Can anyone help and point me in a direction regarding these nutrient deficiency symptoms I can see on my raspberry floricanes? They are mostly on the upper leaves, so I would rule out any macro nutrients NPK, which I know from soil analysis anyways there are plenty of in the soil, even a bit too much. I would not rule out a cross reaction because of too much P or K. The ph is 6.8 so that shouldn’t be problematic either.
The young leaves look a bit too small and light green with a red hue and edges.
The variety is Malling Promise. What is really curious is, that I also have other varieties nearby (Tulameen and Meeker) that don’t show these symptoms, albeit they show a few chlorotic lower leaves which I assume are related to a magnesium deficiency stemming from an overabundance of potassium, but the symptoms are to a much smaller degree than what I see on Malling Promise in these pictures.
The other varieties dont show those symptoms likely because the one you showed is early fruiting and the others are later fruiting.
Especially evident in early fruiting ones that experience a few cold mornings or evenings here and there but totally normal looking to me.
I think the darker pigment is some kind of protective mechanism of the fruit to capture more UV light in order to do what it needs to do at those early stages of growth…but im not a plant pathologist so i could be totally wrong… just a hobbyist and observer myself.
Feed bone meal and Langbeinite in late Summer. That will help to ensure that the floricanes are not showing deficiencies. It is looking like a P-K issue, and maybe hungry for magnesium.
To be clear, you are not getting essential nutrients to the plant. Excess nitrogen can lock out other nutrients, but the leaves do not look an unhealthy green. Excess nitrogen can cause leaves to grow faster than their ability to transport less mobile nutrients. Each variety has its own tolerances. When new growth looks a bit yellow, but is also larger than the older leaves, there is a good chance that the nitrogen is too rich. Brambles tend to hate “hot” nutrients. I consider them a perfect candidate for organic horticulture for this reason.
Soil analysis already shows an overabundance of P and K in my soil, so I don‘t think bone meal and langebeinite would be a appropriate. If anything I suspect either Fe or Mg issues because of ion competition. But it is interesting to hear the red coloration might have nothing to do with nutrients, but with temperature, because it threw me off trying to identify the deficiency.
Having more than enough P and K, I only fertilize with horn meal, once in march or april and a second time in may or june.
Definitely not any NPK issues if it is only on newer young leaves. There are micro deficiencies that can cause smaller leaves, such as copper. Boron deficiency can cause a reddish tint on new leaves. But I’m not seeing any larger telltale symptoms to specifically identify a micro deficiency. It may be a hidden hunger type thing if it’s not variety specific to grow that way.
