I have discovered some sort of larvae in the fruit. They are about 1/8-3/16 of an inch long very, very thin. They wiggle away from light. I'm thinking they are from one of the small fly's/buzzing insects that always around the row. What natural insecticide/deterrent could be used to prevent this next year? Off to the interwebs now for some research.
FBG, this is a new pest this year that is new to our area. It looks like a fruit fly but it isn't. It damages good fruit and deposits its eggs (up to 350) in any and all fruit. The recommended sprays are mostly for commercial application, but malathion is one that is supposed to be very effective and spray every 7 days until the crop is done. Making a fruit fly trap with vinegar and a drop of soap is another method. Leave no bad fruit on the ground. Pick it up and dispose of it if possible. Although raspberries are a little hard to do that with, but others such as tomatoes and apples etc should be picked up. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui ... sequence=1
Carolyn, that is really bad news. Sounds like another competitor for my favorite fruits...berries. Am I going to be getting unwanted protein with my berry dish?
Yes, Jewell, Very bad news. It is hard enough to get a nice raspberry crop already. We have been throwing away as many as we keep, it not more. These things get into ALL the fruit crops. My mom had elderberries that were infested with these nasty little buggers. She threw a bunch of them away as she was trying to clean them. I don't think you will eat many of them, they ruin the fruit before you can eat it.
Oh Miss Carolyn, you are right! Spotted Wing Drosophila(?). Lays eggs in ripening fruit. Spray different controls on a rotation to avoid resistance. I've read that carbaryl (Sevin), malathion, pyrethrin, spinosad, and some others I cannot remember are the most effective. Spray as the fruit begins to color, and continue weekly until end of harvest. Weather, insects, unsupervised children, what next to vex we who garden?
I would only spray the malathion off season. That's some tough stuff. It stinks to high heaven. The pyrethrins, permethrins are your best and safest bet. Try the Sergeants dog/cat flea spray/shampoo. The active ingredient in both are the pyrethrins for cats (made from chrysanthemums) and permethrin for dogs, (same family). In this case I would use the Seargeants shampoo for dogs (green stuff) and add an extra squirt to a household sprayer with the one ounce to start. The shampoo is a surfactant so it will stay on the plant. Its safe enough to spray as needed but I would do it every three days or so till all the larvae are dead then weekly after that.
FBG, I picked today and I threw away 10:1 my berries. Malathion is a 1 day PHI for raspberries to pick after they have been sprayed. permetherin is a recommended 14 day wait after spraying brambles. Pyrethrin is a 1 day wait. I guess we need to choose what we feel fits us best when it comes to spraying anything on our food. I myself wouldn't use the permetherin in soft fruit for immediate consumption. FYI: I haven't caught a thing in the traps.
Thanks for the update. We're so dry here, the berries are drying before they ripen fully. I don't know as it is worth the extra trouble to keep the berries going. A decision to be made this winter. Spinosad and pyrethrin would be my first two choices. The 'nukular' option would be Sevin.
"Spinosad and pyrethrin would be my first two choices. " We were told spinosad won't work by someone, but today Celest Welty from OSU told us it will and is legal to use, but not if the berries are being sold since the bottle isn't labeled for it, but it is a 3 day wait. Water your berries though if you want to keep them for next year if it is feasible to do so. If you have city water you may not find it cost worthy to keep them. If there isn't some kind of control found for these horrible creatures them none of us will have berries. Berries of any kind.
I have it in mind to cut down the entire 40 foot row. My hours of work are such that I don't have the extra time to be spraying as often as needed. I will keep you updated on the 'Aunt Polly's' ground cherries, AKA Cape Gooseberries. Since they are in a husk, they may not be scourged by this new vermin. If they are not attacked, at least something to make jam and chutney with.
