What's eating my tayberry?

Tayberry is a vigorous raspberry–blackberry cross and faces raspberry beetle as its worst pest — grubs spoil the large conical fruits at harvest. Aphids, birds taking ripe berries, and spider mites in hot summers also cause problems. Net canes at ripening, treat for beetle at petal-fall, and ensure good airflow.

Grubs inside the large tayberry fruits; often invisible until harvest; maggoty fruit Apply pyrethrum at petal-fall then again at first fruit colour; destroy infested crop material

Distorted young cane tips; sticky honeydew; mosaic virus risk Spray with fatty acid insecticidal soap; attract beneficial insects; pinch out colonised tips

Ripe tayberries stripped from canes; crop loss can be severe Fruit cage or individual row netting; remove netting during peak flowering for pollinator access

Bronze stippling on leaves; fine webbing; leaves dry out in summer heat Mist canes to raise humidity; introduce Phytoseiulus persimilis predatory mites; spray fatty acid soap