If you discover lice on your raspberry bushes, you should act relatively quickly. On the one hand, the animals can multiply explosively, but on the other hand, they can also transmit viruses and attract fungal pathogens. These diseases are harder to fight. They can also cause far more damage than lice and can significantly reduce your harvest.
Home remedies for aphids on raspberries
The two species of raspberry aphid overwinter as eggs in the ground or on the lower ends of the raspberry canes. The larvae develop relatively early in the year, so that the young lice can hatch as early as March. Now is the time to inspect your raspberry bushes for an infestation. Look especially at the undersides of the leaves, where you can sometimes find entire nests or colonies of small aphids. The large aphid, on the other hand, tends to appear alone. However, you can fight both species in the same way.
Home remedies and mechanical means to combat aphids:
- collect (if infestation is small)
- sharp water jet
- Predators
- Neem tree preparations
- Mixture of water, oil and soap
- Herbal decoction (nettle, garlic, tansy)
- radical pruning
Collect
Collecting aphids is only recommended if the infestation is small, otherwise it becomes very laborious. Alternatively, you can simply pick off individual affected leaves and dispose of them with household waste. Check your raspberry bushes regularly over the next few days. It is not uncommon for entire colonies to appear shortly after individual lice.
Sharp water jet
You can also get rid of aphids from your plants with a sharp jet of water. Most of the time the lice do not survive this attack. However, since eggs may remain, you should repeat the treatment after a few days. If the soil is well-drained, the treatment has no side effects. The water simply seeps away and the rods dry quickly.
Predators
You have (almost) no work if you fight unwanted guests with predators. Not only ladybirds and lacewings like lice, birds and various larvae, for example hoverflies and parasitic wasps, also feed on them. Other predators include spiders and predatory bugs. You can buy some of these enemies as larvae or eggs from specialist retailers. This is particularly recommended for infected plants in greenhouses. In the garden you should simply ensure good living conditions for these beneficial insects.
Neem tree preparations
You can get ready-made neem tree preparations from specialist retailers, and you can also get seeds from he alth food stores. Both are environmentally friendly and act as a natural insecticide. You can make a decoction yourself from the seeds. Niem is also said to act as a fungicide, i.e. against fungal infections.
Mixture of water, oil and soap
Another home remedy for aphids and other pests is a mixture of water, oil and soap or dishwashing liquid. However, it should be used with caution. It not only kills unwanted pests but also some useful insects. The solution can also clog the leaf pores of your raspberry bushes and thus damage your bushes. The alternative of soft soapy water is also effective but not uncritical. It may kill useful soil inhabitants if it seeps into the ground.
Herbal broth
You can easily make a herbal decoction from various herbs. Nettle, garlic and tansy are particularly suitable. For nettles or field horsetail, it is enough to soak the herb (approx. 100 grams per liter of water) in water for about 12 to 24 hours.
Other herbs, such as tansy, black tea or wormwood, should be boiled because then the active ingredients develop better. Garlic broth is also made with boiling water. Let about 50 grams of crushed toes steep for about 30 minutes. Once cooled and filled into a flower syringe, the decoction can be easily distributed over the affected plants. Depending on the herb used, the decoction also helps against fungal infections (garlic, horsetail, onion).
Radical pruning
If you have a lot of raspberry bushes, but only a few of them are heavily infested with aphids, then think about radical pruning before the annoying little creatures spread to the other bushes. Pruning is also recommended if other measures and home remedies have no or unsatisfactory effect. A harvest may then be smaller or even completely lost, but a new infestation next year can possibly be avoided.
Eat fruit after treatment?
As a rule, the raspberry bushes are treated against aphid infestation long before they set fruit. You can then eat the raspberries without worry. The situation would be different if, for example, you used nettle manure too late (during fruit formation). This could possibly have a negative effect on the taste.
Home remedies to prevent aphids
To prevent aphids from appearing on your raspberries in the first place, you can take a few preventive measures.
Preventive measures against aphid infestation:
- Don’t plant shrubs too close together
- sunny location
- Tie up rods
- Stinging nettle manure
- Natural garden with many natural predators
- select robust varieties
Don’t plant shrubs too close together
If your raspberry bushes are close together, any pests that may be present can easily spread and infect your entire crop. In addition, after a rainstorm, moisture lasts much longer between plants that are close together, while in larger spaces it can dry out more quickly due to wind and sunlight.
Sunny location
Raspberry bushes prefer a sunny location and loose, well-drained soil. They thrive better here than on heavy, moist soil or in the shade. This also makes the rods more resistant and robust.
Tie up rods
By tying up the canes, the raspberries get more air and sunlight. They dry faster after a rain shower.
Stinging nettle manure
Stinging nettle manure is not to be confused with nettle broth. The manure is usually prepared in larger quantities and ferments slowly. Since this process is very odor-intensive, you should place the manure as far away as possible from your terrace or your favorite place to stay in the garden. Also think about your neighbor's nose. The finished manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, then you can water your raspberry bushes with it. Nettle manure is rich in nitrogen and strengthens the resistance of plants.
Natural garden & natural predators
Birds, hedgehogs, insects and many other beneficial insects feel at home in a natural garden with many native plants and (wild) herbs. They ensure a natural balance between living creatures and destroy many pests.
Select robust varieties
There are now many raspberry varieties on the market that are particularly resistant to diseases and pest infestation. In general, for example, theautumn varieties should be more resilient than the summer varieties.
