difference

Time to plant
By Jonathan van Wiltenburg
Wiggling currants!
Over the past year I have had people
asking about a particular nasty little
pest that affects their currant shrubs year
after year. The common complaint is a
small rice sized maggot found squirming
around in the berry. It is quite gross,
and usually renders the berries fit for the
birds.
I thought I would get to the bottom of
it and give some solutions to combat this
particular pest.
The pest is a little yellow fly (Euphranta
canadensis) commonly known as the
currant fruit fly. It infects currants (red,
black, or white) and also gooseberries
and is found throughout North America.
The fly itself is about the size of a small
housefly and it lays a single egg under
the skin of a developing berry. The bad
news for us is that each female can lay
over 150 eggs, and each egg is deposited
on its own single berry. However, not
Priorities for April
• April is the time for lawn maintenance.
Take advantage of the moist spring weather
and get all the seeding, aerating, or topdressing
finished before the sun is here.
• If you have not already done so, begin
turning over the garden. Mix in your old
compost from last year. Try not to compact
the newly turned over soil. Amend further
with lime, manure, or mulch if necessary.
• Spilt up and move your perennials.
• Feed your fruit trees, berries, and other
trees and shrubs. Don’t go overboard. Be
sure to use an appropriate fertilizer for the
particular species. Use compost or an organic
fertilizer if you can manage it.
• In you have not done so, prune back your
and hydrangeas, buddleja, fuchsia, Russian
sage, and other plants that flower on present
year wood. Also prune the shrubs that have
already finished flowering; winter jasmine,
forsythia, witch-hazel, kerria, heather, etc.
• Set out your cleaned mason bee houses
all of the injected eggs
will survive. Many of
the berries will drop
prematurely due to
the injection by the female.
As the fly larvae
mature they will drill
a small breathing hole
into the skin of the
fruit. This is the signature
that will tell
you have a problem.
(Look for a small dark
spot on the skin of the
berry). Once fully mature, the larvae
leave the berry and fall to the ground
(sometimes the whole berry falls to the
ground instead), where they bury themselves
into the soil around the base of
the currant bush. Here they overwinter
as pupae until the following spring
ASAP. Keep an eye out for the hard little
workers as they pollinate your fruit trees
and berries.
• Sow your vegetable and flower seed. Vegetables
such as greens and others you want
to eat all season long sow a little bit of seed
more often. Aim for every three weeks.
Sow other crops such as squash, lettuce,
beets, spinach, greens, carrots, parsnips,
chard, celery, early potatoes, leek, onion,
and summer flowering annuals.
• Don’t get too eager! Hold off on planting
anything outside that cannot handle a potential
frost or could be affected by cool
nights. Beans, tomatoes, squash, peppers,
eggplant, are the classic heat lovers. Unless
you have sufficient insulation such as
cold frames or cloches, keep them sheltered
until early May.
• Harvest your early crop of rhubarb and
possibly your asparagus. Continue this for
the next six or so weeks.
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when they will emerge as adult flies
ready to complete the cycle once again.
How do you get rid of them?
Because the larvae are encased in the fruit,
they are hard to control. Currently the best
way to knock back the populations are to
disrupt the life cycle of the pest.
One of the suggested methods is to place
a sheet of plastic or cloth on the ground
to catch the larvae before they squirm
into the ground to overwinter. Check on
this sheet daily and dispose of larvae and
berries. Do not put them in the compost!
Rather, put them in a bucket with some
soapy water. Alternatively, others suggest
that if you have chickens to pen a few of
them up around the base of the current
bush and have them peck and scratch.
To prevent new infestation on uninfected
bushes, cover your bushes with
floating row cover from April until late
June when the female flies are busy laying.
This will provide a barrier of entry
and protect the newly forming berries
from infection.
Jonathan van Wiltenburg has a degree in
horticulture and runs Eden Horticulture Services.
You can reach him atedenhort@gmail.com.
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