EasyBloom Forum

Robby F. Thanks for you time and great information. I was not sure how much information and space I could use posting the question. The red raspberries are everbearing, planted on a hill side, in clay soil with some compost, been there about four years, have drip irrigation, no sign of disease or fungus on plants, and here in KC, MO we had almost an inch of rain every week all spring, summer, and fall. The grass didn't even go dormant (I hate mowing). In the early spring I usually cut out any dead or injured branches. The blackberries are right next to the Raspberries and had a bumper crop. Should I prune everything to the ground and clean out all the debris? Any spray or fungicides you would recommend? I appreciate your help and suggestions, Dr. Y

Hey Dr. Y...First off, it's my pleasure to respond to these forum posts. I saw a few key phrases that raised some red flags: "clay soil", "an inch of rain every week...", "no sign of disease"... The fact that you didn't see any signs of disease makes me think that you probably shouldn't use any fungicides or pesticides. You mentioned that the raspberries are planted on a hill side, which usually means the soil will drain well; however, you also mentioned that it was clay soil. There is likely a clay pan that all that rain couldn't penetrate easily and there was some stagnant water. The combination of clay soil and lots of rain can be a bad one. Also, members of the rose family, which raspberries are, are known to have trouble with pollination when it constantly rains.

Additionally, it sounds like you're doing the right things with pruning. You might also want to prune off the canes as soon as your summer crop has been harvested. (That is of course if your raspberries produce a summer crop, which it sounds like it didn't happen last season.) If you prune everything to the ground, chances are you will go another season without berries because you would have pruned of the floral buds. You should always leave about 1 to 2 ft of cane to induce the lower buds to sprout and flower.

To summarize everything, it sounds as though your last growing season was unfortunately wetter than would be suitable for a clay-based soil. Raspberries can grow in pretty much any soil as long as two criteria are fulfilled: 1) must drain well, 2) cannot be extremely acidic soil. (notice the use of the word "extremely"; slightly acidic soil is perfectly fine) To me, from what you have offered as possible reasons for your raspberries' symptoms, it sounds like the soil was soaked for too long which caused an oxygen stress (hypoxia; this was the basis for my PhD dissertation). I hope this is all helpful to you. As mentioned before, please feel free to ask more questions as I am always willing to answer them. Cheers...Dr. Robby