Author Topic: Crispy leaves on raspberries  (Read 2517 times)

Digeroo

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Crispy leaves on raspberries
« on: July 05, 2011, 20:59:20 »
Some of  my raspberries the top leaves on this years growth have done dry and crispy and now the whole cane is dying.  I though to start with it was lack of water.  The rest of the clump is ok.  

Any help would be appreciated.  Should I pull out the affected canes.

jennym

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Re: Crispy leaves on raspberries
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2011, 02:28:36 »
There was a post similar to this in 2009 so I've copied most of my reply here:
The problem with your raspberries might be root rot.  Its a Phytophthora fungus that lives in the soil especially where the soil is heavy and may get waterlogged in winter.
What seems to happen is that it lays dormant, then the raspberries start to grow nicely, then the temperature of the soil reaches a certain level and POW the fungus attacks and the plants start to shrivel and die. It's devastating.
If you have a look at the base on the canes you may see brown markings where the canes have started to rot off. If you dig them up, you may see that the roots are less well developed than you would expect and may see some signs of rotting.
Commercially they drench the soil with a fungicide  to help prevent it, but I'm told once you've got it in the soil its hard to get rid of. So I dug up what was left of mine in that area, burned the canes and roots, and re-planted fresh canes in another more well-drained placed with lighter soil.

Hope this helps.

Digeroo

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Re: Crispy leaves on raspberries
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2011, 08:59:44 »
Many thanks for your reply  The offending stem was definitely brown and when I pulled it up the stem was very brittle and lacking in umph.  I have had white spores on another patch and though they cropped it was only the bottom six inches of the plant.

Actually my soil is very free draining.  The soil was pristine from the point of view of raspberries since it had been meadow.  I have it on two patches on totally opposite sides of the site, so I think I bought it in.  At the moment it is only affecting a few stems and the rest are fine but I will be upset if it spreads and if it is a fungus it will spread.  My knowledge of fungus (on the feet) is they prefer alkaline conditions so I will have to find a way of increasing the acidity which will benefit the raspberry anyway.   I use vinegar on the old feet, I wonder whether this would help the raspberries.

I might try some nettle tea that for me has a good effect on fungal problems on apple trees. 

 

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