What's eating my thornless evergreen blackberry?

Thornless Evergreen blackberry shares the pest pressures of all trailing blackberries: spotted wing drosophila is now the number-one fruit pest in the US and UK, while aphids, spider mites, and cane blight disease weaken plants. Birds and deer are significant vertebrate threats, especially where populations are high.

Females lay eggs in ripening fruit; larvae cause soft, collapsing berries that rot rapidly before or after harvest. Monitor with vinegar traps; pick ripe fruit frequently; apply spinosad spray early morning when bees are inactive; refrigerate harvests promptly.

Curled and sticky shoot tips; leaf distortion; ants farming aphid colonies on new growth. Insecticidal soap or neem oil spray; encourage natural predators; hose off lightly infested tips.

Stippled, dull foliage with fine webbing; worst in hot, dry conditions. Irrigate consistently; spray undersides of leaves with neem oil or insecticidal soap. Repeat every 5–7 days.

New canes, young leaves, and fruit are browsed — deer can set back an entire season's growth overnight. Install deer fencing at least 8 ft tall; use motion-activated deterrents or repellent sprays on surrounding areas.