How to Get Rid of Blackberry Bugs Naturally

Blackberry bushes are relatively easy to plant and have a good return on investment. Fortunately, there are few bugs that affect these bushes, and there are a variety of organic methods for controlling them.

What Types of Bugs are on your blackberry?

The most popular blackberry bugs you’ll find in your yard are the following:

Rose Scales
Red-necked Cane Borers
Raspberry Crown Borers
Two-spotted mites
Rose Chafers
Stink bugs
Aphids
Tiny white worms
Blackberry beetles (June Bugs, Fig Beetles, Japanese Beetles)
Red berry mites

These bugs can be treated effectively using natural solutions to eliminate them. And you don’t need to use or spray any potentially harmful chemicals on these blackberries, particularly because you want to eat them.

What are the small worms on Blackberries?

They’re fruit fly larvae, but they don’t develop into the adult flies because they’re consumed before they grow.

Our stomach acids can kill the worms to prevent them from growing into the fruit flies after we feed them.

You can see small white worms crawling on your blackberries if you examine them closely.

Many garden blackberries have these worms, but they aren’t exclusive to your blackberries.

The worms are almost transparent and microscopic, making them difficult to see.

You will see tiny worms creeping on your blackberries if you look carefully or use a microscope or magnifying glass. A lot of worms can be found on the blackberry.

Do store-bought blackberries have the worms?

Worms are just as common in store-bought blackberries as they are in those picked from your backyard.

Some farmers and growers of blackberries may process them, which will kill some worms.

On the other hand, the most blackberries are picked, processed, and delivered directly to the retailers.

Since the blackberries have a short season, there isn’t enough time to clean them. As a result, the majority of people consume the fruit’s tiny worms.

Are blackberry worms dangerous?

The blackberry worms are considered a lot of protein and are relatively healthy to consume. Fruit flies can be seen all over the United States, and their presence can vary depending on the weather.

If there is not very cold to kill the fly, it is more prevalent in the warm winters. Cold weather can also kill most fruit flies, resulting in fewer worms.

Fruit flies are identical to the vinegar flies, which consume the bananas that have been left in the kitchen.

The worms can develop into fully grown adult fruit flies. And the female flies lay their eggs in the ripening fruit with an ovipositor. Six to ten eggs can be found in a normal blackberry.

Then, the eggs will hatch, and the larvae will emerge and begin consuming the fruit from inside in one day.

After the worms eat all the blackberry, they finally crawl out of the blackberry and sink into the dirt, where they pupate and emerge as adult fly.

Blackberry worms are not harmful and also are very healthy to consume. They aren’t dangerous and don’t spread the diseases. And the worms are nothing more than the larvae of the fruit flies.

Are bugs in blackberries safe to eat?

They’re infested with worms.

Unless you feed them first, tiny white worms that are almost invisible will eventually transform into fruit flies. Drosophila suzukii is the scientific name for them.

Before we continue, we’d like to reassure you that they’re perfectly safe to eat.

What to spray on blackberries

To protect the blackberry bushes, use fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides to spray.

You can prevent the pests from getting in your blackberry bushes with many commercial sprays. You should pick the best spray for your blackberry bush based on your particular needs.

Disease-Prevention Sprays

Cane spot and certain leaf diseases may affect blackberry plants. The copper fungicide sprays used on the blackberries can be used to cope with these after harvest. If the weather is bad, such as raining a lot, you will need to reapply the copper fungicide. For yellow rust infections, use the same spray, but apply it to remove the spores in the spring.

Pest Sprays

Blackberry pests usually emerge during the blooming period of the plant, which occurs early in the summer or late in the spring. And you can find the red berry mite, a tiny mite that obstructs the growth of the blackberry. In the spring, a spray containing one gallon of the water and eight ounces of the liquid lime sulfur is used to control this insect. Fruit yield can be reduced by spider mites, particularly if there is a severe infestation. Intense sprays of the plain water should be used to flush them away from the foliage. Insecticidal soap or pesticide sprays may be needed for more severe infestations.

Sprays for Eradication

If you need to kill the blackberry bush, you can use the spray containing triclopyr or glyphosate. If you’re going to use a spray containing glyphosate, wait until the weather warms up, and then the blackberry bush starts to form berries in the summer. You can use triclopyr in early summer or late spring, making sure to coat all the blackberry plants.

