About 3 years ago, a man in Colorado Springs gave me a lot of suckers from his raspberry patch. They produced well for him, as I saw him picking the berries. However,although we are only 30 miles east, and the elevation, weather etc. are the same, My plants never ripen any berries. They seem to be only fall bearing, and by the time they set fruit, the grasshoppers are thick and eat all the leaves, fruit, etc. So haven't gotten one berry. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what type I can grow that will produce one early crop of berries, possibly in the summer, before the hoppers get big enough to wipe them out? Also any fertillizing etc. that helps? Thanks!

-- Janice Bullock (Janice12@aol.com), January 19, 2000

Answers

It sounds to me like you have a grasshopper problem, not a raspberry problem. I live in Wyoming, so know how masses of grasshoppers can desimate everything growing. Just last year I tried gardening after giving up 20 years ago due to grasshopper desimation. I used a product called nosema locustae. It is a spore that infects grasshoppers and it not toxic to birds, humans, pets, livestock etc. I purchased from Planet Natural (www.planetnatural.com). I just tried their web- site and got a blank page. Phone number is 1-800-289-6656 and they have a free catalog. I did a search on the nosema locustae and found a colorado co called Good Bug which has a good info FAQ on nosema locustae at www.goodbug.com/nolo.html.

I made three applications of grasshopper bait. I should have made the first application earlier, but it worked out. I just used a paper cup and spread it out over the lawn and over the fence line from the lawn. It did kill some of the grasshopper directly, but the majority lived. BUT, they acted like they were sick. They would fall off a stalk or the side of my house. They would go to jump and just turn up-side down. And they didn't eat hardly anything. It is supposed to carry over into the next generation if they manage to mate and lay eggs. This year I plan to make at least a couple of applications, plus I now have chickens that I plan to let free-range some of the time to help with population control.

Good luck with the grasshoppers and with your raspberries! CC

-- CC (car-col@usa.net), January 22, 2000.