My raspberries are dying back from root rot starting at one end of my 15 foot row. That’s the end where the soil has a higher clay content (even though the rest of my yard is sandy loam) so drainage is probably the issue. What are the odds of maintaining this row as this is the best location in my yard for raspberries?
In the planting year 2021 the leftmost (Meeker) plant died after a few months of unknown causes and the neighboring variety (Anne) expanded into that area a bit. In 2022 after expanding more into that area around the dead Meeker plant there didn’t seem to be signs of infection (no wilting at the tip or canes dying off). In spring of 2023 the new shoots of the Anne raspberries started dying back (browning near the base and canes dying off) from that end of the row so I transplanted some potted raspberries into that end of the row. The plants that grew up to full height in 2023 looked fine but this year there are no new shoots in the Anne raspberry section and some of the next neighboring variety’s (Caroline) shoots are dying back the same way with browning at the base and full canes dying off.
What I’ve done to try to save the location:
* In spring of 2023 I pulled out the soil and roots of the section that was showing signs of root rot. I put in new soil and two existing pots of healthy 5 year old raspberry plants.
What I plan to do to help:
* Take out more of the impacted soil and diseased plants. * Add soil and add a 1.5 ft high, 2 ft wide, 15 ft long raised bed around the row to aid in drainage. (The row is already on a little hill and I had a small mound of dirt but I guess that wasn’t enough drainage) * Do you think the existing 4 ft high raspberry plants will be able to handle me adding 1.5 ft of dirt around them? Their existing root system is at ground level and I don’t know how well raspberries like their roots to be buried under 1.5 ft of dirt. I would guess they would extend roots out of the stems that would then be underground. * Planting a highly resistant variety in the gap where the raspberries are all dead. * Possibly add some Ridomil Gold SL Fungicide but that costs around $130 so I might skip applying this.
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My raspberries are dying back from root rot starting at one end of my 15 foot row. That’s the end where the soil has a higher clay content (even though the rest of my yard is sandy loam) so drainage is probably the issue. What are the odds of maintaining this row as this is the best location in my yard for raspberries?
In the planting year 2021 the leftmost (Meeker) plant died after a few months of unknown causes and the neighboring variety (Anne) expanded into that area a bit. In 2022 after expanding more into that area around the dead Meeker plant there didn’t seem to be signs of infection (no wilting at the tip or canes dying off). In spring of 2023 the new shoots of the Anne raspberries started dying back (browning near the base and canes dying off) from that end of the row so I transplanted some potted raspberries into that end of the row. The plants that grew up to full height in 2023 looked fine but this year there are no new shoots in the Anne raspberry section and some of the next neighboring variety’s (Caroline) shoots are dying back the same way with browning at the base and full canes dying off.
What I’ve done to try to save the location:
* In spring of 2023 I pulled out the soil and roots of the section that was showing signs of root rot. I put in new soil and two existing pots of healthy 5 year old raspberry plants.
What I plan to do to help:
* Take out more of the impacted soil and diseased plants.
* Add soil and add a 1.5 ft high, 2 ft wide, 15 ft long raised bed around the row to aid in drainage. (The row is already on a little hill and I had a small mound of dirt but I guess that wasn’t enough drainage)
* Do you think the existing 4 ft high raspberry plants will be able to handle me adding 1.5 ft of dirt around them? Their existing root system is at ground level and I don’t know how well raspberries like their roots to be buried under 1.5 ft of dirt. I would guess they would extend roots out of the stems that would then be underground.
* Planting a highly resistant variety in the gap where the raspberries are all dead.
* Possibly add some Ridomil Gold SL Fungicide but that costs around $130 so I might skip applying this.