About summer-bearing raspberries.

I have cut out all of canes that bore fruit this year (floricanes).
Can I shorten the rather straggly new canes (primocanes) to a manageable
(i.e. tidy) length?
Or should I wait till next spring?
I plan to cut to 120 cms in the spring to encourage side shoots where
flowers/fruit will develop.
Is this a good plan?
If I cut them now will fruit grow on the new growth that will develop above
the cut point?

There is SO much about raspberries - I need some simple rules!
Thanks.

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 11:00:40 +0200, Robert wrote:

About summer-bearing raspberries.

I have cut out all of canes that bore fruit this year (floricanes).
Can I shorten the rather straggly new canes (primocanes) to a manageable
(i.e. tidy) length?
Or should I wait till next spring?
I plan to cut to 120 cms in the spring to encourage side shoots where
flowers/fruit will develop.
Is this a good plan?
If I cut them now will fruit grow on the new growth that will develop above
the cut point?

There is SO much about raspberries - I need some simple rules!
Thanks.

I know what you mean.
Last years I accidentally snipped some raspberries the same way as I did
the blackberries. Whip out all thin and straggly canes, cut the top 1/3 off
each cane left and shortened all side shoots to about 6-9". This year we
had such an enormous crop and vigorous growth I'm going to try it again
with some of the other ones.

I did this in late autumn though, as I have a couple of patches of
autumn/twice fruiting varieties and I can never remember where they are ...
--
Tim C.

Tim Challenger schreef:

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 11:00:40 +0200, Robert wrote:

About summer-bearing raspberries.

I have cut out all of canes that bore fruit this year (floricanes).
Can I shorten the rather straggly new canes (primocanes) to a manageable
(i.e. tidy) length?
Or should I wait till next spring?
I plan to cut to 120 cms in the spring to encourage side shoots where
flowers/fruit will develop.
Is this a good plan?
If I cut them now will fruit grow on the new growth that will develop above
the cut point?

There is SO much about raspberries - I need some simple rules!
Thanks.

I know what you mean.
Last years I accidentally snipped some raspberries the same way as I did
the blackberries. Whip out all thin and straggly canes, cut the top 1/3 off
each cane left and shortened all side shoots to about 6-9". This year we
had such an enormous crop and vigorous growth I'm going to try it again
with some of the other ones.

I did this in late autumn though, as I have a couple of patches of
autumn/twice fruiting varieties and I can never remember where they are ...
--
Tim C.

Thanks Tim, that's very good info!
I am interested to know what happened to the canes after topping.
They grew up again during this spring/summer ABOVE where you had cut
them I guess?
Did you get any fruit from this new growth?

Rob

On 11 Aug 2005 02:50:29 -0700, Rob wrote:

Tim Challenger schreef:

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 11:00:40 +0200, Robert wrote:

About summer-bearing raspberries.

I have cut out all of canes that bore fruit this year (floricanes).
Can I shorten the rather straggly new canes (primocanes) to a manageable
(i.e. tidy) length?
Or should I wait till next spring?
I plan to cut to 120 cms in the spring to encourage side shoots where
flowers/fruit will develop.
Is this a good plan?
If I cut them now will fruit grow on the new growth that will develop above
the cut point?

There is SO much about raspberries - I need some simple rules!
Thanks.

I know what you mean.
Last years I accidentally snipped some raspberries the same way as I did
the blackberries. Whip out all thin and straggly canes, cut the top 1/3 off
each cane left and shortened all side shoots to about 6-9". This year we
had such an enormous crop and vigorous growth I'm going to try it again
with some of the other ones.

I did this in late autumn though, as I have a couple of patches of
autumn/twice fruiting varieties and I can never remember where they are ...
--
Tim C.

Thanks Tim, that's very good info!
I am interested to know what happened to the canes after topping.
They grew up again during this spring/summer ABOVE where you had cut
them I guess?

They grew in length a bit overall, and the trimmed side shoots produced
lots of flowering stubs. So they didn't grow *much* more than the size they
were when I trimmed them. The cut ends produced side shoots which grew
further, but the ends themselves didn't grow much more.
Last year's canes were about 5' tall before trimming. This year's growth is
reaching over 7' already.

Did you get any fruit from this new growth?
Certainly did! :-)
From this patch we had a continuous harvest for about 6 weeks. I wish I
could remember the variety - I'll see if I can find it.

--
Tim C.

Thanks Tim, now I feel I am being pedantic!
I am interested in that new growth above the cut-off main stem.
You got side shoots at the cut - did these produce fruit?
Were there side shoots/fruit in the (small) growth above where the cut
had been made?

