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I've inherited a loganberry bush, and failed to harvest a crop of berries before they shriveled up.

What should I do now? Is there any benefit in picking them anyway? Would that encourage a new crop? Or should I just leave them for the birds?

J. Musser
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slim
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    in general do not leave unwanted fruit on or near the plant. The only way we got worms out of our cherries was to pick them all even though they were inedibly wormy and to keep the ground clear of dropped cherries. The next year only half were wormy and the year after that they were clear and stayed clear. I'm not making this an answer because I don't know what eats loganberries, but keep the bush and the ground around it clean of berries to minimize next year's pests. – Kate Gregory Jul 26 '13 at 12:32
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    whether you pick them or leave them makes no difference - the next crop will be next year, removing the berries won't mean the bush flowers again this year. – Bamboo Jul 27 '13 at 20:42

1 Answers1

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As the astute comments above point out, leaving the berries on the plant can contribute to the spread of pests and disease. Remove all the fruit, whether or not they are edible. And, the plants will not grow another crop when the dead berries are removed. Another thing to consider is potential seed germination, from unharvested berries that end up on the ground. These can be very annoying. Basically, there are no benefits to leaving the fruit on the plant, but there are several disadvantages.

J. Musser
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