What's eating my loch ness blackberry?

Loch Ness blackberry is vulnerable to raspberry beetle (which attacks blackberries too), aphids on young shoots, and birds stripping ripe fruit. Slugs can damage low-growing fruit trusses. Cane diseases such as spur blight can affect dense growth. Net ripe fruit and prune out old canes promptly.

Grubs inside blackberries; maggoty fruit at harvest Spray pyrethrum at first pink fruit stage; pick over fruit before eating; destroy crop debris

Colonies on young shoot tips; sticky honeydew; distorted growth Squash by hand or spray with insecticidal soap; encourage ladybirds

Ripe blackberries taken rapidly; loss of most of the crop Net canes with a fruit cage; birds navigate netting gaps so close all edges carefully

Fruit resting on soil or low down on canes eaten or scarred; ragged holes in fruit Use ferric phosphate pellets around the base; copper tape on supports; pick off at night