Again, does anyone in eastern PA know when these buggers start. I want to spray spinosad on my blackberries, raspberries, and elderberries and I want to do so before the season starts. I tried the traps last year, but had little success.
Thanks
As soon as you have ripe berries they will be waiting. I’ve tried spinosad on my raspberries with little to no luck. I know someone that sprayed captain Jack’s so much he almost killed the raspberries and still had tons of maggots. I’d like to hear if anyone has had this work on their berries?
Best way to tell is to hang a vinegar trap out as soon as berries turn color. Perhaps the traps mentioned above did not have the right formula, placement, or hole size. I catch hundreds in mine.
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Some recent research done in my state concluded that traps are not very effective in reducing the numbers of SWD or even as predictor of when its time to start spraying in commercial production because when the insects show up in traps they are also in the fruit . This is contrary to normal IPM practices where trap counts and degree days are used to predict spray times.
Some of the chemicals shown to be effective against SWD on small fruit with a short PHI in my state are Malithion, Delegate (Spinosad) and Mustang Max. Here is the full list for SWD control in Bueberries:
The good news is that some SWD are acceptable in a back yard environment so the guidelines above may not apply.
Here is a list of research from various states on SWD, but most of it is several years old.
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Thanks everyone. I tried the vinegar traps last year but still had a ton of SWD in my berries. I sprayed spinosad once, but it did not seem to help. I was trying to get an idea of when they start to get a preemptive coating of spinosad on before their levels build up.
If I understand correctly, spinosad will hurt bees. I have thousands of bees in my elderberries, which are still in flower, so I will avoid spraying those. The raspberries and blackberries are done flowering so I guess it would not hurt to spray those now and again in a week even if I don’t see SWD. They are a terrible pest.
In western PA, I did not see any SWD until late August last year, and they did not overwhelm my figs and fall raspberries until mid-September. I will be putting out traps to monitor them starting sometime in July.
I am still trying to figure out what I am going to spray those fruits with.
Just a small correction. Delegate is not the same thing as spinosad. Spinosad is the organic product (Entrust). Delegate is the synthetic counterpart (spintoram). Delegate is supposed to be considerably more effective at controlling SWD than spinosad. I’m sure Rick simply made a typo, but thought I’d clarify to avoid any confusion between to two.
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Olpea is exactly correct. Thank you for that correction!
Delegate is the synthetic analog to Spinosad. Its more effective against SWD and cheaper than organic Spinosad which is sometimes branded as “Entrust”. I should have made that distinction. In the effectiveness chart Delegate is ranked as Excellent against SWD but Entrust is only rated as Good.
Kind of reminds me of the difference between organic pyrethrin in an organic product like Pyganic and synthetic pyrethroids. In general the synthetic products last longer and are more toxic. Sometimes the synthetic chemicals contain extra ingredients to make them more effective.
All organic versions should contain an ORMI label. Synthetic pyrethroids are very hard on bees and sometimes carry a Restricted use label for than reason. Mustang Max which is on the chart as excellent against SWD is an example, but it has a 1 day PHI on blackberries.
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I’m staying organic at this point. I have been able to get a decent blackberry harvest, good strawberries and okay raspberries doing nothing. Elderberries are terribly hit. I’ve never seen any damage to my blueberries.
I am going to try to add a sticker to the spinosad spray and see if that helps.
I wish I could! We grew and sold several acres of Blackberries, Blueberries and Raspberries for many years without insecticide. SWD changed everything.
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The vinegar traps will not prevent SWD but using one trap for every several feet of row will reduce the numbers getting in the fruit. But then, a thousand in the fruit and a thousand in the traps is not a great solution.
Appearance of SWD will vary from year-to-year for any one location. Best to start treatment (in plantings with a known history of SWD) when the first few terminal berries of all the clusters in the berry patch start turning red or black. Example: the Logans here were fully two weeks earlier than last year.
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Thanks everyone.
I sprayed spinosad and sticker on the blackberries tonight. They are still green, but larger than a nickel, about. One of my two elderberries was done flowering and was making berries, so I sprayed that also. I avoided the other elderberry because it is still flowering and had about 1,000 bees on it two days ago.
For the record, none of my heritage raspberries or blueberries has had SWD damage yet.
What do you do now? Have you removed those acres or do you spray?
That is truly sad.
We spray unless we get all the fruit picked but less than 1/2 as often as the recommendation. We have not had a problem with SWD so far that I know about. The entomologist told me that getting all the fruit picked completely was very important and one of the keys to preventing a major outbreak. A local organic grower who refused to spray for SWD had a major outbreak a few years ago that just about wiped him out
We no longer grow Raspberries and we moved to earlier varieties of blueberries and blackberries which helps too. We are only open 10 hours per week so we really have to focus on attracting a lot of folks to pick the fruit.
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I got onto a CT extension email list and received the following yesterday:
SWD Alert
Good morning,
SWD have been found in traps in CT, RI and MA. Numbers are very low so far but with the upcoming heat, populations are expected to take off. Be on alert in your plantings.As soon as you are through harvesting strawberries, mow them off even if you are not ready to complete renovation so that any remaining fruit in the field will desiccate which eliminates a breeding ground for the SWD. If you are growing Malwina, they are at prime risk for SWD. Renovate the other strawberry varieties ASAP.
Refrigerate fruit as soon as it is harvested.
Prune bramble blocks to keep them open. SWD prefer shady moist locations.
SWD spray charts can also be found at http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/1358/2018%20SWD%20Insecticides%20for%20Small%20Fruit.pdf (small fruit & grapes)
http://ipm.uconn.edu/documents/raw2/1358/2018%20SWD%20Insecticides%20for%20Stone%20Fruit.pdf (stone fruit)
Remember to rotate among IRAC groups and that includes organic growers as well.
My Prelude raspberries have been ripe for a at least a week or two and I just started getting some ripe Autumn Brittens. Some gooseberries are also getting ripe and a lot of black currants look close. No SWD yet. In past years, it was August before SWD was bad, but I think I had a few earlier last year.
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Eek! I didn’t know they showed up this early in the season. Good to know.
A couple newbie Qs:
For those of us trying to avoid pesticides - Is anybody using netting/row covers to protect against SWD? Any recommendations for/against that route in a home garden?
Also wondering about artificial sweeteners like Erythritol for SWD control. Anyone tried this?
There is a way to try without spraying the crops with insecticides,by putting them on an attractant.Here is more information.
Also Hummingbirds might be an ally. Brady
http://blogs.cornell.edu/swd1/2014/09/19/hummingbirds/
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MSU put out a new flyer for organic growers on SWD.
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That’s great and helpful, thanks Amy.
I’m in southeastern CT making some wild blackberry jam right now. I’d say no more than 5% of the berries were infected. I’m sure I’m boiling larvae right now. It’ll only get worse from here.