What's eating my raspberry fruit - Ask Extension
It appears that something is eating the raspberry berries when they get close to ripe. I know there are a lot of grasshoppers and those are eating hol...
Knowledgebase
What's eating my raspberry fruit #875922
Asked July 04, 2024, 12:39 PM EDT
It appears that something is eating the raspberry berries when they get close to ripe. I know there are a lot of grasshoppers and those are eating holes in the leaves. See the picture below. How can I protect my berries?
Boulder County Colorado
Expert Response
Good morning, Al,
Thank you for contacting CSU Extension about your raspberry plants. Here are some possibilities that may be affecting your raspberries:
Insects:
Grasshoppers, as you surmised, eat raspberries. However, they would eat the entire leaf, not just the fruit.
Japanese beetles also like raspberries, but again, the leaves would be chewed until skeletonized. They will eat fruit, too. They haven't appeared in some areas of Boulder County (yet).
Spotted wing drosophila flies can affect ripening berries, especially fall-bearing cultivars. But on the chance it may be this insect, here are some questions:
Are you seeing any small, white worms on any of the fruit? These would be the larvae of the spotted wing drosophila. The adults are small, yellowish brown flies. Upon closer inspection of the enlarged photos, this is a possibility.
It could be as simple as sunburn. This will cause light color patches on the top side of fruit, and it's common in hot weather. Raspberries prefer cooler temperatures.
I've included the link to CSU Extension GardenNotes #761, "Growing Raspberries in Colorado Gardens."
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/761.pdf
Because we can't definitively diagnose disease or insect damage from photos, we recommend bringing in a sample for a closeup look under a microscope.
If you'd like to go this route, bring a good size branch/cane with healthy, living tissue, and that includes both good and bad on the same sample.
The cost for diagnostics is $7.00 for Boulder County residents. We are located at 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont 80501. The office hours are Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., with the office closed from noon-1 p.m. each day.
Regards,
CSU Extension Master Gardener Desk
Boulder County
Thank you for contacting CSU Extension about your raspberry plants. Here are some possibilities that may be affecting your raspberries:
Insects:
Grasshoppers, as you surmised, eat raspberries. However, they would eat the entire leaf, not just the fruit.
Japanese beetles also like raspberries, but again, the leaves would be chewed until skeletonized. They will eat fruit, too. They haven't appeared in some areas of Boulder County (yet).
Spotted wing drosophila flies can affect ripening berries, especially fall-bearing cultivars. But on the chance it may be this insect, here are some questions:
Are you seeing any small, white worms on any of the fruit? These would be the larvae of the spotted wing drosophila. The adults are small, yellowish brown flies. Upon closer inspection of the enlarged photos, this is a possibility.
It could be as simple as sunburn. This will cause light color patches on the top side of fruit, and it's common in hot weather. Raspberries prefer cooler temperatures.
I've included the link to CSU Extension GardenNotes #761, "Growing Raspberries in Colorado Gardens."
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/761.pdf
Because we can't definitively diagnose disease or insect damage from photos, we recommend bringing in a sample for a closeup look under a microscope.
If you'd like to go this route, bring a good size branch/cane with healthy, living tissue, and that includes both good and bad on the same sample.
The cost for diagnostics is $7.00 for Boulder County residents. We are located at 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont 80501. The office hours are Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., with the office closed from noon-1 p.m. each day.
Regards,
CSU Extension Master Gardener Desk
Boulder County
