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Caterpillars on my blueberries
Passionate
Posts: 225
in Fruit & veg
hi people can anyone tell me how or where some tiny green caterpillars came from on my blueberry bushes.
i have just been picking the berries and have found quite a few of them wriggling away, inbetween the berries, obviously enjoying the crop.
im thinking maybe next year I need to look out for them earlier and deal with them before they start to increase.
Im happy to share some of my fruit as long as they don't destroy too much or eat to much of my crop.
Can anyone tell me a bit about them and how to deal with them earlier in the season, thanks
1
Posts
We can't really identify them without a photograph but can give you general advice. Usually the moth or butterfly will lay its eggs on the back of the leaf, so that's a good place to inspect for eggs, earlier in the season as it were. You can pull the leaf off and move it to somewhere they can't reach your blueberries!
The occasional inspection for caterpillars is still worthwhile too as you can pull them off as and when you see them, obviously it's difficult to inspect for eggs absolutely everywhere.
The other way to deal with them is to use a fine netting to keep the butterflies/moths off in the first place (not so fine the bees can't get in).
Hi Bob, thanks for your reply, I did notice back in October at least one leaf was curled round and there was a web weaved in it. I guess that was the culprit.
i will check it out next year and look more closely, I had a bumper crop this year so I guess I can afford to be a bit relaxed about it, however I will be on guard next year.
thanks again.