Did I overprune my raspberries?

Question

I live in the upper midwest, and last year I contacted you for some advice regarding my wilting raspberries. You believed my raspberries were infected with a blight, and because it was so severe, you recommended pruning the plants down to about 6-8 inches, and getting rid of all the debris, then spraying with a good chemical that was intended to control blight. I have done that as well as adding compost, and now this spring, only 2 of the 40+ plants are sending up shoots growing out of an 8″ branch remaining from last year, and all of the others are doing nothing. For years we have had great yield from this patch, and suddenly last year the blight hit. Do you believe that most of the berry plants are dead? I don’t have any pics, so thanks for your help.

Answer 1

It sounds like you did all the right things, but it's impossible to tell from here if the plants survived without seeing them. This article describes a scratch test that can be done on trees (and berry plants) to determine whether they're still alive:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-scratch-test.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/how-to-tell-if-a-plant-is-dead-and-how-to-recover-an-almost-dead-plant.htm