My Jewell black raspberries are now in their third year, and quite simply,
the quality of the berries sucks. Small and unfilled. Did I start out with
diseased stock? Any way to turn these around? These are YEARS I'm wasting
here. My plan so far is to destroy these and plant red or gold. I have first
year Killarneys that look great. Thanks.
Ken A.

Ken Anderson wrote:
My Jewell black raspberries are now in their third year, and quite simply,
the quality of the berries sucks. Small and unfilled. Did I start out with
diseased stock? Any way to turn these around? These are YEARS I'm wasting
here. My plan so far is to destroy these and plant red or gold. I have first
year Killarneys that look great. Thanks.

Unless you are really cramped for space, I would suggest getting a big
mix of varieties and planting them all...you can always kull and thin
out the plants that are not doing well in a couple of years.
In some parts of my yard, my Heritage raspberries are not doing well,
but my Boyne and Killarney are doing just fine in the same place.
But in other (more shade?) parts of my yard, my Heritage plants are fine.
(years ago, I only bought one root bundle of each variety and I've been
splitting them as necessary...so I know all my Heritage plants are all
clones)

It really is "the luck of the draw" at some garden centers and it is
possible to buy plants that have diseases. I've sprouted raspberries from
seed and they seem to do quite well also and they will be disease-free.
(This surprises a lot of people... you can't do this with some other
fruits like apples... an apple tree sprouted from an apple seed may
be completely different from the parent. Raspberries don't seem to have
this problem...it may be because the varieties are more closely related
genetically ...next year, I'm going to try growing a plant from
yellow raspberry seed ...I don't know if I'll get yellow or red
raspberry plants, but hey! I like experimenting!)

Raspberries can also get diseases from other plants that are in the
ground near them like potatoes.

If you buy several varieties, remember to mark them somehow so that in
three years when you plan on thinning them out, you know which plants
are (example) "Killarney" and which plants are "Festival" varieties,
so you can buy more of the particular variety that is doing well.

Thomas Dzubin
Zone 3, Canada

Black raspberries should be pruned during their growing year. Black raspberries
fruit on year old canes. While these new canes are growing the year before they
fruit they should be pruned to about 3 - 5 feet tall. Black raspberries fruit
on the lateral branches and therefore the pruning should cut of the the top of
the cane to promote the growth of the lateral branches. I started this a couple
of years ago and it really made a difference in the size and quality. It
actually made the black raspberries worth keeping.

Marty

On 7/15/2003 8:44 AM, Ken Anderson wrote:
My Jewell black raspberries are now in their third year, and quite simply,
the quality of the berries sucks. Small and unfilled. Did I start out with
diseased stock? Any way to turn these around? These are YEARS I'm wasting
here. My plan so far is to destroy these and plant red or gold. I have first
year Killarneys that look great. Thanks.
Ken A.

"Martin Jensen" wrote in message
...
Black raspberries should be pruned during their growing year. Black
raspberries
fruit on year old canes. While these new canes are growing the year
before they
fruit they should be pruned to about 3 - 5 feet tall. Black raspberries
fruit
on the lateral branches and therefore the pruning should cut of the the
top of
the cane to promote the growth of the lateral branches. I started this a
couple
of years ago and it really made a difference in the size and quality. It
actually made the black raspberries worth keeping.

Marty

Thank you all. I've been pretty stringent with the pruning regimen, so I
don't think that's my problem. I just sent an email to our county
agricultural extension agent. If he points me in the right direction, and I
get some good info, I'll post back. Incidently, my red Killarneys, which are
in their first year, are producing a handful of berries and they're HUGE!
Can't wait till next year!
Ken A.