North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] Wild Blackberry virus

The viruses are usuall spread by bees, in pollen.  They visit your cultivated berries after going to the wild plants.  The way to beat that is to grow fall bearing types and mow the canes off in the winter.  That way, the new canes don't bloom until well after the wild types are long through with blooming.  
    As to roots, the main thing is to be sure they are DEAD.  Once dead and decaying, they are much less likely to pass any disease along to anything else.
-Lon Rombough
>

> How long do wild blackberry root-borne viruses 
> persist in the soil, if the plants themselves are
> eradicated (using goats)?
>
> Are there bramble cultivars (besides the himalayan)
> that are virus-resistant?  
>
> I had to pull up the raspberries; the marionberries
> looks not-so-hot, the boysenberries are a bit futher
> and look okay.