[Gill2002]

Hi everyone, first time posting  I'm growing quite a lot of strawberries on my plot and they have always been delicious. However, this year the majority of them are really soft and mushy to the touch, inedible. They look great but when you touch them yuck! Any help would be appreciated 

[Sonny2]

A good chance that its asian spotted wing fruit fly. They lay their eggs when the fuit is still green, the maggots then turn the fruit to mush just as they ripen.

Pull a strawberry apart and look for tiny thread like white maggots. They are hard to spot but when exposed to light they wriggle around and you can't miss them once spotted.

We have had this problem on our plot for the last few years now. Also affects just about any other soft fruit, mainly raspberries and blackberries.

[Gill2002]

Thanks for your reply, l will have a good look when l go there today. Is there any way of preventing this or treating it? Or will l have to get rid of all  the plants 

[Sonny2]

No treatment that I am aware of once the eggs have been laid.

What part of the country are you in?

This year I have tried traps using cider vineger with a drop of washing up liquid. The traps certainly work in that they catch a lot of fruit flies, but it has not completely stopped the flies, although it does seem reduced this year. I made the traps from wasp traps that you can get in the pound store type places. Block the exisitng two big holes and drill smaller holes all the way around. Fill with cider vineger and top up as they dry out.

Don't put any infected strawberries into compost as the flies will complete their lifecyce. I leave them out on a bare patch for the birds to eat or for them to dry out in the sun.

I have considered covering with enviromesh but then the pollenators would not be able to get in - would be interested in what others think about this?

More info from RHS:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=852

[Gill2002]

Thanks for your help,l will definitely try the things you suggested. I'm in Ramsgate on the coast of Kent, luckily no one else here seems to be suffering from the same problem.

[Sonny2]

Keep in mind that the maggots are very small and easily missed. I'm sure many on our site think they are unaffected but are happily munching away on live maggots.

It's most noticable on strawberries as the fruit goes soft and bad. I only found out they were in the blackberries after a plot holder put some in the fridge overnight in a bowl of water. In the morning the edge of the bowl was covered in tiny maggots.

I'm eating plenty myself but I'm not bothered even though I know I am eating them. Biggest issue for me is that the fruit spoils and goes bad.

[sunshineband]

If you don't mind some extra maggot-protein with your fruit, picking them as soon as they are ripe means the fruits are at least unspoiled on the whole. Fruit flies can be a real pest!


Re your locations: perhaps both of you (Sonny2  & Gill2002)  could add these to your profiles please so e know whereabouts you are growing please? That would be really helpful, thank you