Raspberry ringspot (RRSV) is a viral disease that infects an odd assortment of plants. While raspberries, followed closely by strawberries and boysenberries, are vulnerable, cherry trees, members of the grape family (Vitis), and Narcissus can also be infected.
 
Either way, this is an important distinction because planting raspberries or strawberries near your grapevines, cherries, or adding a little springtime color with some daffodils, jonquils, or narcissus, can significantly increase the odds of your plants becoming infected and spreading this disease.
 
Did you know that the raspberry ringspot virus (Nepovirus rubi) is a close relation to the tomato ringspot virus (N. lycopersici)? They are so closely related that raspberry plants can catch tomato ringspot. I don’t know if tomatoes can catch raspberry ringspot, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
 
But it brings up an important point about raspberry plants. They are rugged once established. Very often, they will be infected with multiple diseases before we notice anything is wrong. It is the older, less virile plants that are more likely to catch raspberry ringspot. Once they catch it, however, it can spread.
 
How to identify raspberry ringspot
 
Like other ringspot diseases, the raspberry ringspot virus causes target-shaped, oval, or abstract rings that can appear on leaves or fruit, depending on the plant and virus involved. [Unfortunately, I could not find an image I could use.] Other symptoms include an overall failure to thrive and crumbly fruit.
 
Managing raspberry ringspot
 
Besides watching where you plant your raspberries, you can reduce the odds of ringspot by keeping wild brambles out of the area and only using certified pest- and disease-free stock. But the problem may already be in your soil.
 
RRSV is carried by dagger nematodes. These tiny buggers move through the soil, spreading disease and mayhem in their wake. OK, it’s a very small mayhem, but you get the idea. Dagger nematodes have a reputation for being the most destructive of their species when it comes to plants.
 
Unfortunately, they are hard to get rid of. While you can apply a nematicide (nematode poison), it won’t kill all of them. Any that are left can reproduce exponentially and asexually, so it’s an uphill battle.
 
The only sure-fire way is to combine the nematicide with two years of leaving the area fallow, or unused. This will starve them out. Crop rotation can help, too.
 
At this time, I am unaware of any resistant varieties, so keep your plants healthy by choosing varieties suited to your microclimate and ensuring they have everything they need to thrive.

How to manage cane borers
 
First, monitor canes for signs of blackened or brown cane tips, dieback, galls, or wilting. If symptoms occur, you can try to save the cane by making a cut two or three inches below the affected area, removing and destroying the infected portion. Continue to monitor those trimmed canes for signs of speedier-than-normal larvae who may have gotten below where you made your cut. It is often easier to completely remove affected canes.
 
Keeping your garden and landscape free of wild brambles can help reduce the chance of cane borers finding your berries.
 
The insecticides used by commercial growers against adult borers are rather nasty and not recommended for the home gardener (or anywhere, for that matter).

Peat v. peat moss
 
First, peat and peat moss are not the same thing.
 
Peat moss is a type of moss. Actually, several types.
 
And peat is a conglomeration of partially decayed organic matter that makes up bogs. Peat moss is a major component of peat, but not always.
 
Peat moss, the plant
 
Peat moss also goes by the name sphagnum. There are nearly 400 species of sphagnum moss. It can grow on pretty much anything.
 
Sphagnum has one rather odd characteristic: it alternates living cells with dead cells. Those dead cells are used to store water. Using this method, some mosses can absorb up to 20 times their own weight in water, which is why it is so popular in gardens.
 
How we use peat moss
 
Being able to hold so much water, peat moss helps keep our plants hydrated. Due to this characteristic, it is a common ingredient in potting soil and when growing microgreens. It is advertised as a soil amendment that improves soil structure and nutrient availability. You can overwinter tubers in a bucket of peat moss. Root cuttings are often stored in moist peat moss.
 
Contrary to popular opinion, adding peat moss (or pine needles) to your soil does not effectively alter its pH. That only works in laboratory settings and large-scale commercial enterprises.
 
Peat moss is used as fuel, in floral arrangements, and in crafts. Dried sphagnum moss has been used as a wound dressing. Note that peat moss can contain the fungus Sporothrix schenckii, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can infect people with rose handler’s disease, or sporotrichosis, a potentially serious condition. As always, wash your hands after working with peat moss or in the garden.
 
But there is another problem associated with peat moss.
 
The problem with peat moss
 
Peat moss is harvested from peat bogs. Peat bogs cover approximately 3% of the Earth’s surface, store significant amounts of carbon dioxide, and are home to countless wildlife species.
 
