Blueberry pest

bouicca21

My blueberry bushes were coming along a treat this year, then over the past week something has stripped nearly all the leaves off. I think they’ve eaten the berries too as the crop is virtually non existent (about 10 days ago they had a goodly crop of berries).

What is it and what do I do now? First treat them for the pest? With what? And then do I prune out the now bare branches?

Davesnave

A bit of a puzzler, this one. There is nothing I can think of that would have removed both fruit and leaves. Birds are the most likely culprits with regard to the berries, but they wouldn't attack the leaves; that's more likely an insect.


I'd guess protection with fine netting like Agralan might avoid this in future. For now, I'd leave it unpruned and see where the leaves begin to grow back before tidying it.

bouicca21

Maybe birds and a pest?

sheramber

Sounds like a caterpillar has eaten the leaves.

bouicca21

If it’s caterpillars then presumably they’ve all turned into moths and flown off. So I need to work out when and what to do next year (?). Netting or spray or both?

ed110220

Maybe a woodpigeon if they disappeared very quickly. Usually with an insect pest the eating would be slow enough that you'd spot the pest. Woodpigeons around here eat my cherries when they are still small and green. They do eat leaves too sometimes.

sheramber

The sawfly caterpillar can strip a gooseberry bush in hours. I don't know if they attack blue berries or if there is another caterpillar that does .

If you have a local nursery/garden centre they may be able to tell you.

For caterpillars you need to use small holed netting to prevent the butterflies laying their eggs on the bushes in the first place.