Topic: Raspberry issue.

[BarriedaleNick]

Something has gone wrong with my raspberries.  See pics attached.
One is really old stock but the other is quite young having only had one crop from it last year.  Most plants are unaffected but should I pull these in case it spreads..

[ACE]

Raspberry virus. by the look of it, spread by insects I think. To be safe I would dig it up and burn it.

[BarriedaleNick]

I feared as much..

[pumkinlover]

Oh dear it looks like a cristate  cactus

[Beersmith]

My sincere commiserations. Rarely a season goes by without its own ups and downs. Inexplicably this season pigeons have taken a bizarre liking to my tiny unripe plums. Stripped the lot. Also my blackcurrants are looking very poorly. One has lost almost all its leaves. Like you I'm trying to diagnose what might be amiss.  Maybe it is just a bad season for soft fruit?

It's the "do I leave it and hope it recovers versus the if I leave it will it spread to other bushes or other fruits" dilemma.

On the subject of unusual pests, we all know that pigeons can be a great nuisance, but the ones around here have recently taken to pecking away at young beetroot seedlings. I'd not experienced this over many years growing. Is this common?

[pumkinlover]

I wonder if everyone is covering their brassicas so the pigeons have tried other crops?
Commiserations though, having to cover everything we grow rather spoils it.

[Humbug carrot]

Same thing happened to me this year , a whole row of beetroot completely decimated by pigeons. They also took  all the leaf beet as well.
I am slowly running out of netting after covering all the brassicas, peas, and even lettuce this year.

[small]

We have loads of pigeons in the garden but they aren't touching my crops. The squirrels, on the other hand, have got in under the netting and taken the nearly ripe strawberries....

[richardh5678]

my raspberries look OK, not good but just OK but the blackcurrants sound just like Beersmith's. very poorly.