Are they really dying? It's supposed to be the easiest one to plant but looks like I'm one of the unlucky ones as this is their 2nd year and they're dying. Most of them didn't fruit last year since I chopped them off to the ground and someone told me to leave them alone which I did last winter. I did trim the heights though for management and hopefully better fruits. They started to flower a few weeks ago and in the last few days they started to turn brown. The only thing I did last month was to add bark mulch. Ahhh, is it some sort of virus? sorry, I know I can just google the info and I did but there's so many information that it makes it so confusing :). So if anyone can help me ID what my problem is and what to do that would be much appreciated. Do I just pull out all of them? Can i still plant new ones on the same spot in the fall/winter or should I move to a different spot? That is already a raised bed so it should be good. Makes me really really sad. Am I cursed?
Raspberry plants usually don't have virus problems until they've been in the same spot for quite a while. If this is a new location, that shouldn't be the problem. Some of the canes look worse than others; pull on the ones that seem to be dying and see if they break off easily at the base, a sure sign of crown borers. If that's the problem, you should see their tunnels in the root crown or the lower part of the cane. There are lots of other diseases that could be causing problems, such as fungal root rots. If crown borers aren't the culprits, it would be best to try a different location.
