Raspberry Leaves Curling and Turning Brown - Ask Extension
I planted four raspberry bushes earlier this year. They seemed to be doing well until recently. A week or two ago, I notice that one of them had leave...
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Raspberry Leaves Curling and Turning Brown #421084
Asked August 14, 2017, 11:23 AM EDT
I planted four raspberry bushes earlier this year. They seemed to be doing well until recently. A week or two ago, I notice that one of them had leaves that were curling and turning brown. Then, down the line, the reset of the bushes seemed to be suffering from the same thing.
I don't know if this has anything to do with their leaves curling, but I am having problems with Japanese Beetles and deer eating their leaves. I sprayed the leaves with soapy water, which seems to have stopped the deer for now. The only solution to the beetles (without chemicals) seems to be hand picking them off the plants. It also has been raining quite a bit in our area lately.
Any help you can give me would be appreciated.
Berks County Pennsylvania
Expert Response
From the photo it looks like raspberry leaf curl virus.
The leaves on infected canes are stiffly arched or curled downward. Leaves of red raspberry become yellow, while those of black raspberry take on a dark-green, greasy cast. Clusters of stunted lateral fruiting shoots arise from single nodes on the canes. The canes are stiff and brittle, and the fruit small and crumbly. Symptoms on red raspberry are very mild or might not appear until the season after infection. This virus is spread by aphids and petiole grafting.
The leaves on infected canes are stiffly arched or curled downward. Leaves of red raspberry become yellow, while those of black raspberry take on a dark-green, greasy cast. Clusters of stunted lateral fruiting shoots arise from single nodes on the canes. The canes are stiff and brittle, and the fruit small and crumbly. Symptoms on red raspberry are very mild or might not appear until the season after infection. This virus is spread by aphids and petiole grafting.
Two different strains of this virus exist, with one strain infecting red raspberries and the other infecting black raspberries. Both infect blackberries, although most varieties are symptomless. This virus is spread by at least one species of aphid. Spread of the virus is slow. Control includes the standard practices of starting with clean stock, keeping plantings from wild raspberries or infected plants, and roguing plants that show symptoms. Using insecticides to control aphids also slows the spread of this virus.
