Hi. I have some black raspberries in my back yard. A few are Cumberland planted about 7 years ago. Rest are wild ones (resemble Cumberland) and some are mixture of above via transplants. Have couple of problems: 1) Some of the berries that are ripening, turn out to have part of the berry (usually on bottom where connects to the stem) that appears dead-brown spot. 2) Some of my berries in same general area no longer produce fruit, canes look weak, little yellowish color and have few if any thorns. 3) Some of the canes produce berries that are not very smooth, are kind of bumpy/uneven in their design. I have a mixture of red raspberries, red-caps, black raspberries and blackberries in my back yard, kind of close to each other. Are these problems all inter-related? Is it a plant disease, bug problem or soil problem???? Thx for any help. Bob
I really don't know a lot about raspberries and their problems Bob. I just know that they are susceptible to many different types of problems. A friend of mine sprays her crops with derris and copper fungicide. I know she does this at the at the beginning and end of June to prevent common raspberry diseases. I do know that there is such a thing as a raspberry Beetle and that it's a pest where the larvae feed on the berries. This leads to badly formed fruit - it becomes dry and shriveled. The larvae fall of after a while and can be seen on the soil at the base of the plant. Not very helpful I know but that's the limit of my knowledge. Maybe if you snip a pice off the plant and take it to a local garden centre or nursery they'll be able to ID the problem better for you.
