Birds usually create the biggest problem, but you should look out too for mites and weevils.
- Apple blossom weevil The small white grubs of this tiny brown beetle eat the central parts of apple flowers. Infested blossoms fail to open. Spray with permethrin as the buds are forming or fenitrothion as the buds burst open.
- Big bud mites Tiny mites that live in large numbers inside the buds of blackcurrants. Infected buds are swollen and round, and usually fail to come into growth. Pick off and burn; spray with benomyl fungicide in spring and early summer.
- Birds Bullfinches eat the unopened flower buds of cherries, plums, pears, apples, gooseberries and blackcurrants, usually attacking in small ‘gangs’ and causing severe damage very quickly. Protect plants by growing fruits in a fruit cage, or try deterrent sprays based on aluminium ammonium sulphate but these must be renewed after rain.
Eight problems affecting fruits
An assortment of pests, and one or two diseases, can ruin fruits before they are picked.
- Apple sawfly Maggots tunnel into young fruits, which fall prematurely. Protect fruits by spraying with dimethoate, permethrin or fenitrothion within 7 days of 80% petal fall.
- Birds Birds feed on the ripe fruits of most tree and bush fruits. Where possible, grow fruits in fruit cages; individual fruit trusses can be enclosed in bags made of muslin or old nylon tights.
- Codling moth The caterpillars of this moth tunnel into the maturing fruits of apples and pears. Protect by spraying the trees with fenitrothion in early summer with a second treatment 3 weeks later.
- Grey mould Can cause serious losses of strawberries, raspberries, currants, blackberries and other soft fruits during a wet summer. It shows as a greyish fluffy growth covering the fruits. Prevent infection by spraying with benomyl, carbendazim or sulphur just after flowering and repeat the treatment 3 times at fortnightly intervals.
- Raspberry beetle Pale brown grubs feed inside the ripening fruits of raspberries, blackberries and loganberries. Protect by spraying with rotenone bifenthrin or malathion: for raspberries when the first pink fruit develops, for loganberries at 80 per cent petal fall and again 2 weeks later, and for blackberries spray when the first flowers open. Spray at dusk when bees have returned to their hives.
- Scab Apple and pear scab produces brown or black scabs on the fruits. Spray infected trees with benomyl, carbendazim or mancozeb at bud burst, repeating the treatment every 2 weeks until late summer.
- Slugs and snails Most troublesome with strawberries: they eat the ripening fruits. Scatter slug pellets, based on methiocarb, thinly around the plants before damage occurs.
- Wasps Feed on most ripe tree fruits. The problem is that most wasps are also great friends of the gardener, as they attack caterpillars. To prevent attack, pick fruits as soon as they are ripe and before wasps take an interest. Allow fruits to ripen indoors if necessary.
Vegetables have to contend with numerous pests and diseases, but there are nowhere near as many problems today as in the past. This is partly due to treatments carried out by seed merchants before the sale of seeds or tubers, and partly to government restrictions on the varieties that can be sold. Some varieties of vegetables are now resistant, or partly resistant, to diseases. Crop rotation is an effective safeguard. Maintain hygienic conditions at all times. For example, eradicate weeds, as these can act as hosts for some pests and diseases, which can then spread to vegetables; do not leave rubbish (eg dead leaves or old plants) lying around.
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