste, the berries cannot darken when ripe.

To counteract pests, it is necessary to spray the blackberry bushes before the buds open with the biological product Akarin or Apollo. It is advisable to repeat the treatment after 8-10 days.

A set of measures that protect blackberries from pest invasion

Often, gardeners, having discovered unknown larvae, caterpillars or damaged leaves and fruits, do not know what to grab, where to run, how to treat blackberries from pests that can destroy the fruits of their labors.

It must be understood that the protection of the garden begins with the laying of its uninfected planting material. Therefore, the day before planting, it is advisable to soak the root system of all seedlings in Aktara’s solution or infusion of tobacco dust for several hours.

It is advisable to plant blackberries in areas where green manure (mustard, clover) were planted a year before to improve the soil and reduce the number of its harmful inhabitants.

Since most pests hibernate either in the soil or on plants, it is very effective to spray blackberry bushes with hot water (60 ° -70 ° C) in the early spring, when the buds have not yet woken up. If the plants are then covered with plastic wrap for a couple of hours, then this preventive measure can be very effective. It should only be understood that the conditions are different everywhere and the method will not be harmless for all varieties of blackberries, so for the first time it is worth testing on several shoots in different parts of the blackberry.

During the entire warm season, it is necessary to remove drying and damaged leaves and blackberry shoots, destroying them, constantly loosen and mulch the soil. You should also not thicken the planting of blackberries and do not forget to regularly feed and water it.

Immediately after the end of fruiting, it is necessary to completely cut out the old shoots and burn them.

Conclusion

Blackberries, especially their varieties that lack raspberry genes, still remain relatively resistant to the invasion of various pests. Nevertheless, gardeners should not relax. You need to know the enemies in person and apply preventive methods of protection, and if pests are found, act as quickly as possible, using, first of all, harmless folk remedies.