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  • From: Richard Moyer <ramoyer AT gmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pruning primocane fruiting raspberries
  • Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2011 13:23:10 -0400

Ben,
Good questions.  Please find below two links with raspberry info.  The first is the most complete (and therefore lengthy) in its treatment of raspberry pruning.
http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/pdfs/rasppruning.pdf
http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/brambleproduction.html
My experience is with small fruit researchers in the East and NW, so can't recommend anyone in your area.  But if you ask the small fruit specialists at Cornell, Ohio State, Penn State, NCSU or Oregon State, they should be able to point you to the nearest small fruit research station in your area.  There has been extensive research in high tunnel raspberry production at Penn State and also Cornell, but you may need advice of determining which of those research results apply to field-grown plants in Iowa. 

There probably have been trials in your region, comparing pruning heights with no pruning.  I presume the considerations in the Cornell links above will apply to you, regarding considerations to minimize winter injury.

Here in the upper south, I cut back primocane-bearing raspberries primarily for management reasons.  Ones that touch the ground with ripening fruit have greater losses, due to predators and disease, and they are more easily overlooked during picking.

There is not enough red raspberries at our market to meet demand, and I gather this is the case at many other markets.

Richard Moyer
SW VA
Out to pick crabapples, for crabapple-applesauce.


  1. Pruning Primocane Fruiting Raspberries (grizzdover AT gmail.com)
  2. Re: Pruning Primocane Fruiting Raspberries (Richard Robinson)


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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2011 16:42:45 -0500
From: grizzdover AT gmail.com
Subject: [Market-farming] Pruning Primocane Fruiting Raspberries
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
       <CAADuqi1Ohyp7cstYDBWJTqCwY6m6o871EnWvwyUyg17U9pYQPA AT mail.gmail.com">CAADuqi1Ohyp7cstYDBWJTqCwY6m6o871EnWvwyUyg17U9pYQPA AT mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hello All,

This season I experienced quite a bit of deer nibbling on my 'Autumn
Brittney' raspberry planting early in the season.  I noticed that the deer
eaten ones produced mulitple "top" shoots with each one flowering and
producing fruit.  Has anyone "intentionally" pruned primocane type
raspberries for a greater harvest?  If so, what has been your experience?
The fruit on the "pruned" ones this season produced very similar to ones not
eaten and my "scientific" observations while harvesting were that the
berries were similar in size/quantity between the plant with multiple "tops"
and the single top ones.  They also seemed to produce just as many producing
"lateral" producing branches as the un-"pruned" ones.  I can't seem to find
any info on" pruning" primocane fruiting raspberries (besides mowing off to
the ground after fruiting) so any sources of info would also be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ben Saunders
Turtle Farm Certifed Organic Fruits, Veggies and Herbs
Granger, Iowa
www.turtle-farm.com



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