North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

Why do you cut them short?  I'm afraid it will reduce the fall crop,
which has been my main crop with these "everbearing fall red"
raspberries.  the patch is on top of a hill with good air drainage, and
last year I got raspberries trickling in through Thanksgiving.  (We'd
had a couple of frosts - I was astonished.)  If it won't reduce the fall
crop, I'll cut them back for easier management.

It's easy enough to see which primocanes are stronger (some are as think
as my fingers, and many are skinny little things) but it's at least as
easy to wait until spring.  Which would be better for the plants?  Which
would yield a better crop?

Thanks,
Ginda

eastern Mass, zone 6

"victoria l. caron" wrote:
> 
> Ginda,
> Primocanes are pruned out in the spring when it's easier to see which ones 
> are
> stronger. After they have finished bearing and the floricanes are out of the
> way, I top them off between four to five feet [eye level for me : )]. Some 
> red
> raspberries, even in the wild, will produce on the terminals of the 
> primocanes
> in the fall, but because the season is so short here, I prune them back 
> anyway.
> You should have a long enough season in your part of Massachusetts, as I 
> did in
> Nashua, NH years ago, to leave some for late fall picking if they will do 
> this.
> It's more of a bonus than a crop though.
> vic NH zone 3.
> 
> Ginda Fisher wrote:
> 
> > What time of year do you thin the primocanes?  My red raspberries have
> > taken off this year, and where I used to have a sloppy row of stems
> > about 5 ft high, I now have an impenetrable hedge about 8 ft high.  It's
> > nearly time to prune out the floricanes, and I'm wondering if I should
> > thin the primocanes while I'm at it.
> >
> > Ginda
> > eastern Mass, zone 6
> >
> > "victoria l. caron" wrote:
> > >
> > > Several years ago I rooted two cuttings of red raspberry from a local
> > > wild strain that acquaintances had dug up in a clear cut. The berries
> > > are large (penny to nickel size) and mostly round though it is not
> > > unusual for some at the top of the cane to be longer and somewhat
> > > pointed. Flavor is more tart than some of the named cultivars making
> > > them great for jelly and pies.
> > > The spring after the cuttings were rooted I dug up all the new shoots
> > > (35) and planted them 15" apart in the row. I keep them pruned to 5-7
> > > primocanes per foot and try to keep the spent canes cut out.
> > > I am trying to figure out why some stretches of row are productive,
> > > while others are barren. I think I have taken all the obvious into
> > > consideration.
> > > My theories include:
> > > -I know the soil was too rich at first and this could still be true in
> > > some spots which could be one reason for the lack of productivity. In
> > > the wild, raspberries and blackberries seem to do best in well drained
> > > soils with awesome size where there is an accumulation of bark mulch on
> > > the fringes of logging yards.
> > > -Then there is always virus which shows up in wild varieties, but can a
> > > virus cause a total lack of production?
> > > -I have cane borer and either that or a virus just turns the whole cane
> > > dead in no time. This can be seen throughout the row. I haven't worried
> > > too much about it since I have to prune out so much new growth to keep
> > > within the guidelines for red raspberries anyway.
> > > -Another clue maybe is that the more productive areas in fruit are also
> > > the ones that are sending out many more new canes to the side than other
> > > parts of the row.
> > > Does anyone want to toss this problem around? I'm just trying to decide
> > > if I should dig up the plants I'm wasting my time on.
> > > vic NH zone 3
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
> > > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Small business owners...
Tell us what you think! 
http://promo2.yahoo.com/sbin/Yahoo!_BusinessNewsletter/survey.cgi
http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/VAOolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/