Technically, peat bogs and peat moss are renewable resources. Some companies harvest peat responsibly, while others do not. [How can we tell by looking at a bag in the store?] It takes one year to generate one millimeter of peat on average. And we are using it at ever-increasing rates.
 
Instead of using peat moss to improve your soil, opt for more sustainable materials, such as aged compost, wood chips, coconut coir, and even shredded paper. These materials can be added to potting soil or used to top dress a garden bed without the drawbacks associated with peat moss.

What are microgreens?

Microgreens are halfway between sprouts and baby greens in the plant development process. Where sprouts are germinated (or partially germinated) seeds without any real leaf development, and baby greens are miniature versions of adult plants, microgreens are harvested just after the cotyledons and first true leaves have appeared, usually when they are two or three inches tall. They are a fast-growing way to add bright freshness to your diet, even in the middle of winter.

While they may be small, microgreens can contain 4–40 times the level of nutrients found in their adult counterparts, according to the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the University of Maryland. In that study, broccoli microgreens were found to contain sulforaphane, known to block DNA mutations that can lead to cancer, as well as compounds that neutralize toxins and reduce inflammation. These little plants are nutritional powerhouses and easier to digest than full-sized greens.

Raspberry fruitworm identification
 
Adult fruitworm beetles are only 0.16 to 0.19 inches long (4-5mm), so you could fit three or four of them across the face of an American dime. They are yellowish-brown with tiny hairs.

Raspberry fruitworm larvae are twice as long as their parents. They are white underneath with light brown segments on top and darker brown lines along the center.
 
Fruitworm larvae get bigger than their parents by eating your young raspberries. But the problem starts much earlier than that.
 
Raspberry fruitworm lifecycle
 
Adult fruitworm beetles spend the winter underground or hidden under leaves, protected against the elements. In spring, they emerge and start eating young raspberry leaves and flower buds. They start close to the ground and work their way up the canes to be closer to developing flower buds. Fruitworm beetles prefer feeding on the tissue found between the veins of new, unfolded leaves. This skeletonization is a clue.
 
After mating, females lay more than 100 eggs on and near developing flower buds. Eggs hatch about the same time fruit is developing. The larvae burrow into the fruit, out of sight and safe from predators, where they feed for a month or so before dropping to the ground to pupate in the soil and begin the cycle again.
 
All this feeding and burrowing can leave your raspberry harvest looking pretty meager. And there’s no guarantee that that raspberry you’re about to pop in your mouth doesn’t contain a guest. Ew!
 
Raspberry fruitworm management
 
The first step in reducing fruitworm damage is to monitor your plants regularly, as soon as new growth starts in the spring. Look for signs of adult and larval feeding. Handpicking adult beetles before they start laying eggs is much easier than dealing with a bigger problem later on. These beetles are most active in early evening, so that’s the best time to look for them. After removing beetles from your plants, simply drop them in a container of soapy water for chemical-free control. You can also use sticky traps near your raspberry plants to monitor for these and other pests.
 
Ladybugs and lacewings are your allies in this battle, so make sure your garden is welcoming and free from indiscriminate chemicals. Fruitworms are more of a problem when weeds and wild blackberries are present, so keeping the area around your canes tidy and clean can help prevent the problem.
 
Serious infestations may call for applications of spinosad or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). There are several types of Bt. To deal with fruitworms, you will need BtK, which can be found at local garden supply stores. This is best done during warm evenings while the plants are in the flowering stage. Follow package directions carefully and do not spray open flowers.
 
After harvesting your raspberry crop, rake the area around the canes lightly to make life more difficult for overwintering beetles. If you have chickens, let them have the run of the area for a few days. Hens can be powerful pest control, and they are fun to watch.

Fresh-from-the-garden raspberries are a real treat. Once canes are established, they can be relatively maintenance-free. But if you happen to notice that some of your raspberry leaves are starting to crinkle, curl, or change color, you may have a problem.
 
There are several reasons raspberry leaves start curling. Aphid, leafroller, leafhopper, and psyllid feeding can cause leaf curling, as well as chemical overspray and some viral diseases.
 
Raspberry leaf curl is a viral disease carried by aphids.
 
Symptoms of raspberry leaf curl
 
At first, there are no symptoms. This is a slow-moving disease. You will eventually see mild downward leaf curling at the tips. The next year, you will see more pronounced symptoms.
 
