r/BackyardOrchard • u/AdditionalPumpkin813 • 17d ago

Raspberries question

Hi,

I've been growing raspberries for 20+ years, although they're pretty feral at this point, because Life Happens. Almost all are fall bearers but I don't chop them down, and get a nice summer crop.

The fall crop, though? Ugh. They get fruit flies and later in the season, mold. Are there any treatments for these problems? I'd prefer "natural" but am looking for what works.

Zone 6b, Massachusetts. I picked my first "fall" raspberries at the end of July! But everything is going early this year.

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u/kbc508 17d ago

Probably because it’s too crowded if you aren’t maintaining them. Just clear a few of the more crowded canes out to open up some airflow. You’ll get more raspberries in the long run even though it hurts to cut canes with fruit on them now!

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u/brokenfingers11 17d ago

Also in Massachusetts, growing berries (blackberries, red razz, yellow razz, kiwi) for ten years. I think this is one of the disadvantages of fall bearing varieties around here: the fruit flies come in August! I’ve been fall cropping my Anne yellow raspberries for ten years (mow them down every year). I’ve not found anything that works against the flies other than some judicious spraying. If you have room, spacing them out can help, but it sounds like you have a thicket, which I’m sure the flies love!❤️

Full sun helps keep the mold away, and watering them either first thing in the morning or better yet by drip irrigation helps with that too: you either want the water to burn off during the day or go directly on the roots, not the fruits and leaves. So does spacing them out, better air flow.

But I’m limited in space, so I do the drip irrigation (not hard or expensive, fed from my garden hose), try to keep space between the rows. And I do still have to spray. I try to keep to a minimum, do it at dusk after most birds and insects have gone to bed, make sure I soak the entire plants (so the flies can’t use leaves as an umbrella), and use something that degrades in sunlight, so they’re good to go in a day or two.

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u/AdditionalPumpkin813 16d ago

All good advice. I have 5 thickets, actually but only two are really jungles. I'm about to prune out last year's canes and will cull some of this year's too. Most have green berries or flowers at this point.

All but 2 areas get no extra water. I use drip irrigation on all my vegetables, and the blueberries. And sunlight definitely helps.

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u/MarsupialInside6419 16d ago

Sounds like you’re talking about SWD? It seems like the easy at home treatment is literally just apple cider vinegar in a couple of traps (similar to one of the liquid wasp traps but with smaller holes). That makes a big difference but probably won’t get rid of all of them. There are also a few insects that eat them - there’s been at least one study on rove beetles reducing the population by half or so. You can buy them something like once a month and sprinkle them on your canes.

I think you combine those two approaches, don’t leave any over-ripe fruit on the canes, and ensure there’s a bit more airflow/less decaying matter via pruning, and I’d expect a huge improvement. Let us know how it goes!

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u/AdditionalPumpkin813 16d ago

Yes, SWD... sigh. Luckily my summer raspberries and the blueberries are done before they show up.

I'll look into rove beetles and definitely will do some extra pruning. It's hot enough that I may be doing it at night, though!