I’ve been harvesting raspberries for the past 10 days from my five June-bearing plants. Like most other garden plants my small fruits are ahead of schedule this year. No gray mold and just a whiff of brown marmorated stink bug- but no sightings.
But all is not well in fruit land. Here’s the new little insect pest of concern.The spotted wing drisophila (SWD) is a non-native vinegar fly that was first seen out West in 2008 and has since traveled to other states, including Maryland in 2011. It’s favored hosts are blackberry, raspberry, grape, cherry, strawberry, and blueberry. Learn more about it on the HGIC website.
The key to dealing with this pest is monitoring for the adults BEFORE mated females lay eggs on fruits. This is easy to do with a simple homemade trap devised by Oregon State University. It’s too late to do anything once you see damaged fruit and the tiny maggots inside. I failed to put out a trap for the June crop but I intend to put one out before my fall-bearing raspberry plants start to bloom. Contact the Home and Garden Information Center if discover this pest in your garden.