Raspberries

[Gearhead660]

What does everyone do to maintain their raspberry patches? What do you do in the fall? Trim back, cut all back? I have both red and black.

 

[Montanalocal]

Since you are in WI you may have the same type of raspberries I do in Montana. I have been growing and managing stands of raspberries for over 50 years. The ones that grow here are called Floricanes or summer-bearing raspberries. That means the canes that come up new in their first year do not bear fruit. It is the second year canes that bear.

Therefore, with these, do not prune the new green canes that grew this first summer. Those are the canes that will be producing next year. What you want to prune out are the older canes that bore fruit this summer.

There are two ways to tell the difference. One, used in the fall, is the color of the bark. The bark on the new first-year canes that you should leave, are green in the fall. Those you should not cut. The two year old canes that bore fruit will have brown bark, and you should prune them out.

However, if you wait until spring, both canes will tend to have similar looking bark, so that is harder to tell apart.

So you can use a second method of telling the one year old canes from the two year old and older canes. That is, the older two year old canes that bore fruit last year will have branches. These branches are what produced the fruit last year, and it is these canes that you should prune out this spring.

The ones you want to leave are the straight canes that did not produce any fruiting branches this year. These are the ones you want to save, as these will produce the following year. I also prune out the very short ones that did not grow very high this year. I want a bed of nice tall straight canes that will produce and be easy to pick next year.

It is also good to thoroughly soak the beds with water before they freeze up. Going through the winter with roots in dry soil is hard on the plants. Raspberries take more water than most other shrubs, especially when they are flowering and producing fruit.

If you have Primocane-bearing raspberries - also called “fall-bearing raspberries, they will bear fruit on the current season’s growth; in other words, on canes that began growing that year. Harvest begins in late summer and lasts until the first hard fall frost. They can be completely pruned out in late fall when they are through bearing.

 

[begreen]

Great info Montanalocal.

What does everyone do to maintain their raspberry patches? What do you do in the fall? Trim back, cut all back? I have both red and black.

You'll need to determine whether they are primocane or floracanes. Primocanes get cut back to the ground. They bear on new canes. Floracanes bear on 1 yr old canes. They get thinned to remove all old canes so that only the new season canes remain.

We grow only primocanes. They bear on new wood and get pruned down to the ground before spring, though I may cut a few of the strong canes at 18" high for an early crop. We grow primocanes because our spring weather ,when floricanes are in bloom, can be iffy. If it's too cold when the plants are in blossom but the pollinators are not out, the crop can be meager to none. We have not had this happen with our Autumn Bliss raspberries that we've grown for 30 yrs. Another primocane classic is the Lantham.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I leave mine to the rabbits. They do my trimming. They sprout outside their enclosures like crazy and I normally attack them with the lawnmower to keep them somewhat in check.

 

[Gearhead660]

Great info Montanalocal.

You'll need to determine whether they are primocane or floracanes. Primocanes get cut back to the ground. They bear on new canes. Floracanes bear on 1 yr old canes. They get thinned to remove all old canes so that only the new season canes remain.

We grow only primocanes. They bear on new wood and get pruned down to the ground before spring, though I may cut a few of the strong canes at 18" high for an early crop. We grow primocanes because our spring weather ,when floricanes are in bloom, can be iffy. If it's too cold when the plants are in blossom but the pollinators are not out, the crop can be meager to none. We have not had this happen with our Autumn Bliss raspberries that we've grown for 30 yrs. Another primocane classic is the Lantham.

I am not sure which ones I have. I know the black produce berries on new growth, but I can't remember if the red do on new growth or not.

 

[Gearhead660]

Since you are in WI you may have the same type of raspberries I do in Montana. I have been growing and managing stands of raspberries for over 50 years. The ones that grow here are called Floricanes or summer-bearing raspberries. That means the canes that come up new in their first year do not bear fruit. It is the second year canes that bear.

Therefore, with these, do not prune the new green canes that grew this first summer. Those are the canes that will be producing next year. What you want to prune out are the older canes that bore fruit this summer.

There are two ways to tell the difference. One, used in the fall, is the color of the bark. The bark on the new first-year canes that you should leave, are green in the fall. Those you should not cut. The two year old canes that bore fruit will have brown bark, and you should prune them out.

However, if you wait until spring, both canes will tend to have similar looking bark, so that is harder to tell apart.

So you can use a second method of telling the one year old canes from the two year old and older canes. That is, the older two year old canes that bore fruit last year will have branches. These branches are what produced the fruit last year, and it is these canes that you should prune out this spring.

The ones you want to leave are the straight canes that did not produce any fruiting branches this year. These are the ones you want to save, as these will produce the following year. I also prune out the very short ones that did not grow very high this year. I want a bed of nice tall straight canes that will produce and be easy to pick next year.

It is also good to thoroughly soak the beds with water before they freeze up. Going through the winter with roots in dry soil is hard on the plants. Raspberries take more water than most other shrubs, especially when they are flowering and producing fruit.

If you have Primocane-bearing raspberries - also called “fall-bearing raspberries, they will bear fruit on the current season’s growth; in other words, on canes that began growing that year. Harvest begins in late summer and lasts until the first hard fall frost. They can be completely pruned out in late fall when they are through bearing.

Thanks for all the info. Reading through this, I must have floricane. I get berries early July.