Pests & Diseases
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How to get rid of caterpillars on raspberry plants (1 reply)

LauraMoan
8 years ago
LauraMoan 8 years ago

I have had raspberry canes in my garden for a few years without any problems and producing loads of fruit but this summer there was a plague of caterpillars, which seem to strip the whole plant of foliage and fruit.  This is about the only thing I can successfully grow so I would appreciate any tips on how to prevent the caterpillars from returning next year!

Doris
8 years ago
Doris 8 years ago

Hello, I've seen this on a friend's plants - a complete plague! I think they are a little sawfly caterpillar. If they are autumn fruiting canes then you would normally cut back all the canes to ground level and get fruit on new canes next year. Make sure you remove all fallen leaves and give the ground around the base a good hoe regularly. Anything lurking in the soil can then be gobbled up by birds. Keep a close eye next year and pick off caterpillars as you see them. A strong jet of water on the tops and undersides of leaves may help clear them, but they can appear and wreak havoc extremely rapidly so you need to be vigilent. If they are summer fruiting varieties you would normally keep the new canes that have grown this year and just cut back fruited canes, so not so easy, but raspberries are tough, so would probably take cutting back now and still give you a small crop next year, perhaps later. 





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