Blackberry pests: prevention and control

Increasingly, owners of homestead land and cottages are beginning to grow blackberries. This perennial shrub gives delicious and juicy dark-colored berries. Fruits contain many beneficial substances. Growing blackberries is a rather complicated time-consuming process. The heat-loving plant does not stand frosts, is prone to many diseases, and numerous pests only complicate the care of the plant. Let's try to deal with the most common types of blackberry pests and determine the methods of dealing with them. Since the pests affect both the ground and underground parts of the plant, we consider each case in detail.

How to fight blackberry root pests

Blackberry is a close relative of the raspberry and is just starting to enter our gardens. Therefore, the number of its diseases will only grow, and they must be able to recognize.

Medvedka

Medvedka is an orthopterous insect, 3-6 cm long, usually wound up in soils with an excess of moisture and humus. The appearance of wilted bushes can suggest the presence of a medvedka. The pest feeds on the root system, tentacles making its way into the earth. This small root can multiply rapidly, move along the ground and in the ground, and even “fly” through the air, which, along with its ability to adapt to various conditions, makes it dangerous for gardeners.

We recommend starting the fight with Medvedka folk methods. First you need to loosen the soil around the bushes, thereby destroying the tunnels and nests of the insect.

Next, select the appropriate option and bring it to life:

• Crawling out of the pest will force the liquid to fill in the hole — oil (mix 20 grams of vegetable or technical oil with 5 liters of water) or alkaline (dissolve a handful of laundry detergent in a bucket of water).
• Watering the plant at the root with a solution of liquid ammonia (3 tbsp per 10 liters of water).
• Mechanical - one-liter jar with a honey-smeared neck to dig into the ground so that insects fall into the remaining open neck. The roots of the plant can be protected by wrapping them with a part of a cut plastic bottle placed at a depth of 7 cm. The top edge of such a shield should protrude above the ground surface.
• A wind-powered pinwheel on a metal wire, installed in the ground, will create a slight vibration of the earth and will scare away bear bears and even moles.
• Aromatherapy - a pest does not tolerate the smell of certain substances. You can scare him off by sticking alder twigs into the ground at intervals of a meter. At the stage of planting the bushes, crushed eggshells, crushed dried stalks of marigolds and chrysanthemums are poured into the holes. Sand moistened with kerosene and scattered on the ground, with a pungent odor, will drive out the roots.
• When processing blackberries in the fall, place a mixture of fresh manure and straw into deep holes. Insects burrow into this substance for wintering. In case of frost, the contents of manure traps should be distributed over the surface of the earth. This method will not only destroy the pest, but also nourishes the soil with natural fertilizer.

The proposed methods of struggle are quite effective and absolutely harmless to the crop. If you prefer faster and more effective protection methods, chemical products offer many options. Preparations "Metaphos", "Regent" are added to boiled grits (oats, buckwheat, peas) and the resulting "delicacy" is left in the habitats of the bear. Medvetsid, Medvetoks, Bowerin medications that destroy the pest are dispersed throughout the area. Applying chemical methods of struggle, you must strictly follow the instructions for each of the pesticides and personal safety equipment. With a competent and responsible attitude towards getting rid of a headstone, the process will pass without considerable effort.

Chafer

The May beetle, or the bruce, is a brown or black arthropod insect that flies with a characteristic sound. On the head there are mustache-horns. Khrushchi eat the leaves, gnaw the rhizomes, the larvae destroy the young thin roots. To identify the pest will help dying bushes of plants. Beetles feed on bats and rooks, thereby helping gardeners to save the berries.

Get rid of the pest will help:

• pesticides "Aktara", "Zemlin", "Basudin", "Antikhrushch", which must be used clearly according to the instructions in order to avoid harmful effects;
• Digging and loosening the soil with manual selection of pests;
• Onion Husk Infusion - Fill the husk with a third of the container and cover with water. Insist 5 days, then strain, dilute with water in equal proportions and water the soil;
• a solution of 200 grams of chlorine dissolved in a liter of water. The resulting liquid to process the aisle, retreating from the root of 8 cm;
• The mustard plantings will scare the May beetles with their smell.

How to deal with blackberry leaf pests

Since blackberries are related to raspberries, the leaves of these shrubs are subject to the same pests. The raspberry leaf sawfly, blackberry aphid, raspberry leaf aphid, common spider mite and raspberry hairy mite are most harmful to the leaves.Consider the basic methods of controlling blackberry pests.

Raspberry leaf sawfly

The raspberry leaf sawfly is a winged insect resembling a fly, the most malicious enemy of a shrub capable of killing more than half of a leaf crown. The insect feeds on mature leaves, can eat away in a loop or from the edges, up to the "skeletization" of the leaf. In the fight against leaf beetles, the collection of larvae (locksmiths) and the use of Karbofos, Kinmiks, Fufanon, Confidor and Phosbecid helps. Frequent blackberry pest prevention will help: loosening the soil and mulching it.

