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White speckling on Raspberry leaves

Asked June 1, 2018, 8:44 AM EDT

Hi! I planted raspberries and blackberries several years ago and have been getting wonderful crops. Last year, my red raspberries plants got a disease. The leaves began to get small yellow spots (like freckles), then got larger brown spots, and then got black spots and curled (looked almost as if they were burnt). I looked it up and believe it is a fungal infection. I cut the raspberries all of the way to the ground in the fall and disposed of the cuttings, but...the disease is back. Is there anything I can do short of pulling out the raspberries? The black raspberries and blackberries did not get the disease, but I am also concerned that they are doomed as well. I pulled off the leaves that were black and curled, but am attaching photos of the freckle-like spots. Thanks! Julie

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Ingham County Michigan

1 Response

That does not look like any common fungal raspberry disease. The small pale spots on the leaves look like spider mites. Mites would eventually cause the leaves to dry up and die. You can examine the leaves for webbing under the leaves. Mites are very small and hard to see. I would recommend a spray of an insecticidal soap. If your plants are in bloom I would recommend spraying very early in the morning or late in the evening when bees are not flying pollinating the flowers.