Why do raspberry leaves turn yellow

Ask Alys: your gardening questions answered. Why do my raspberries have yellow leaves? Raspberry leaves may start to look tatty by the end of the season. Topics Gardening advice Ask Alys Gardens features. Reuse this content. I prefer 6X because it's easy to handle and goes into the soil quickly.

If you have a dog they are likely to eat the pellets, and pellets could attract rats. Your raspberries also need a potash-rich fertiliser to encourage fruiting so give your canes a slow release feed such as Vitax Q4 twice a year, in autumn and spring.

This excellent product can be used on all soft fruit and in the flower garden to feed roses and peonies. Raspberries do not like wet conditions and if the soil is very heavy this can also cause the leaves to yellow and then they are likely to wilt. Planting them on top of a raised mound improves drainage. Raspberries are also prone to getting viruses and if your canes are very old it may be an idea to invest in some new ones and plant them in a different position. Most viruses are spread by aphids, so you must remove the old canes before planting the new ones.

Use a fruit specialist, such as Pomona Fruits. You can either buy bare-root in winter or plant containerised canes in the growing season. By the appearance of the yellowing leaves I think your plants have a nutrient deficiency, predominantly nitrogen and potassium.

All plants need nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous to thrive, plus various trace elements. Without nitrogen the leaves turn yellow and growth is spindly.

Potassium generates good flowering and fruiting and helps ripen wood. Plants lacking potassium tend to have blue, yellow or purple tinted foliage and a poor crop. Without phosphorous, which aids strong roots and shoots, leaves tend to be small and discoloured.

The most common trace element deficiencies are manganese and iron, which cause yellowing leaves with brown edges. Although you said you have been feeding with Miracle Grow twice a year I think it would be more beneficial to feed once a year in the spring ideally March when the canes are starting to grow. As a guide If your plants have good, thick stems that grow 4 to 6 feet tall, you are fertilising correctly.

Maxicrop Original Organic Seaweed Plant Growth Stimulant will give your fruit canes the valuable nutrients they require and aid their general health but it will also help protect them from pests and diseases. If they are kept too wet for long periods of time, the roots are unable to absorb iron from the soil and the leaves start to turn yellow from lack of iron. Iron chlorosis in raspberries is a common problem, especially in plants grown in clay soils.

Plants that are iron deficient are weak, producing small fruit of poor quality and can die from insect or disease problems. I would give your plants a feed of Sequestrene Plant Tonic now unfortunately Harrod Horticultural do not stock this product but it is widely available from garden centres and online and improve your soil overwinter by added plenty of well-rotted manure or compost to the soil to improve moisture retention, drainage and soil structure.