All of the recent debate about copper reminds me of a problem that I had
with my blackberries. Some of the plants were growing crippled leaves and
the stems were contorted. The leaves were so deformed that they resembled
crumpled balls of (green) paper. I collected leaves and stems sending a
stuffed plastic bagful to my soils lab for a tissue analysis.
The lab report came back indicating that the blackberries were copper
deficient. That was a surprise to me since there was sufficient copper in
the soil for everything else that I grow; I was just getting started growing
blackberries. Following the lab's recommendation, I added copper sulfate to
the drip irrigation water and, henceforth, all of the blackberry plants have
been growing normally.
--
Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN
www.bberryfarm.com