PS. I will check tonight, but I do not remember my grown-this-year
canes having many side shoots.
Do yours and if so what is the average length (very approx!)
Thanks
Rob

The message .com
from "Rob" contains these words:

PS. I will check tonight, but I do not remember my grown-this-year
canes having many side shoots.
Do yours and if so what is the average length (very approx!)
Thanks

They won't - until next season.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 11 Aug 2005 04:35:45 -0700, Rob wrote:

Thanks Tim, now I feel I am being pedantic!
I am interested in that new growth above the cut-off main stem.
You got side shoots at the cut - did these produce fruit?
Were there side shoots/fruit in the (small) growth above where the cut
had been made?

PS. I will check tonight, but I do not remember my grown-this-year
canes having many side shoots.
Do yours and if so what is the average length (very approx!)
Thanks
Rob

Oh, I don't know - I'll have to check tonight to be sure.

--
Tim C.

If that is the case then how do you "shortened all side shoots to about
6-9 inches" as Tim did last autumn?
Or was he talking about his blackberries then; for his raspberries he
just cut the stems down by a third?
Right Tim?

The message .com
from "Rob" contains these words:

If that is the case then how do you "shortened all side shoots to about
6-9 inches" as Tim did last autumn?
Or was he talking about his blackberries then; for his raspberries he
just cut the stems down by a third?
Right Tim?

A bit of quoting of the text you're replying to wouldn't go amiss.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Jaques d'Alltrades contains
these words:



A bit of

I ag

Janet

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:16:42 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message .com
from "Rob" contains these words:

If that is the case then how do you "shortened all side shoots to about
6-9 inches" as Tim did last autumn?
Or was he talking about his blackberries then; for his raspberries he
just cut the stems down by a third?
Right Tim?

Sort of, some of the raspberry canes did have some side branches and I
trimmed these as well, thinking they were blackberries.

A bit of quoting of the text you're replying to wouldn't go amiss.

For clarity I'll try and explain what I did.
*Last Autumn* I cut out the spent raspberry canes and tinned them out, as
per usual. I *thought* they were blackberries - as I have blackberries
right next to them in the bed.
So the canes I trimmed off the top 1/3rd, (leaving around 4-5') and the
*few* side branches there were, I cut back to about 5 buds, or less if they
were shorter.

*This year* the canes seem to have grown only a little in length (probably
not at all actually), the side branches also. - no surprises there. What
has happened is that just about every bud on the main and side stems have
produced shoots which are now around 9"-12" long and this new growth is
bearing most of the fruit. Many more shoots than usual.

In the meantime, the totally new growth from the ground - this year's canes
- has grown to at least 6' and a couple are 8' tall already. They are also
much thicker and appear more vigorous than previously. Later I'll trim them
back to around 5-6' and see how next year goes.

The canes have been there about 3 years now and despite my normal efforts
they've only produced so-so yields of mediocre quality fruit. I'm not sure
of the variety but it's definitely a summer-fruiting one.

--
Tim C.

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:51:11 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jaques d'Alltrades contains
these words:

A bit of

I ag

Janet



--
Tim C.

"Tim Challenger" schreef in bericht
news:1123833994.23b36881cea5bf8d70117586b35b30bc@t eranews...
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 18:16:42 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

The message .com
from "Rob" contains these words:

If that is the case then how do you "shortened all side shoots to about
6-9 inches" as Tim did last autumn?
Or was he talking about his blackberries then; for his raspberries he
just cut the stems down by a third?
Right Tim?

Sort of, some of the raspberry canes did have some side branches and I
trimmed these as well, thinking they were blackberries.

A bit of quoting of the text you're replying to wouldn't go amiss.

For clarity I'll try and explain what I did.
*Last Autumn* I cut out the spent raspberry canes and tinned them out, as
per usual. I *thought* they were blackberries - as I have blackberries
right next to them in the bed.
So the canes I trimmed off the top 1/3rd, (leaving around 4-5') and the
*few* side branches there were, I cut back to about 5 buds, or less if
they
were shorter.

*This year* the canes seem to have grown only a little in length (probably
not at all actually), the side branches also. - no surprises there. What
has happened is that just about every bud on the main and side stems have
produced shoots which are now around 9"-12" long and this new growth is
bearing most of the fruit. Many more shoots than usual.

In the meantime, the totally new growth from the ground - this year's
canes
- has grown to at least 6' and a couple are 8' tall already. They are also
much thicker and appear more vigorous than previously. Later I'll trim
them
back to around 5-6' and see how next year goes.

The canes have been there about 3 years now and despite my normal efforts
they've only produced so-so yields of mediocre quality fruit. I'm not sure
of the variety but it's definitely a summer-fruiting one.

--
Tim C.

That really is the full story. Thanks Tim, I guess we can close this thread
down now.

BTW The problem about not quoting in a post was because I was using Google
Groups where posts
are so formatted that quoting is unnecessary - very nice in my view - but
not Netiquette probably.
I suppose " I ag" was some form of in-joke . . .
Sorry if inadvertently I transgressed the rules; at least the thread, for
me, was worth it!