What's eating my american cranberry?

American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) has well-documented pests from commercial production: cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm are the most damaging. Sparganothis fruitworm and tip worm also attack. In gardens, aphids and root weevils are common. Birds and deer target fruit and foliage respectively.

Berries turn red and drop early; larvae bore into developing fruit, leaving an entry hole sealed with frass; one larva can destroy several berries Apply Bt spray at egg hatch (around petal fall); remove and destroy dropped berries promptly; use insect exclusion netting over beds near fruit set.

Terminal shoots web together and turn brown as larvae feed inside; characteristic scorched appearance on new growth tips in early season Bt spray on young larvae before webbing is established; hand-remove webbed shoot tips; encourage parasitic wasps with companion plantings.

Notched leaf margins from adult feeding; larvae damage roots causing sections of the bed to wilt or fail to vine out normally Apply beneficial nematodes (Heterorhabditis or Steinernema spp.) to moist soil in late summer; avoid pesticides that harm nematode populations.

Curled, misshapen new growth; honeydew and sooty mold on leaves; can reduce fruit set in heavy infestations Water jet or insecticidal soap spray; reflective mulch (silver plastic) around beds deters aphid colonization; tolerate light infestations.