Blackberry aphid

Blackberry aphid - monoecious insect 3 mm long. Lives and feeds on the underside of the leaf and at the end of the shoots. At the same time the leaf is twisted, and the shoot is bent. When this pest is detected, it makes sense to cut off the affected areas and burn them. The solution of "Nitrafen" 1% when processed in the spring of bushes with closed buds eliminates plantings from aphids and other parasites. Spraying plants with this drug should be carried out at intervals of 3 years.

Raspberry leaf aphid

Raspberry leaf aphid - small insects living both in groups and singly on the inflorescences and leaves of shoots. The shoots are deformed and the leaves are bent, but not twisted. Methods of struggle are the same as with blackberry aphids.

Common Spider Mite

The common spider mite is arachnoid orange. Dwells on the back side of the sheet, weaving it with web. It feeds on plant sap, piercing the leaf skin. You can identify the pest by yellowing leaves that dry out and fall in summer. Affected shrub reduces yield, freezes, new shoots are falling, buds do not develop. The control methods are similar with blackberry aphids, as well as spraying with 1% sulfur solution in the warm season.

Raspberry hairy mite

Raspberry hairy tick - worm-like insect 0.2 mm long, white. Pincers are located on the back side of the sheet, while in such places tubercles are formed, and the sheet becomes discolored. Get rid of a hairy mite as well as a spider web.

How to deal with blackberry shoots pests

Representatives of the pests are the most common, such as the raspberry walnut-eater, the creeper gall midge (raspberry gnat), the sprout aphid and the stem fly. Their livelihood weakens the plant and can be the cause of death. Consider each type of eaters escapes and ways to deal with them.

Raspberry nutcake

Raspberry Nutsokotryok - Hymenoptera insect up to 3 mm long. Females use young shrub stalks for laying eggs, and the larvae eat shoots. Pests can be detected by specific elongated swellings (galls) in which the larvae hibernate. The bushes damaged by galls bear poor fruit and dry out. Detected stems with such fusiform swellings should be urgently cut and burned. To defeat this pest will help "Karbofos", "Ambush" and "Aktellik", this requires spraying the plants in early spring.

Raspberry shoots gallitsa (raspberry mosquito)

Shoot gall midge (raspberry mosquito) - an insect up to 2 mm long, hymenoptera. The pest lays eggs at the base of the shoots and under the bark of the plant. The larvae live in groups of up to 50 individuals and feed on shoots. With its vital activity, Galitsa destroys the bark, exposing the shoot, after which the stem breaks off at a height of 15 cm above the ground.Usually, the stem shrinks during fruiting, and it is not surprising why blackberries are drying out in summer. You can defeat a raspberry mosquito by cutting and burning damaged shoots, loosening and mulching the soil around blackberry plantations.

Raspberry shoot aphid

Shoot aphid is a small insect, spring settles in the kidneys and feeds on their juice, after which the kidneys die. Then the aphid, settled on the leaves of blackberry, strikes the tops of the shoots and flower buds. Large colonies of aphids on blackberry leaves can be identified by twisted leaves, fallen flowers and dried shoots. They fight the pest as much as blackberry aphids.

Raspberry fly stem

The raspberry stem fly is a gray insect up to 5 mm long. Larvae gnaw through tunnels to the base of the stems. The upper parts of the shoots affected by the fly wither, darken and rot. Methods of dealing with this pest are the same as in the defeat of the walnut.

How to deal with pests of buds, flowers, buds and blackberries

Of the most common representatives can be identified raspberry bud moth and tsvetoeda.

Raspberry bud moth

The raspberry kidney moth is a small insect, the caterpillars of which feed on the contents of the kidneys, and the hatching beetles from them later eat buds and flowers. Kidney moth leads the plant to death, reduces yield. The pest can be defeated by cutting and burning old shoots and fallen leaves by mulching and digging the ground and treating the blackberry bush with the insecticides Karbofos, Kinmiks and Phosbecid.

Flowerbed

Flowering beetle - beetle up to 3 mm long, gray-black. Females lay eggs in buds, nibbling a pedicel. The hatching larva feeds on a flower, and in it becomes the pupa. Having become a full-fledged beetle in June, the flower beetle eats leaves and hides in the soil for wintering. To get rid of plantings from this pest, you need to dig up the soil around the bushes, shake the beetles off the plants early in the morning. Effective treatment of plants "Vofatoksom", "Ambush", "Gardon" when budding. Helps in the fight against spraying a solution of wood ash - 3 kg of wood ash, 40 grams of soap in a bucket of water.

It is possible to get rid of blackberry pests quite easily and without special expenses if they are detected in time and the plants are started immediately, and the resulting crop of tasty berries will become a deserved reward for the gardener.