Diseased raspberry plants

Question

I have a number of raspberry canes that I planted a few years ago that have never produced well and in recent years have developed a disease that looks like the leaves are being eaten along vein lines (though I never see an infestation) and some leaves have brown splotches. Please see photos attached. The location is not sunny enough and too sheltered so there is no breeze and I am assuming this is some kind of fungus or virus from too much dampness. FYI I live just north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada in the country next to a lake.

I want to move them to a sunnier breezier more open location. These are my questions:

– Can you tell from the photos what the disease is?

– Should I just buy new canes, assuming this disease is throughout the plant and will continue in the new location if I transplant these canes even if I cut them back to just a few inches?

– Can I do this in the fall or should I wait until spring?

– I want to put in other flowers (or maybe lettuce/spinach or vegetable that is OK with a bit of shade) in the bed where I am removing the raspberries. Will this disease afflict the plants I put in?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

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Answer 1

You can, likely, save these with quite a bit of work. I will say this, though. It will be much easier, and less risky to start a brand new patch in a better area. Moving the infected plants will definitely lead to infection of the new area without extensive treatment, so starting fresh will save time and effort.

Most diseases are plant specific, but can be spread interspecies on occasion. It will be best to treat the area with wettable sulfur, and dolimitic lime. If you can, till this into the soil and let it sit for at least two weeks before planting anything else.

This collection of articles will give you more information on the care of raspberries: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/raspberry