2012 was not a happy year in the wineberry patch. The weather turned cold and rainy at the time pollination needed to take place. Consequently, fruit was incompletely formed. On top of that, the bed had become too crowded, resulting in poor circulation.
Cool, damp, crowded ... these conditions can (and did) lead to leaf spot, a fungal problem.
The guilty fungus overwinters in dead plant debris and on infected canes. Splashing or wind-driven rain releases spores in high numbers and carries them to young susceptible leaves and canes. While I have no control over the weather, I can adopt better cultural practices for a healthy garden. In this case, it's going to require drastic steps ... cutting back ALL canes, decreasing the number of plants in the bed, and removing dead plant debris. Basically, I'm starting over in the wineberry patch.
This is the time of year to do the job. The thorns are sharp, but the canes are bare, and the old ones are dead. I cut back every cane, revealing each plant. I removed all but 10 healthy plants, distributing them evenly throughout the bed. Unfortunately, there'll be no berries this year, as fruit grows on year-old canes. But I have set myself up for a healthier crop in the not-too-distant future.
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