Worms in raspberries: why berries are wormy and what to do

Worms in raspberries are a rather serious problem for many gardeners. Often this misfortune can spoil the whole impression of a bountiful harvest. Indeed, it is extremely unpleasant to see crawling white worms among the scarlet juicy berries. However, there is a way out of this situation. To rid raspberries of worms, it is necessary to carry out a number of preventive measures, as well as treat plantings with special preparations.

Why raspberries are wormy

Any fruit is a kind of accumulator of nutrients. Therefore, almost every fruit tree or shrub has insect pests. Parasitizing on fruits is the easiest way for insects to breed offspring and provide them with the necessary amount of food.

Unfortunately, raspberries are no exception. The berries of this shrub have a good supply of nutrients, so pests use them to breed their offspring.

What pests live in raspberries

Strictly speaking, not worms live in raspberries, but larvae, and several species of insects. One of them is a grapevine leaflet. This is a small-sized butterfly, the larvae of which can develop not only in raspberries, but also on currants, grapes, and thorns.

The insect is quite prolific, one sexually mature individual can lay eggs in 70 flower ovaries or berries. The larvae hatching after 6-10 days develop inside for 2 weeks, actively feeding on the contents of the fetus. Due to damage to the integrity of the shells of the berry, it rots. The larvae of the grape leafworm are white in color, have a segmented body about 1 cm long with a dark head.

The second insect pest whose larvae develop in raspberries is the raspberry beetle. The insect is small (about 5 mm), it has a pubescent brown-red body.

The clutch of a female beetle usually contains about 30 eggs. They hatch into yellowish larvae with a dark head. Their length is 5-6 mm. The larvae feed on the pulp of raspberries, then gnaw through the fruit, fall to the ground and pupate. During the season, only one cycle of development of the raspberry beetle passes.

What to do if raspberries are wormy

The appearance of worms in raspberries is much easier to prevent than to deal with them later. Unfortunately, often their presence in berries is detected only during the harvesting process. At this time, special preparations cannot be used, otherwise the fruits cannot be eaten. It remains only to manually sort the berries, then to cook jam or compote from them. To speed up the process, the fruits are poured with slightly salted cold water. After half an hour, the worms will leave their hiding places and float to the surface. It remains to carefully collect and destroy them, and rinse the berries with clean water and put them into processing.

How to process raspberries from worms in berries

For the treatment of raspberries from pests, you can use both ready-made preparations of industrial production, and a variety of folk remedies.

Spraying raspberries from worms with insecticides

It is necessary to use insecticides if a pest is detected at an early stage. In addition, the use of chemicals is justified if there were a lot of wormy raspberries in the previous season. Before the start of the budding phase, the plants are treated with the following preparations:

• Actellic.
• Bi-58.
• Inta-Vir
• Spark.
• Karbofos.
• Kinmix.
• Confidor.
• Phosbecid.
• Fufanon.
• Fury.

Processing is repeated, as a rule, twice. The intervals of use and the required dosages are indicated on the package with the drugs.

How to get rid of worms in raspberries with folk remedies

Among the folk remedies for processing raspberries from worms in berries, there are a lot of quite effective ones. Here is some of them:

• Processing with boiling water. In early spring, planting raspberries are sprayed with hot water. The procedure not only kills pest larvae, but also strengthens the plant’s immunity.
• Spraying with potassium permanganate. For 10 liters of water, 0,5 g of potassium permanganate is required. The diluted solution should be slightly pink.
• Tincture of tobacco (Mohorki). 200 g of tobacco leaves are poured into 10 liters of boiling water. After the infusion has cooled to normal temperature, it can be filtered and used to spray raspberries. The effect will be better if you give tobacco leaves more time to infuse, at least 1 day.
• Infusion of tansy. Dried grass in the amount of 350 g is poured into 10 liters of boiling water. It is desirable that the solution boil for another 20-30 minutes. After that, it is cooled, filtered and used to process raspberries.
• Mustard infusion. To prepare a solution, 100 g of mustard powder is poured with boiling water and stirred to a state of sour cream. Then the composition is added to 1 bucket of water, stirred well and sprayed.
• 1 time in 10 days for processing raspberry bushes can be used soda water solution (1 tablespoon per bucket of water). The procedure can be performed repeatedly, until fruit ovaries appear on the shrub.

Agrotechnical measures to obtain a raspberry crop without worms

To reduce the number of white worms in raspberries to a minimum, the necessary measures to combat them must be taken in advance. It is very important to keep the raspberries clean, cut dried shoots in a timely manner, remove fallen leaves, debris and plant debris. Soil mulching is important. Shelter in the early spring of the root space with a layer of mulch made of peat, humus or rotted manure will retain moisture in the soil and serve as a top dressing for raspberries. In addition, a layer of mulch will be an additional obstacle that makes it difficult for overwintered pests to leave the soil, which will significantly reduce their population. But in late autumn, it is better to remove the mulch layer, and dig up the raspberry root zone. In this case, most of the larvae of the raspberry beetle will freeze out in winter.

To protect against leaflet butterflies, many gardeners cover raspberry plantings with gauze or non-woven fabric that allows air to pass through. In this way, the pest is deprived of access to fruit ovaries and berries, and egg laying is made impossible. Special traps effectively destroy leaf-roller butterflies. If the appearance of a raspberry beetle is noted on the plantings, then these insects can simply be collected in the early morning. While it is cool outside, the beetles sit motionless on raspberry leaves, and it will not be difficult to shake them off on a stocked newspaper. You can simply spread plastic wrap under the raspberries and shake the entire bush.

Tips from experienced gardeners

Long-term practice helps to successfully fight pests on raspberries. Here are some tips from experienced gardeners that will help save the harvest and prevent the appearance of worms in the berries.

• So that raspberries are not wormy, it is better to grow them on trellises. Free-growing bushes quickly thicken, and this provokes the appearance of worms in the berries. The trellis method guarantees compliance with the necessary intervals between raspberry bushes.
• Old fruiting shoots must be cut out. Dry branches are a breeding ground for pests.

  

• In early spring, it is advisable to treat raspberry plantings with fungicides (Bordeaux mixture). This is an excellent prevention of both diseases and pests.
• Many chemical raspberry worm sprays cannot be used in mixtures or at the same time. When carrying out a stepwise (multiple) treatment, the preparations must be alternated, otherwise the insect pests may develop immunity.
• Before preparing a spray solution, it is imperative to study and strictly observe the precautions.
• On remontant raspberry varieties, worms in berries are much less common. You should pay attention to this when choosing planting material.
• The pest population and the number of worms in the berries can be significantly reduced if wood ash is used as a top dressing for raspberries.
• If raspberries grow in open, well-ventilated places, then wormy berries are much less common.
• Processing raspberries with hot water in early spring and autumn kills not only pests, but also pathogens of fungal diseases.

  

• When collecting beetles by hand, it is better to use rubber gloves, otherwise the hands will smell unpleasant for a long time.

An interesting video on how to grow raspberries without worms can be viewed at the link below:

Conclusion

It is not difficult to rid raspberries of worms if you regularly care for plantings and do not run them. Most of the activities for this are not difficult and even beginner gardeners can do it. It is important to perform them regularly and in full, then the result will pleasantly surprise you.