Pacific Northwest 1998 An Online Guide to Plant Disease Control

FactSheets offer superior print quality for the page you are currently viewing. Using Microsoft's Internet Explorer has given best printing results.
Glossary
Guide Home
Search

OSU Extension Office
 
Raspberry -- Bushy Dwarf Virus
 
Cause: Raspberry bushy dwarf virus, which is spread by pollen and infects many red and black raspberry cultivars. It is also found in ‘Boysenberry’, ‘Loganberry’ and ‘Marionberry’ blackberries. The fruit from infected plants often will not make IQF grade and is sold as a lower value produce for juice, jam or puree. Pollen is infected with the virus and honeybees move infected pollen from plant to plant.
Symptoms: The virus is symptomless on the foliage of many cultivars but may cause crumby fruit as in 'Meeker'. On 'Puyallup', bright yellow areas along the leaf's main and smaller veins give leaves a "network" appearance. Severely affected leaves are almost completely bright yellow. In some red raspberry cultivars, faint ring and line patterns develop on leaves. The virus reduces growth and fruit yield in 'Meeker' and 'Canby' red raspberry but the major impact is a reduction in fruit quality. It causes crumbly fruit in many red raspberry cultivars. In the black raspberry 'Munger', both reduced growth and crumby fruit occur.

Note the yellow areas between the veins on the center leaf.

Severely affected leaves are almost completely bright yellow.

Bright yellow areas along the main veins of the leaf give a "network" appearance to the leaves.

Crumbly fruit (on the right) in the cultivar 'Skeena'.

 
Cultural control:

  1. Use certified planting stock.
  2. 'Willamette' and 'Chilcotin' red raspberries are immune to raspberry bushy dwarf infection. 'Haida', 'Comox', and 'Heritage' are moderately resistant.
  3. Plant in large blocks to slow movement into new plants, especially if fields in the immediate area are infected.
Content edited by: Jay W. Pscheidt on January 1, 2009
 
Top

In print since 1954 and on the web since 1996. Questions or comments, please contact us.