Bob
Full Member
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:48 am

Need a Raspberry pro.

I just ordered some raspberry plants that I'll expect to receive about the first week in April.

I have my grapes and blackberries, and have learned to care for them pretty well over the years. I get good crops of both every year, but raspberries are a new experience for me.

So, who’s the raspberry pro here? I'll take all of the tips I can get folks, lay em on me.

grandpasrose
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Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Hey Bob! Well I don't profess to be an expert, but I have copied what I wrote to another poster in the Fruit Forum for you:

First of all there are two main types of raspberries, summer bearing and fall bearing. If you are unsure right now, which ones you have, treat them as summer bearing until they finish next year, and at least if they turn out to be fall bearing you won't have had a year without any berries.

Fall bearing bushes are the easiest to prune, as you do not need to decide what to keep and what to not. After the berries have all been harvested, cut or mow the whole row down to ground level. They will grow back up, and bear again in the fall.

Summer bearing raspberries take two years to complete their cycle, and therefore, if you were to cut all of yours to the ground now, without knowing if they were summer or fall, you could end up without any berries for a year.
The young, green canes poke out of the ground, and grow over the summer to quite a height (these are called floricanes). In the fall, some people let these branches continue growing as high as they want, and others top them at a more manageabe height (as I do) so that it is easier picking. Topping them also encourages bilateral branches from the sides of the canes, giving you a higher yield of berries.
In the spring, your canes that grew nice and tall over the past summer, but did not bear any berries should be left in the garden. They will now bloom this year, and bear lots of berries for you.

Then in the fall, you will see that you now have two types of canes. Some are the nice new green canes that have not had berries this year, and some may already be dying or dead, but even if they are not yet, their stem will be brown or a greyish color. These old canes are the ones that bore fruit this summer and need to be cut out right to the ground. They are finished and will not bear fruit again. You should just be left with green canes (floricanes) again.

Your raspberries will continue this ongoing cycle, year after year.

Most people also use different ways of staking their raspberries as they can get unwieldy if just left. Some put a heavy, tall stake at each end of the row, run a line to both, and then tie each individual cane to this line. This is called a T trellis.

Others place several tall,heavy stakes along both sides of the row (the number would depend on the length of the row) about every six feet. Then a line is run all the way around these stakes, making a sort of cage. The line can be run at several heights, if your canes are different heights. This is call a hedgerow trellis.

Other people just let them grow their own way and let them do their own thing.

Raspberries will tolerate alot of hot dry weather, but while blooming, and especially while bearing fruit, require alot of water. The less water you give them at this point, the smaller your berries will be. Also, if you get hot glaring sun all day, try to somehow provide them with a little shade during the harshest time of the day to prevent scalded berries.

Raspberries, like all plants have their own special soil needs. They prefer deep, sandy/loam soil, although they will grow in almost any soil. The PH level for them is between 6 and 7, and they like a high level of organic matter.

Hope all of this helps, and that you have a wonderful crop to enjoy Bob!
Feel free to return and ask any more questions you need to. :wink:

Val

opabinia51
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Location: Victoria, BC

Ha! That's great Val, I was just going to type that you would probably be making a post sometime shortly!

Anyway, after the leaves have fallen off the raspberries prune back the old canes to ground level. There should be new canes coming up (that came up in the summer). These will produce your fruit for next year.

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

It's kind of cool how we've all gotten a feel for what each person has knowledge in, and turn to each other. 8) We're a more rounded circle and able to help better that way! :wink:

Val

opabinia51
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Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

Yah, like I said before: We complement eachother really well.

Bob
Full Member
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:48 am

Thanks Val,

The berries I ordered are “Heritage Ever bearingâ€

grandpasrose
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Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Hi Bob! Your raspberry bed sounds great. The staking sounds like a good plan as well.
No wonder you were confused by "everbearing"!
Heritage is actually what is referred to as a fall bearing or late bearing raspberry, or if you want to sound official primocane-bearing.

These varieties can have two crops on the same canes. The largest is borne in the fall on the tips of canes which grew throughout the summer. A second crop is then carried lower on those same canes early the next summer. To have two crops, the planting must be pruned as a summer bearer (follow the summer pruning instructions in my previous post.).

Most everbearers will produce an even better fall crop if they are not allowed to fruit in early summer (follow the fall pruning instructions in my previous post). To treat these plants as fallbearers, mow off all the canes after the canes have lost their leaves in very late fall, or wait until early spring in colder areas. Be sure to cut the canes as closely as possible to the soil surface, leaving as little stub as possible above the ground. The new, strong canes which grow again that summer will bear an abundant fall crop.

So, it's a bit misleading as they are not truly an ever-bearing as we think of it, but give you the opportunity to have two crops in one year, if you choose.

So it is up to you how you want to treat your bushes - either summer prune or fall prune!!
Let me know if you have any other questions! :wink:

Val

Bob
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Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:48 am

Thanks Val,

It seems as though I have options as to my pruning method. That sounds like a “plusâ€

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

I would probably lean towards just leaving them to do their own thing, and let them get their roots established, and get a stronger plant. You will probably get some berries from them this year, but I wouldn't count on too many.
When you plant them, it wouldn't hurt to put in some bone meal in each hole. This will give the roots some help developing.
Have fun and enjoy them berries!! :wink:

Val

The Helpful Gardener
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Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Seconded...

HG

Bob
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Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:48 am

Thanks Val.

grandpasrose
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Posts: 1651
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 12:21 pm
Location: Quesnel, BC, Canada - Zone 4a

Never a problem! You're very welcome. Feel free to stop in anytime - that's why we're here! Best of luck with your berries! :wink:

Val



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