Hi,
They did great last year. This year they're sick with something.
I haven't noticed any pests. Thought at first it was just the heat, but I don't think it is, watering doesn't make any difference.

Would appreciate your advice.

Thank you,
Sasha

If it is mostly the tips wilting have you checked inside the canes for borers? There's also a raspberry crown borer that causes them to wilt from lower down the cane.

Edited to add, from this U of Maryland Extension looks like both occur there:

https://extension.umd.edu/grow...

sooby said:If it is mostly the tips wilting have you checked inside the canes for borers? There's also a raspberry crown borer that causes them to wilt from lower down the cane.

Edited to add, from this U of Maryland Extension looks like both occur there:

https://extension.umd.edu/grow...

Thank you. I'll take a closer look again, maybe I'll spot the bugs -- now I know what they might look like.

Hi, Happy 4th everyone!

I checked -- didn't find any bugs, or larvae, but part of the problem are definitely Raspberry Cane Borers. From what I read no treatment is recommended, just trimming of the canes down to healthy wood. (Those borers sure do a lot of damage, though.)

But there's something else going on -- maybe Crown Borers, maybe Redneck Borers -- lots of canes have wilted and died.

Is there anything I can/should do, any kind of treatment? Maybe some kind of natural spray, without chemicals?

Thank you so much,
Sasha

The rest of the plants aren't looking very green. I might have a different variety of plant than you, so this might be off base, but it looks like they might be malnourished. I used berry spikes this year and that seemed to keep my bushes happy. Maybe something to try?

robynanne said:The rest of the plants aren't looking very green. I might have a different variety of plant than you, so this might be off base, but it looks like they might be malnourished. I used berry spikes this year and that seemed to keep my bushes happy. Maybe something to try?

They are just sick all over I hope I won't lose them completely. They did so well last year, lots of berries. And this year they came up nicely, but then something hit them. These borers, and maybe something else as well...

My cousin, his mom and I have lost most of the raspberry bushes in the past five years down south.
They bushes were from forty to twenty years old.
Do not know what it is but the berries produced were mostly pathetic little thing.
I ripped almost all of mine out, actually is was supposed to be all but when you want them dead they refuse so I have small patch of red and black ones that are really spreading.

I did put Amdro on the soil after I dug them out and used Seranade on them but that was only after I ripped them out.
Sadly the professional sellers seem to know less about the problems than anyone. They just want you to buy stuff to put on them.

RpR said:My cousin, his mom and I have lost most of the raspberry bushes in the past five years down south.
They bushes were from forty to twenty years old.
Do not know what it is but the berries produced were mostly pathetic little thing.
I ripped almost all of mine out, actually is was supposed to be all but when you want them dead they refuse so I have small patch of red and black ones that are really spreading.

I did put Amdro on the soil after I dug them out and used Seranade on them but that was only after I ripped them out.
Sadly the professional sellers seem to know less about the problems than anyone. They just want you to buy stuff to put on them.

I don't want mine dead! I hope some of them will pull through somehow..Mine are in their third year, youngsters. They produced so many berries last year -- I had high hopes for this summer..

Should I cut the remaining canes to the ground in the fall (like I did before) and give them another chance, or should I just rip everything out treat the soil, and plant new bushes next spring?..

Do not ever cut them down to the ground, depending on what type you have, until you recognize good canes and kaput ones, do not trim them below approx. 18 inches.

When you get more used to how raspberries grow, you will know which canes can simply be removed but do thin them as raspberries are their own worst weed.

Treat the soil and see how they look next spring.
Some raspberry types are fussy and produce great but then go belly up for varying reasons.
Some young raspberries, by young I am speaking in terms of years, not months, are very fussy for three to four years.

sashaapalmer said:Hi,
They did great last year. This year they're sick with something.
I haven't noticed any pests. Thought at first it was just the heat, but I don't think it is, watering doesn't make any difference.

Would appreciate your advice.

Thank you,
Sasha

Do you have blackberries in the area? Blackberries can live with a virus that kills raspberries. Blackberries grow wild here and I finally had to give up on the raspberries.

Yardenman said:
Do you have blackberries in the area? Blackberries can live with a virus that kills raspberries. Blackberries grow wild here and I finally had to give up on the raspberries.

None in our yard, and as far as I can tell no blackberries next door, either (the raspberries are next to the fence.) It looks like some insect infestation..

sashaapalmer said:

They are just sick all over I hope I won't lose them completely. They did so well last year, lots of berries. And this year they came up nicely, but then something hit them. These borers, and maybe something else as well...

Yes, that's why I'm saying.. malnourished. Feed them. Get them some good berry fertilizer. If you wanted to go all out and test the soil you could do that too.

robynanne said:

Yes, that's why I'm saying.. malnourished. Feed them. Get them some good berry fertilizer. If you wanted to go all out and test the soil you could do that too.

I'll give it a try..at this point, though, I'm afraid the damage is irreversible...hope I'm wrong. I've been away from my garden for a long time, by the time I got to my raspberries, they were really sick. The cane borers must have already made it down to the soil (because I didn't clip the diseased tops right away), that means they'll be back next spring.. and the crown borers have killed lots of canes..

Those don't look like borers to me at all. If it is actually in need of fertilizer, they should perk up in a few days, maybe a week. let me see if I can find the picture of me fixing a tomato plant that get really malnourished...

Baby tomato plant just being happy

Used up all the nitrogen in the pot, SUPER unhealthy

Nitrogen fixed, regular feedings...

It was able to perk up a lot, considering the pot size.


I don't do tomatoes in pots anymore, but feeding does a world of good.

Robyn, why do you think it (the dead leaves/canes) doesn't look like borers?

sooby said:Robyn, why do you think it (the dead leaves/canes) doesn't look like borers?

Well, in my (squash) experience with borers, you would see wilty *healthy* leaves and stems. The whole plant looks like it is struggling. Granted, the few actually dead ones could've been hit with borers too, you know? But pulling a few canes off an otherwise healthy raspberry bush is not a big deal.

When I'd encounter a vine borer, you'd see a thriving plant with localized wilt. This is a suffering plant overall.

BTW - my mom is growing one of my ground cherry seedlings at her house and for some weird reason, at her house in her dirt, the thing grew straight up like a freaking tomato plant and didn't branch all out like it does at my house. Also, speaking of vine borer, one of the two split into two main lead branches and this past weekend, everything in one of the two lead branches got wilty and sad, while the entire rest of the plant was thriving, green, happy. I very nearly cut open the vine to see what was there but I swear there had to be a borer in there. I didn't know they could hit ground cherries!

https://www.extension.umn.edu/...

https://www.extension.umn.edu/...

robynanne said:Those don't look like borers to me at all. If it is actually in need of fertilizer, they should perk up in a few days, maybe a week. let me see if I can find the picture of me fixing a tomato plant that get really malnourished...

I didn't post very clear pics. Here's a couple more. The raspberry cane borers are definitely present: many canes have this distinct double row of holes a few inches below the leaf tips..since I didn't spot the problem as soon as it started, the borers probably made it to the roots, which means (from what I've been reading) that next spring the affected canes will probably die back..

Interesting! Have you tried cutting up the cane to see if the bug is in there? Might get lucky?

robynanne said:Interesting! Have you tried cutting up the cane to see if the bug is in there? Might get lucky?

Couldn't find anything inside..maybe because they'd already made their way down to the soil..