grrrr!!!!!

[veggielover]

i'm losing the battle with catapillers on my blackberry and rasberry bushes!!!! the bottom of both bushes have been reduced to a lace!!!!! I'm checking and picking everyday and everyday i find more!!! Any idea's on how to stop them??

[magz.mccarthy]

I think some people put collars around their brassicas to stop slugs and perhaps caterpillars. Would something like that help?

[zazen999]

Organic Garden Pest Control

[Pumpkin Becki]

its probably a bit late now, as the eggs have been laid, but could you put a net over the top, far enough away from the bushes to stop the butterflies landing?

[pdblake]

Collars won't stop 'em. Butterflies, well....fly

Netting is best and spraying with some kind of deterrent. Nettle water, rhubarb tea and soapy water all seem to work.

Oh and a small child with a badmington racket is brillant for catching them mid-air, and good exercise for the child

You can tell where the eggs are by the yellowing patches on the tops side of the leaves on brassicas. Not sure about blackberries and rasps though.

[ohbeary]

used to be you could go to your local pub and ask for the contents of the ashtray bucket, now if you dont mind the looks just have a scout round the smoking area, cover your bounty with boiling water, strain when cooled and dilute for spraying, we are reduced to this as you can nolonger buy tins of nicotine from the hardware shop!!.
use with caution it kills almost anything, but it is "organic".......

[Melwel]

Hi all, I'm pretty new to the forum and am after some advise about when to pick black currents. Do all your black currents need to be ripe before you pick em?? I had a quick look through the archive but did'nt see anything on this, apologies if its been discussed before. Any info welcome, thanks.

Michelle

[ohbeary]

The time to pick blackcurrants is just before the birds get em!, once you have fruit get some netting over the bushes, cos the pesky birds get up really early and they are mad keen for fruit for breakfast!!

[Melwel]

Thanks ohbeary, will do!

[Alice]

I like to be as organic / green as I can be Veggielover and don't have a big problem with the pests.
Before I would let a crop go to waste I would use a chemical solution if I had to - last resort but an option.
You could spray your bushes with Bug Clear or some such - or just let the blighters eat the lot. It's up to you.
You might then have to buy from shops where everything has been sprayed. So you can spray yourself or buy the sprayed stuff.

[BarleySugar]

I agree with Alice, at least when you spray yourself, you know how often, and what you used. When my brother farmed, he had an 'advisor' (read salesman) from a chemical company, who used to visit and tell him what and when he should spray, whether he had the pest or not. He didn't always take the advice, besides anything else, it would have cost a fortune!
I think a lot of the caterpillars on the fruit bushes come from different moths, rather than the butterflies, but I may be wrong.

[ohbeary]

I like to be as organic / green as I can be Veggielover and don't have a big problem with the pests.
Before I would let a crop go to waste I would use a chemical solution if I had to - last resort but an option.
You could spray your bushes with Bug Clear or some such - or just let the blighters eat the lot. It's up to you.
You might then have to buy from shops where everything has been sprayed. So you can spray yourself or buy the sprayed stuff.

er just a wee thought, if the ground is fed instead of the plants,(bear with me) and general wildlife is encouraged, the plants will be stronger, the bugs balanced,(bug/bird eat bug)(bird eat berry!!)(ang on a minit!)(oh yeah)(use netting) then no chemicals as such should be needed, if you do notice insect damage!, immediately give a spray of, soapy water, infused nettles(bung em inna bucket wiv worta, leave til smelly), an ash tray infusion (bung it inna bucket wiv ot worta)or any combination thereof, you could even add comfrey to your combined nettle/fagend/soap mix and have a sort of feed and fumigate solution.