Hi Nikki,

Thank you for submitting your question to the UVM Extension Master Gardener Helpline.

Wow 22 years! You must have taken good care of them to have any harvest at all from such old raspberries bushes.

From your description of the black, dried up early blossoms, but unaffected fall blossoms, I suspect Botrytis which is a fungal infection common in raspberries. Wet, warm temperatures in spring predispose to this fungus which would explain why you don't see this in the colder temperatures in fall. Removing dead material, pruning, and minimizing overhead watering  are important in management. Management of Botrytis and other raspberry diseases are further discussed in this article https://extension.umn.edu/raspberry-farming/raspberry-diseases

If you have a choice of starting another area for your new raspberries, I would definitely do so since this fungus can overwinter. To turn this old area into a productive plot in the future, clean up and bag all of the old plants to discard. Burning the debris would be another option if your area allows this.

Plant a cover crop and turn it in, leave otherwise unplanted for a year. I would do a soil test early next year to see what amendments you would need to reuse this area but I would probably avoid berries there. You could grow peas or red clover this spring and till in. A good list of spring and fall cover crops is listed here https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/covercrops.html

This article has an extensive discussion of raspberry cultivars, site selection, nutrient management, pruning and common problems in raspberries https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/ec-1306-growing-raspberries-your-home-garden#common-problems

Best of luck and please let us know if you still have questions.

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Dear Nikki, here's the response to your question:

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for submitting your question to the UVM Extension Master Gardener Helpline.

Wow 22 years! You must have taken good care of them to have any harvest at all from such old raspberries bushes.

From your description of the black, dried up early blossoms, but unaffected fall blossoms, I suspect Botrytis which is a fungal infection common in raspberries. Wet, warm temperatures in spring predispose to this fungus which would explain why you don't see this in the colder temperatures in fall. Removing dead material, pruning, and minimizing overhead watering  are important in management. Management of Botrytis and other raspberry diseases are further discussed in this article https://extension.umn.edu/raspberry-farming/raspberry-diseases

If you have a choice of starting another area for your new raspberries, I would definitely do so since this fungus can overwinter. To turn this old area into a productive plot in the future, clean up and bag all of the old plants to discard. Burning the debris would be another option if your area allows this.

Plant a cover crop and turn it in, leave otherwise unplanted for a year. I would do a soil test early next year to see what amendments you would need to reuse this area but I would probably avoid berries there. You could grow peas or red clover this spring and till in. A good list of spring and fall cover crops is listed here https://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/factsheets/covercrops.html

This article has an extensive discussion of raspberry cultivars, site selection, nutrient management, pruning and common problems in raspberries https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pub/ec-1306-growing-raspberries-your-home-garden#common-problems

Best of luck and please let us know if you still have questions.

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