Prevent Worms in Cherries - Alden Lane Nursery

Spotted Wing Drosophila or Cherry Fruitfly is affecting cherries and other soft-bodied fruits such as berries in California. Numerous gardeners have complained about finding the little white worms in cherries just at harvest time.

These worms are the larvae of a fruit fly that has been a pest in Japan for decades but somehow made it to the US. It has no known enemies in the US, so it has spread, unchecked, like wildfire. This pest has turned up in raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries, but especially Cherries.

The University of California at Davis has guidelines for dealing with the past so homeowners can preserve their harvests. For a detailed look at the problem check out the UC website: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/EXOTIC/drosophila.html.

Summarizing the approach suggested is as follows:

Good control can be achieved with a few well-timed pesticide sprayings beginning when the earliest maturing variety in the orchard is just starting to turn from green to straw-colored.

Spray trees using Spinosad or Malathion. Spinosad is Organic and has been seen to yield successful results, so it’s the preferred solution

Traps should also be set to determine if the fruit flies are present. Directions for making traps are included in links below.

It has been said that no treatment is effective unless the entire tree can be sprayed.

Helpful Links

Oregon State Extension has a nice collection of videos to help wth the control of Spotted Wing Drosophila Fly.