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  • From: Caren Kirk <quirky@videotron.ca>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Raspberry winter kill
  • Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 20:59:13 -0400

Sorry Bill, I'm just catching up with my e-mail...

Interesting to hear your theory about the dry spring. I'm trying to work out how I've killed my peach and apple tree and that was the thing that has struck me the most. April was unusually warm and very dry here (and then May has been cold), and I just can't help but think that this might have had an influence.

Does anyone know of documented (or anecdotal) affects of dry springs for young (2nd year) plants?

Caren
Zone 4b Quebec.
----- Original Message ----- From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
To: "NAFEX List" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 11:44 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Raspberry winter kill


Most of my black raspberry canes died over the past winter, or at least
the tops of them did. The roots are all fine, and many of the canes
sprouted out from the bottom two feet, or so, but only a very few leafed
out all the way. I've been growing them for close to ten years, I think,
and this has never happened before. This will be easily the worst year
I've ever had (although, admittedly, last year was one of the best).

I asked the county extension office if other people here were
experiencing winter-kill in their raspberries, but they didn't know of
any. They just said they'd heard of "some" winter-kill of other plants
(which, I suspect, is pretty much what they'd say every year). Well,
they've never seemed to know much about fruit, anyway.

But I was wondering... One difference this year is how dry it's been,
even for Nebraska. We've only received 2.72 inches of precipitation YTD,
which is six inches below normal. I usually spend all summer watering
like crazy, but I don't normally worry about it in the spring (since I'm
always exceptionally busy then, anyway), unless I've just planted
something. So I'm wondering if that's why the old canes died. Do you
think it might just have been too dry for them? The roots are still
sprouting out new canes like crazy, though.

I can't think of any other possible reason for this. It didn't get
exceptionally cold over the winter (down to -12 F. once, which is close
enough to normal). The temperature dropped to 23 degrees F. in April,
when they were just starting to leaf out, but that's a lot better than
some years, and the cold really didn't seem to bother any canes that
were still alive. I can't see any insect problems (I've never seen any
evidence of borers), and I've never had disease problems (the canes have
always been covered with spots that I suspect is anthracnose, but it's
never seemed to make any difference).

Just thought I'd see what people here thought. After all, I can't learn
from my mistakes if I don't know what they were. :-)

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
From the perspective of my hunter-gatherer forebears in the Pleistocene
Era, everything in the room I write in - the ceramic cup and the
carpentered chair no less than the electric light and the computer - was
as imaginary, as unreal, as fantastic as Narnia or Hogwarts. - Alison
Gopnik

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