Small fruit are a popular commodity group in New York; we have farmers producing strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries as well as more specialty crops like currants, elderberries, gooseberries, and more. Small fruit crops are perennial, which leads to very different weed problems from annual row crop production. Often perennial weeds are more of an issue, and management methods are quite different both from row crops and from one small fruit species to the next. We collected problem and common weeds from a range of small fruit specialists to develop a weed list for this commodity group. If you have a weed in small fruit that is not represented on this page, please let us know.
Problem Weeds
Hairy galinsoga (Galinsoga quadriradiata)
Hairy galinsoga identification is available from the University of Missouri.
Management of hairy galinsoga: Cornell University’s Crop and Pest Management Guidelines, or Cornell University’s Turfgrass and Landscape weed ID app.
Goldenrods (Solidago spp)
Grape vines (Vitis spp)
The University of Pennsylvania provides a good page on wild grape control. Make sure to check whether any herbicide used is legal for application in New York.
Pennsylvania smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum)
Identification and control information from the University of Michigan Extension.
Red sorrel (Rumex acetosella)
Identification from the University of Missouri: https://weedid.missouri.edu/weedinfo.cfm?weed_id=245
Management suggestions are available at Bugwood.org.
Virginia creeper
Identification from the University of Wisconsin Extension’s article on Virginia creeper.
Management from Ruger’s University Plant and Pest Advisory article on virginia creeper.
Additional common weeds
![Weed- Common Chickweed- 1 Common Chickweed flower head photo by user Phil Sellens via flickr.com](https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/files/2020/05/Weed-Common-Chickweed-1.jpg)
Common chickweed (Stellaria media)
![Weed- Poison Ivy 4](https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/files/2020/03/Weed-Poison-Ivy-4.jpg)
Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
![Weed- Witchgrass- 5 Mature Witchgrass plant photo by Olivia McCandless via Cornell University Weed ID site](https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/files/2020/05/Weed-Witchgrass-5.jpg)
Witchgrass (Panicum capillare)
![Weed- Virginia Pepperweed- 3 Virginia pepperweed flowers Photo by Ohio State Weed Lab of The Ohio State University via Bugwood.org](https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/files/2020/07/Weed-Virginia-Pepperweed-3.jpg)
Virginia pepperweed (Lepidium virginicum)
![Weed- Wild Mustard- 1](https://blogs.cornell.edu/weedid/files/2020/05/Weed-Wild-Mustard-1.jpg)
Wild mustard (Brassica kaber)