SWD & Blackberries

[ross]

Thus far it seems like my raspberries are completely untouched by SWD. I believe they’ll get hit in late fall (October here) like they did last year, but for the most part my raspberries have avoided ripening during the heat of the summer here.

The heat of the summer is when SWD is most active I’ve read and as a result my Triple Crown Blackberries were decimated. Triple Crown ripens here in early July and into early August and therefore is a complete loser unless you’re picking early and making jam

1. Earlier floricane varieties like Arapaho is what I’ll be putting in next year to avoid SWD.

As for my Primocane varieties, Prime-ark 45 and Freedom seem to ripen their floricane crop early enough as well. The primocane crop seems a bit too late though as they are now ripening in September.

2. I’m thinking tipping them early and multiple times a year to get earlier fruit would be beneficial. I also wonder if mowing them down this winter would get an earlier primocane crop as well. Of course not too early to avoid SWD.

What do you guys think?

[Auburn]

Prime-ark 45 and Freedom seem to ripen their floricane crop early enough as well.

I’m growing PAF and the floricanes easily ripen ahead of the swd in my area. I also grow Natchez which ripens about two weeks later than the PAF but just ahead of the swd arrival.

[growjimgrow]

My Caroline Red Raspberries are just starting their fall berries and I have not seen SWD damage so far. They loved the elderberries and blackberries. I don’t have any suggestions about how to stop them. I sprayed Spinosad twice, which didn’t seem to work.

I have come to accept that I will be eating the larvae. I have to confess I haven’t told my wife or kids about them. They are so small no one has noticed, yet.

[ross]

@Auburn @growjimgrow

Fantastic to know. My Caroline have not seen any SWD as well. Hoping I can set this straight next year!

[Drew51]

It takes them awhile sometimes. the first year I had none on raspberries, now the third year they are all over them. Figs are next.Luckily it’s getting cold, so that should end them.

[grasshopper]

@ross ,

The most effective way to protect from SWD is insect shield cloth. It is PITA to put it up & get into it with the thorny varietals.

Spinosad is the most promising tool against SWD but it is not 100% so the general suggestion is you use it during the peak of SWD to wipe the main troops out and rotates it with something else to reduce resistance instead of increasing spray frequency or dosage. Almost every extension has a guideline on SWD nowadays.

MSU_Organic_SWD_factsheet_Dec2016.pdf

Spinosad 's effective rotation partner is Met 52, another organic insecticide.

For Primocane varieties, the general planting instructions is to cut them down to the crown in the fall because that would eliminate cane damage/diseases in the tough northern winter and the primocane crop is better and larger than the two crops combined.

If you want them to ripen early, you need to reduce tipping, not the other way around. Tipping induces more laterals and more fruits and it is going to need more time to grow all that new laterals and fruits. If you have multiple crowns, you can tip one as a test to see if it gets any faster growing more branches, and ripening a bigger load of fruit.

When you mow them down, you lose the floricane crop but I am not sure you will gain enough for the primocane to ripen earlier. I cut them down before winter in the NE and the primocanes ripened in Sept. In SoCal, I didn’t cut them down and floricanes fruit from Feb to June, the primocanes started ripening a week ago.

[grasshopper]

@growjimgrow

You can soak the berries in water(lemon juice optional) in the fridge for 30 mins. The larvae will crawl out and die. You can do this couple times to be certain but mostly once is enough if you wash the berries first. Then, just drain the water and let them sit in the fridge to dry a bit.

Then, check the bottom of the bowl for any larvae. It tells you how effective your previous rinsing and soaking was. If you still see larvae, then soak it again.

[Drew51]

the primocane crop is better and larger than the two crops combined.

That’s interesting as primocanes crops are on the upper third, and floricane on the lower 2/3 which screams larger floricane crops as more of the plant is fruiting. With primocane raspberries that produce a decent floricane crop (not all do) it certainly is larger.

The larvae will crawl out and die

I don’t mind the larvae, what irks me is the berries are forced to ripen sooner when infected, and the full flavor is lost.

[growjimgrow]

Ha, I did something similar for my elderberries. I picked all the berries into a zip lock, about half a gallon, and put them in the fridge. The next day the larvae were sticking to the sides of the bag. I was able to scrape those ones out, put I’m sure I didn’t get them all.

[grasshopper]

You are right about the size. The combined crop is usually bigger (from university trials, no indication whether they tip or not, which makes a big difference.) but the quality is lower so home growers often pick the mow down option to get better fruit and it is also less work for the commercial growers. Apparently, CA is the exception according to the papers.

http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/43/6/1640.full

From my experience, the primocane crop is better than the floricane here in terms of flavor, fruit size. I also haven’t seen anyone mention the floricane crop can go from Feb to June, even in CA.

You can increase the primocane yield by 2-3 times if you tip at the right time. ( it is different for blackberry and raspberry) After you tip, it fruits at the new laterals so it is not exactly just the top 1/3 fruiting.

I have also cut the spent cane on top half and get new growth and fruits on the lower portion.

To advance the ripening, most suggest using row covers/tunnels to keep it warm and it can advance the table by 2 weeks, not sure if that is enough for the SWD.

[Drew51]

Good info thanks! I’m going to concentrate on early fruiting types.

[Auburn]

I’m not sure if what I’m attempting with my PAF blackberries is different from you are doing. The early ripening floricanes was mainly what I was after. This happens ahead of the arrival of the swd. I didn’t know what to expect from the timing of ripening fruit on the primacanes but I was hoping they would ripen after the swd was gone for the season. I was wrong as the primacanes started ripening way too early and in the middle of the swd peak. I started slipping on my bags over the stalks of primacane fruit and they have worked well. Obviously it is not practical to bag a whole crop of these but it does give you a few to snack on.

BroGanza Bags

What to do with leftover pieces of screen. These are easy and quick to make but will they get the job done? Screen blocks some of the sunlight and I wanted to see if I could harvest a few PAF blackberries from my primacanes. The sun simply bakes them on the vine. We shall see. I thought you would get a chuckle out of the bag name. [image] [image]

[grasshopper]

If your local SWD peaks at primocane ripening, then concentrating on floricanes make sense especially your winter is relatively mild compare to the north, where floricanes damage can be severe.

The problem with SWD is you need to set your shield up way before the ripening because they attack the fruit as soon as it turns red. Unlike other flies, SWD don’t wait for the ripening so looking for a late ripening varietals is not a guarantee to get a pass from SWD. I would set the insect cloth or the BroGanza bags up as soon as the fruit set, way before it turns red.

Field studies have shown they are attracted to red, more than any other colors. If you want to make a trap, use a red cup or paint it red.