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  • #1

    Fruit and wasps

    I'm going to be growing an obscene amount of fruit in my little garden this year, which means I'm liable to be getting visits from the evil flying stingy thingies.

    Question is how to be prepared and minimise them becoming a problem. I know that fruit drop and/or damaged stuff should be removed as soon as it's spotted, but what else is sensible/effective, and which fruit are going to be the worst attractors (i.e. which fruit so I need to be particularly vigilent about)?

    Fruit plants this year are:

    Apple
    Cherry
    Fig
    Medlar
    Persimmon
    Quince
    Blue Sausage Fruit
    Blackcurrant
    Jostaberry
    Elderberry
    Blueberry
    Pinkberry
    Barberry
    Checkerberry
    Raspberry
    Peach
    Mirabelle
    Strawberry
    Pineberry

    They're not all expected to fruit this year, but I'd still like to be aware for future
    Tags: None
  • #2
    .... and is there any companion plants which discourage them ...?

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    • #3
      I grow blueberries, strawberries, black and red currants, cherries, plums and damsons and pears and to be honest I am not troubled by wasps. There is the potential for trouble from wasps but the facts are they cannot trouble the harder skinned fruits such as apples or pears unless first there is damage to the fruit from birds so with these fruits you could net the fruit if that is necessary. I really think you will be unlucky if you find much of your fruit being attacked. I remember last year a large very ripe gooseberry was eaten by wasps til there was only an extremely thin skinned empty sphere left - but this lost gooseberry was a drop in the ocean.
      People perhaps forget or don't realise the foraging queen wasp in spring is a pollinater and when her first drones and workers hatch they are in our gardens foraging for caterpillars and other pest which they will take back to the nest to feed the larvae.
      In short don't be expecting big trouble when it may never materialise. I hope you have bountiful harvests and do not grudge a little of such to nature.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by cheops View Post
        I grow blueberries, strawberries, black and red currants, cherries, plums and damsons and pears and to be honest I am not troubled by wasps. There is the potential for trouble from wasps but the facts are they cannot trouble the harder skinned fruits such as apples or pears unless first there is damage to the fruit from birds so with these fruits you could net the fruit if that is necessary. I really think you will be unlucky if you find much of your fruit being attacked. I remember last year a large very ripe gooseberry was eaten by wasps til there was only an extremely thin skinned empty sphere left - but this lost gooseberry was a drop in the ocean.
        People perhaps forget or don't realise the foraging queen wasp in spring is a pollinater and when her first drones and workers hatch they are in our gardens foraging for caterpillars and other pest which they will take back to the nest to feed the larvae.
        In short don't be expecting big trouble when it may never materialise. I hope you have bountiful harvests and do not grudge a little of such to nature.
        What a wonderful post.
        Pain is still pain, suffering is still suffering, regardless of whoever, or whatever, is the victim.
        Everything is worthy of kindness.

        http://thegentlebrethren.wordpress.com

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        • #5
          I grow a large amount of fruit and I've never had any trouble. The pear tree near my kitchen door did attract wasps but I just tried to pick them early and any fruit that drops get picked up. I'm happy for all the insects and stingers to be in my garden. I just give them a wide berth and let them get on with it.

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          • #6
            Remove any damaged fruit or any lying on the ground.
            A Wasp is a voracious predator, you will have more problems if you banish them from your garden--difficult at times but try to live with them, just be aware they do get grumpy when it gets cold and winter is on the way.
            I have a wasp nest somewhere in my garden every year, I only upset them once and got stung 18 times in 10 minutes. For an insect so small they are brave little critters.
            Last edited by fishpond; 18-04-2014, 09:40 AM.
            Feed the soil, not the plants.
            (helps if you have cluckies)

            Man v Squirrels, pigeons & Ants
            Bob

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            • #7
              And they go mad when drunk!

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Scarlet View Post
                And they go mad when drunk!
                I've been known to go a little wayward myself

                Thanks for the confidence boost folks. Much appreciated

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                • #9
                  Wasps are only troublesome in late summer, when they get drunk on ripe fruit. I do place wasp traps on the patio to stop them coming in the house.

                  During the rest of the year they are helpful, feeding caterpillars & pests to their young:

                  How to control wasps in your garden - Telegraph
                  All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                  • #10
                    Out of our crops last year, only two plums were damaged by wasps, everything else was untouched. We had several nests in the garden, one of which was in a cavity wall next to the back door - far from ideal when coming in or out of the house!

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                    • #11
                      We have a large fruit section down our allotment, no trees but plenty of bushes, canes and strawberries, but didn't have any trouble with wasps last year. I think they are only attracted by damaged or fallen fruit.
                      I think wasps eat a lot of pests don't they so they are fairly useful to have about. I think when its the end of the season and their job is nearly done that they become a pain. Silly season as my dad calls it usually about late august early September I think. Like Scarlet says drunk on the fallen fruit.
                      I just made sure I kept my picking up to date. I don't mind loosing an odd bit of something at the end of the day because of the benefits the wasps bring into the garden.
                      sigpic

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by noviceveggrower View Post
                        We have a large fruit section ...didn't have any trouble with wasps
                        I don't think I've ever been bothered by wasps on my lotty, and I grow rasps, strawbs, blackberries, red- and blackcurrants. They only bother me at home if we're drinking on the patio, and that's when I hang a glass wasp trap (tumbler with half an inch of sweet drink in it, covered with tinfoil with a pencil hole in the foil)

                        I get 100s of bees buzzing around my head & hands, never been stung by them either.
                        All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

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                        • #13
                          The only fruit I have real wasp problems with are the sweeter plums and gages , especially Early Transparent . . . I only get to eat a handful of those, despite netting them as securely as I can in environmesh. They are a thorough pest when they start to raid the beehives to rob the honey, thats when the jam traps come out in force.

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                          • #14
                            Just remember to pick fruit as soon as it's ripe and gather any windfalls as soon as you can

                            The wasps will let you know when they are ripe!
                            Last edited by Nicos; 20-04-2014, 11:07 PM.
                            "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                            Location....Normandy France

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                            • #15
                              As all my fruit is growing in my garden which is for R'n'R as much as it is for growing (moreso actually), I'm not planning on netting anything if I can help it, as it wil spoil the feel of my chill out zone. With berries and birdies, my plan is to grow enough so there's still plenty for me after the birds have scoffed some. In truth I could do quite happily without wasps ever coming to visit - it's hard to give them a wide berth in a small space, and I'm not growing anything like brassicas that would benefit from their predatory behaviour I don't think ... ?

                              So it sounds like it's possibly only the mirabelle, or possibly peach too, that's going to cause an issue. I might get a wasp trap or two and keep it inside "just in case", and if either those two do present an issue, I might move them down the garden next year so I'm not walking past as often

                              Thanks again for all your comments folks

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