Common Name: Raspberry* Sunset Zones: A1-A3, 1-24; Best in 3-6, 15-17 Full Sun Regular Water For ornamental species, see Rubus; the plants described here are grown for their luscious fruit. Red and yellow raspberries are derived from Rubus idaeus, native to North America, Europe, Asia. Black raspberries and purple  Raspberries grow from perennial roots that produce thorny biennial stems called canes. Generally, raspberry canes grow to full size in the first year, then bear fruit in their second summer. Red and yellow varieties known as everbearing (or fall-bearing) produce two crops on the same canes—one in fall of the first year, the second in summer of the next year. In all instances, the canes die after fruiting in the second year. For raspberry fruit to reach perfection, plants need winter chill and a lingering springtime with slowly warming temperatures. In warmer zones outside best raspberry climates, satisfactory production may come from plants grown in light shade, mulched heavily to keep soil cool. Good drainage is essential; if you garden in heavy clay, consider planting in raised beds. Rich, slightly acid soil (pH 6 to 6. 5) is ideal. Avoid planting where you have previously grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplants, which may have tainted the soil with verticillium wilt. Plant bare-root stock during the dormant season. Set red and yellow raspberries 2 1/2—3 ft. apart, in rows spaced 6—10 ft. apart. Cut back the cane that rises from the root, leaving only enough (about 6 in. ) to serve as a marker. Mulch plantings to discourage weeds and keep soil moist. Water need is greatest during flowering and fruiting. Feed at bloom time. Red and yellow raspberries are produced on erect plants with long, straight canes; they can be grown as freestanding shrubs and staked, but they are tidier and easier to manage if trained on a trellis or confined to a hedgerow (pairs of parallel wires strung at 3 ft. and 5 ft. above ground along either side of a row of plants). Summer-bearing varieties should produce three to five canes in first year. Tie these to a trellis or confine to a hedgerow. Dig or pull out any canes that grow more than 1 ft. away from trellis or outside hedgerow. In late dormant season, cut canes on trellis to 5—5 1/2 ft. high, those in hedgerow to 4 ft. When growth recommences, new canes will appear all around parent plant and between rows. After the original canes bear fruit, cut them to ground. Then select the best 5—12 new canes and train these (they will bear next summer); cut remaining new canes to ground. Everbearing red and yellow varieties fruit in first autumn on top third of cane, then again in second summer on lower two-thirds of cane. Cut off upper portion of cane after first harvest; cut out cane entirely after second harvest. As an alternative, you can follow the example of growers who cut everbearing canes to the ground yearly in fall after fruiting has finished (wait until late dormant season in cold-winter regions). You—ll sacrifice one of the annual crops but get an extended harvest from late summer into fall. Use a power mower in a large berry patch. To control anthracnose and other fungal diseases on all raspberries, spray with lime sulfur during dormancy and again as leaf buds begin to open; this also helps control many insect pests, including spider mites and cane borer. If borers attack, prune out and destroy damaged canes below entry points (pinhead-size holes at or near ground level). A caution to gardeners in Hawaii: the very vigorous R. niveus, called Mysore raspberry (ripe fruit is black, but plant is grown like red raspberry), is sometimes grown in Island gardens; however, it can become a troublesome weed, choking out native vegetation. Red and yellow varieties. Red varieties are the most common; yellow types are mutations of red raspberries. *The information above is provided by the Sunset Western Garden Book (Eight edition, published in 2007). See page 579 for additional information on raspberries. Picture by Cesar Lopez. Additional information: |
Raspberry |