As the virus gets serious about reproducing inside the phloem tissue of your plants, canes will become branched, brittle, stunted, or develop into a rosette. Fruits will be small, deformed, and crumbly. Leaves of infected red raspberry plants will turn yellow, while black raspberry leaves turn a dark, greasy green. In both cases, the leaves on young and old canes will curl downward. [Leafhopper feeding causes upward curling.]
 
Infected plants are highly susceptible to winter damage.
 
Managing raspberry leaf curl
 
Unfortunately, there is no cure for raspberry leaf curl. It may take two or three years, but infected plants will die.
 
The only thing you can do once a plant is infected with raspberry leaf curl is remove it. Double-bag and trash infected plants or burn them if you have a fire pit going anyway. As you cut away infected canes, be sure to disinfect your pruners between each cut to prevent the spread of disease.
 
To avoid raspberry leaf curl in the first place, install certified pest- and disease-free plants. If you have any wild brambles growing nearby, you may want to remove them. You can monitor for aphids using yellow sticky sheets, and insecticidal soap sprays can help keep aphid populations in check.
 
Other plants susceptible to raspberry leaf curl include purple raspberries and wineberries, Himalaya blackberries, Pacific coast trailing blackberries, and wild blackberries. Tropical black raspberries, ‘Lucretia’ dewberries, and Alpine strawberries may also be vulnerable to this disease.
 
As of 2023, raspberry leaf curl disease was predominantly found in Canada and northern-tier US states. Of course, high mobility rates and changing climates can make new areas appealing to the small raspberry aphid (Aphis rubicola), responsible for spreading the disease.

Flower mites may be the fastest living things on Earth. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at them. And they don’t exactly run. But they sure do move!

It’s easy to see the big things in your garden: trees, shrubs, vines, and raised beds. And we know there are countless tiny things in our gardens, as well. But flower mites are pretty unique, even at half the size of a grain of salt.

These nectar and pollen eaters hitch rides from one flower to the next with hummingbirds in a behavior known as phoresy.

We used to think that flower mites ran up a bird’s beak and grabbed hold of their host’s nostrils for the flight from one flower to another. We now know that the electrostatic field created by the motion of a hummingbird’s wings helps propel those tiny mites, much like the sock that sticks to a blanket coming out of the dryer.

Note: Research by Carlos Garcia-Robledo has shown that different flower mite species are attracted to specific frequencies related to the geometry, size, and vibration of their host. It’s a crazy world out there!

However they do it, mites also hop onto the bats, bees, beetles, butterflies, and moths that frequent your garden. As their ride pulls up to a flower, mites often have only a split second to decide if the current flower can feed them. Guess wrong and die. [You can see some amazing photos at the Audubon website.]

There are several different flower mite species, including Proctolaelaps, Rhinoseius, and Tropicoiseus. It should come as no surprise that flower mite dietary preferences tend to match their ride. Hummingbird flower mites prefer plants in the blueberry, coffee, ginger, onion, and pineapple families, and these are all big favorites of hummingbirds.

You can usually identify mite feeding with a hand lens after noticing leaf blistering, bronzing, galls, and stippling.

Some flower mites have a one-track mind. They feed on a single plant species all year. This is called monophagy. Other mites have a broader menu, following the bloom cycle of several flower species. This is called polyphagy. But how much nectar do flower mites eat? Does it really make a difference? I mean, these creatures are very small.

It turns out that the answer is yes. Sort of.

Nectar attracts pollinators and protectors. With less nectar, we would expect there to be less food for those pollinators and protectors, resulting in smaller harvests. And in some cases, we’d be right.

According to one study, excluding flower mites increased the availability of nectar by up to 49%! That’s huge in the world of nectar feeders. One would expect that heavy mite feeding would negatively impact the health of local pollinators by reducing their food supply. But the net result might surprise you.

Sometimes, flower mite feeding reduces pollination, resulting in smaller crops. But not always.

In some cases, flowers respond by producing more nectar. In other cases, pollinators work harder, visiting more flowers. By doing so, they actually increase pollination rates.

We have already discussed bulb mites, citrus bud mites, dryberry mites, European red mites, fig mites, spider mites, and more. For the most part, they are microscopic arachnids. Some are worse than others.

While flower mites do not technically carry plant diseases, they do carry the viruses and phytoplasmas responsible for aster yellows, various leaf spot diseases, and potato virus Y.

The bottom line on mites: how you respond to them depends on your tolerance level. If your plants are healthy, you don’t need to do anything about flower mites. If your plants are prone to the diseases mentioned above, you can spray the affected areas with insecticidal soaps or horticultural oil.