If it's Phytophthora, the only thing you can do is obtain new plants, then plant them in a new spot where you've made a raised bed.

To deternmine if it's Phytophthora, scrape the base of the plant just above the soil line. The infection shows up as a cinnamon-red discoloration just under the thin "bark."

And there will be a sharp demarcation above that where the normal creamy color is -- sort of a stay-within-the -lines kind of thing.

If it isn't Phytophthora (which I've had no experience with) it could be that you are over-doing it and expecting too much. My raspberries are planted directly into clay soil without amendments. The first year they don't grow very much, but the second year you'll start to see how vigorous they can be. You shouldn't need to water them too much after they start growing. They might have stalled due to a change in weather too - I know my new set stopped growing after we got some hotter weather but have looked better now that the temperatures are cooler again. Mine have been suffering a bit due to overwatering too but that's Mother Nature's fault.

To post a picture, go to a pic hosting site like photobucket. Upload your pictures and look for the html tag (on photobucket I think it is the third line under the picture). Copy that into your post. You should be able to see the picture when you preview the post.

Thanks Jean001, I'll do the scrape test in the next couple of days. It's my understanding (wishful thinking?) that Phytophthora occurs naturally in lots of soils and that by over-watering I made it thrive. Is it possible to replant in the same area, being super-vigilant about the watering, and still grow healthy raspberries?? Or did I just buy a bad batch of soil from the landscape supply place? Do you know anything about Trichoderma?

And thanks for the info on posting pix. Here are some of the plants and beds:

Wilted and dessicated new shoot:
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Scorched tips. Sorry about the poor focus; I might re-do some of these:
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Scorched margins:
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Raised beds:
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Hi Jean001 - I did the scrape test and now I'm not convinced it's Phytophthora. What else could it be? I'll try to post some pix in the next few days. If I don't get a response from anyone, I guess I'll start a new thread.

cheers...

Are you seeing more leaves that look like that? I had some raspberries that had those same symptoms from the sudden changes in weather. They've recovered and look fine now.

Thom:

Looks like overwatering to me. Consistently wet soil can cause root rot on raspberries too. Your nursery compost probably holds water pretty well, and when it is on top of impermeable clay there is nowhere for the water to go. How often are you running your soaker hose arrangement? No more than once a week I would hope.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

In the very first pic, did the dead looking plant first get really droopy, and then shrivel up like that? I was thinking overwatering too, but I was waiting to see if someone with more experience would also mention it. (Thanks Don!) I see that a bit with my plants because they are next to the grass... The grass likes lots of water, but then, due to the slope, a lot of that water goes to the raspberries. Not good. The first thing I see is for the tips to get very soft and droop way down. Next thing, the tips are dead. Once I see I've got a drooper, I know I really need to back off the water quite a bit. I prune the droopy part, because it's not coming back. Raspberries are like weeds though... we like to worry about our plants, but I'll sure they'll be back next year, and, even stronger. Good luck!
-Glenn

I appreciate all the responses. Apologies for taking so long to reply. I got swamped (as I suspect my razzies did - bad pun intended) and didn't realize I had new responses till a few days ago.

I think you're right, Don, in that over-watering is the main culprit. I guess I expected my new soil to drain better. I've stopped watering them completely and now -- nearly a month later -- even though I lost some plants, I think a couple of the plants are starting to show signs of recovery. But if over-watering induces Phytophtora root-rot, will the Phytop back off simply by letting the soil dry out and watering appropriately? Is there root rot w/out Phytop fungus being involved? I've read about adding Trichoderma to the soil... or adding cornmeal to encourage the growth of Trichoderma and other beneficial soil microbes. Anyone know anything about this?

Glenn - yes, in the first pic the dead part first got droopy, completely wilted over and then dried up, just as you described. You're probably right in that I'm worrying about them too much.

For what it's worth, here are a couple of pix of plants near the soil line. Does the first one of the soft cane look like Phytophthora? I don't see any discoloration in the woody cane in the second pic:

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