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Fruit & Orchards

My Caroline raspberry plants are dying

11 years ago

Hello everybody! I am desperate and don't know how to help my raspberries get better. A few months ago I bought 2 Caroline raspberry plants and for a while they were doing great. At some point the sprouts from the cane began to die, the cane itself began to dry out, although it had flowers and some berries. Some offsprings began to grow, 2 of them seemed ok, but now their leaves are beginning to wilt and die. I began spraying them with a copper fungicide; I cut the dried cane and only left the offsprings grow. I don't know what's wrong with them and what to do. Can anybody please help me? My strawberries are also attacked by something. I cannot seem to attach more photos here, so I will start another thread.

Thank you

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Comments (7)

User
11 years ago
When you have two unrelated species doing badly, logic says look for a common condition. In this case, the common condition I see is your spraying and spraying them. Fungicides aren't harmless. They're intended to harm - the disease. But they can often harm the plants you mean to save, if you apply too much or too often.
mrsg47
11 years ago
Itilton has that right. Stop spraying, especially with copper, which is a fairly strong chemical. Are you over watering them? Mrs. G
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AnnaG313
Original Author
11 years ago
Hi and thank you for your answers. I sprayed the raspberries with copper only once a few days ago. The strawberries that are ill are in a different part of the garden; all my plants are in pots. I think that a few weeks ago I overwatered the raspberries. They were staying in full sun and the leaves began to dry out, so I moved them in a part shade location and didn't water them as much as before. Maybe if I use the Neem fungicide once a week it will be ok, although I don't think so. Today more leaves are wilted.

Thank you again for your answers.
Anna
Scott F Smith
11 years ago
Definitely stop spraying, there is no disease evident. If you don't get a potential match with a known disease don't spray. Neem is not a cure-all, it is an oil which can make plants unhappy on a hot sunny day.

There may be a nutrient imbalance related to the potting soil you used. Given all the watering and spraying you are doing I also wonder if you did not also overfertilize them; that can also cause problems.

Scott
mrsg47
11 years ago
Can you plant your raspberries in the ground? You'll have far more berries. Neem is used only a a dormant spray in late winter. Listen to Scott!!!!!
yawiney
11 years ago
My 1st yr Carolines were the first come up of all my varieties but recently developed a white color starting on the edge of the leaves working it's way in. A bit of rust color too.
Could it be too much N? Mabey your mix is too rich. I mulched heavily with compost and then chips on top. Anyone know if the Caroline is particularly sensitive to too much N?
Kevin Reilly
11 years ago
A lot of people do wrong by their plants by neglecting them. Some do wrong by doing too much. I think you are the latter.

Not sure what part of CA you are in but I'm surprised you are spraying a fungicide on your berries. Most parts of CA aren't humid and if you're plants have good air circulation and aren't being topwatered or sprinkler you shouldn't have fungus issues. Plus that pictures shows no fungus...

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