How to get rid of blackberry bugs naturally

The worms and small bugs are often found creeping on your blackberry bushes. Fruit fly larvae are the worms and aren’t mistaken with budworms or cutworms.

Red berry mites that eat leaves and disrupt normal berry growth are the tiny bugs. The berry mites resemble red spider mites, but they eat blackberries and other fruits.

June Bugs, Fig Beetles, and Huge Japanese Beetles are also popular. These beetles are all alike in appearance and have been seen eating ripe blackberries.

Let’s take a look at some common blackberry bugs and how to naturally eliminate them so you can keep these kinds of bugs away from your blackberries.

Use a fine filter

If you’re going to make jam from your blackberries, you might want to filter the final product with a fine mesh first. This would catch all of the larvae before they make the jam. You should also use a juicer to keep a juice or puree out of your blackberries to get rid of the larvae. The larvae should be left behind by the augur.

Chill the Berries

Chill your berries as soon as possible after harvesting. If the fly’s eggs have just recently been laid, this may help remove them or deter larvae from forming. You should be able to get rid of these pests by keeping the blackberries at 35 degrees for about 96 hours.

Wash Thoroughly

To clean your blackberries, many people suggest you can rinse them. However, although this can remove mud, it can’t remove blackberry worms. To clean the berries, put them in cold water, and then pour a splash of apple cider vinegar into the cold water. This will aid in the removal of mud, toxins, and worms if some have been used.

If the berries are in the container, softly swish them with your hands. Worms would be on the top. Drain the berries once, and then soak them again before drying them. And, this will completely eliminate your blackberry worm issue.

Ice Water and Salt

Fill the ice water into a big bowl or sink and then add two tablespoons to 1/4 cup salt. Place the fresh blackberries in the bowl and set aside for about 10 minutes.

To help kill the stubborn worms, you can softly swish them around. They will completely die but will cling to the berries. After a few minutes of soaking, the worms should float on the top of the water.

If you don’t find any worm on the surface, perhaps you don’t use enough salt.

Freeze the Berries

If you don’t want to eat the berries at once, freezing them is a good option. And many big worms would be driven to the berry’s surface. The worms should then be brushed off or rinsed until the rest berries are thoroughly thawed.

Use Soapy Water

You may also make your soapy water by mixing eight drops of the dish soap with one cup of the water.

To kill the spider mites and other bugs on the blackberry bushes, spray the mixture onto the berry plants. Then, reapply on a regular basis.

Often, make sure to wash the blackberries before eating them. You may expect the bugs to start eating the leaves as they are too nutritious.

Use Lime sulfur

Mix one gallon of distilled water with the lime sulfur. After that, pour some into a spray bottle. You can spray the solution on your blackberry bushes to prevent spider mites from consuming your berries every week. Before eating the berries, make sure you wash them carefully.

How to prevent worms in blackberries

Chemical Insecticides

To repel blackberry worms, you can use a variety of pesticides. However, you have better consult with a professional before applying them to the blackberry plants. Be sure the pesticide you use is safe on the food crops, and then use the one only as a last means. These blackberry plants have a high chance of resisting the insecticide.

Try Fruit Traps

You can try to hang some plastic bags on the branches of the blackberry plants. And make a few little holes in them and stuff them with discarded fruit, such as banana peels. This can draw the flies so that they can trap them inside, preventing them from infecting the berry bushes. If you use a natural method like white wine or vinegar, you should also apply some soapy water to make the flies drown.

Use Vinegar Traps

You can trap and kill the flies with vinegar, and some farmers have success with this solution. Although you will not remove all of the worms, you will significantly reduce their population.

Find the Signs of the worms infestation When Harvesting.

It is difficult to check for the worm infestation in the blackberry. And looking at the berries carefully can let you find whether there are worms lurking around. When blackberries are infected with the larvae, they also have a punctured part that leaks juice when treated.

Harvest Fruits Before getting overripe

Harvesting the blackberries early is one of the best methods to avoid inadvertently ingesting the worms. Freeze them as soon as possible to remove the worms.

Some sprays, such as Spinosad, are certified for organic use as well. If you’re trying to keep organic, think about these.