Raspberries
Blackcap Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis)
- Fall Gold - Large, conical, non-crumbling, very sweet, somewhat soft, golden berries. Excellent for processing and fresh eating. Canes are vigorous, productive, and adaptable to a wide variety of soils. Not recommended for extreme northern areas. First crop ripens in July. Second crop from late August until frost. (Zone 4-8. Hardy to -25 degrees F; everbearing variety)
- Munger - (Black Rasbery) Developed in Ohio, Munger is a midseason bearer. Large, plump yet firm, shiny black berries that are not seedy. Munger has a delicious, sweet flavor that is excellent for jam, jellies, and preserves. Only satisfactory for freezing. Munger has stout canes that appear to be more resistant to Fungal Diseases that other raspberry varieties. Munger is the leading variety in the Pacific Northwest, Commercially and in home gardens. Very hardy. (Zone 5-8)
Spring Crop Varieties
- Meeker - Developed at Washington State University. Large, thimble shaped, dark red fruit with high sugar content and good quality flavor. Good home garden variety for eating fresh, freezing, canning, and processing. Meeker is not particularly adapt to heavy soils but is a vigorous plant with long willowy growth. Very productive with long harvest season. Ripens midseason. Meeker has some resistance to Botrytis Rot. (Zone 5-8)
- Latham - The standard for springbearing, red raspberries; extremely popular and widely grown. Large to very large, round, often 1", deep red fruits. Wonderful texture; somewhat noncohesive. Full flavored and aromatic. Good for fresh eating, canning, freezing, jam, juice and pie. Strong, vigorous, heavily productive, upright, 4-5' plants; widely adapted. Disease resistant; mosaic free. Ripens evenly for three weeks in late June and early July. Exceptionally hardy; (Zone 3-8)
- Canby - Developed in Oregon and introduced in 1953. Thornless Red Raspberry. Large good flavored, firm, juicy, bright red berry with fine quality. This delicious flavored berry is one of the best in the Northwest for freezing, canning, cooking and fresh eating. The canes are vigorous and productive. Heavy bearer. Canby does show a high level of virus resistance and aphid immunity. Sensitive to Root Rot so good soil drainage is required. Not adapted to heavy soils. Grows best in areas with cooler summers. Excellent winter hardiness in Zones 4-7.
Planting Tips:
Blackcap Raspberries (Rubus occidentalis)
- Cultural Requirements:
- Blackcaps prefer a loose textured, well drained soil. The limiting factor is, as with red raspberries, a high water table for long periods of time, especially during the winter months. Keeping this in mind, blackcaps thrive on most soil types. The blackcap raspberries grown commercially are native to the eastern and central states, making the blackcap cold hardy in most areas of the U.S.A.
- Fertility:
- Blackcaps prefer a naturally fertile soil. Soils high in organic matter always fall into this class. If commercial fertilizers are used, one should apply a well balanced blend, such as 5-10-5, in early spring. One half cup per plant is usually ample. The plants should be watered moderately during the growing season.
- Planting Instructions:
- One year old tip plants should be planted in March or April. Two year old transplants may be planted earlier, one inch deeper than the plant grew in the nursery. Any white sprouts arising from the crown should be covered with soil to prevent burning by the sun. The older stems or tops on transplants may be cut back several inches. Blackcaps should be spaced 3-4 feet in the row and 6-8 feet between rows.
- Pruning and Training:
- When one year old canes arising in the spring reach a height of 18-24 inches, they should be pinched off back 3 or 4 inches. This practice forces out strong fruiting laterals for next year's berry crop. No more attention is paid to the canes after pinching until time for pruning in late winter. During winter, the old two year old wood that fruited the previous summer is removed, and the laterals or branches that arose after summer pinching of the one year old canes may be shortened to about 12 inches. Of course, any weak canes may also be removed at this time. The properly pruned plant has a globe shape, Hedge appearance with the fruit occurring on the outside surface of the bush. Staking may be beneficial for the first crop of a new planting, but is not needed after that.
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Spring Crops
Cultural Requirements: For new raspberry plantings a raised bed 8 to 10 inches high and 18 to 36 inches wide should be formed and the new raspberry starts planted into it 1 inch deeper than they grew in the nursery. One idea is to use the cement bed borders that form a circle and using a "Rose Column" for support. These can be placed artfully into your landscape creating a small Island of raspberries. Though they do not prevent the root suckering, they do tend to limit the raspberries "wandering." Raspberry roots tend to travel parallel to the ground and will rarely dive under objects. This means that only the raspberry roots below the cement ring will root sucker. This form of landscaping also allows you 360 degree access to your raspberry plant at the time of harvest.
Planting Instructions: When planting your raspberry bed, it is best to plan your rows to run in a north to south direction. This insures that one row will not shade out the other. This of course is not mandatory. Spacing of your raspberries is recommend at 18 inches between the plants and 5 to 6 feet between the rows. Make certain that you dig your planting hole large enough to avoid wading the roots. Be sure any white sprouts growing from the crown of the new plants are covered at least 1 ½ inch deep. Prune back the old cane 1 to 2 inches above the soil line. (Note: All new growth will come from the primary buds on the crown. Not the old cane.) Do NOT water your raspberries in at this time. There is enough soil moisture to bring the plants out of dormancy. Water only when you see new growth breaking the ground. This will help prevent root rot in that a dormant plant is not transpiring water until the buds break.
Existing raspberries in the garden will benefit from being "hilled up" by adding a depth of good quality well drained soil, or even quality potting soil, on top of the row to a depth of not more than 8 inches. This should be done in late February an into March before the new spring growth emerges from the crowns. The new growth will force through the topsoil and root into it. Cane growth is stimulated and possible root rot is minimized. Raspberries are susceptible to root rot. This is their weakness and good soil tilth is the best way to prevent root rot. Just pile the soil on top of the row and AVOID watering it in.
Researches have recently discovered that Gypsum Lime at a rate of 6 tons to the acre helps prevent root rot in raspberry plantings. The Calcium ion interferes with root rot development and Gypsum lime does not change the pH of the soil. In the garden this amounts to 4 ½ ounces of Gypsum Lime per square foot of garden. We suggest working the Gypsum into the soil that will form your raised bed. Once this has been done, plant your raspberries and don’t fertilize until the plants actually begin growing. Raspberries only need 2 ounces of Nitrogen per 10 square feet of row. This amounts to only 22 ounces of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 10 square feet. Apply 11 ounces after the plants start growing and another 11 ounces 4 to six weeks later. This is all raspberries and blackberries need to grow their best!Pruning and Training: Often only the shoots of suckers that start close to the original plant are allowed to grow, thus the canes are kept grouped together in the so-called hill. However, the home gardener may wish to let the hills grow together, thereby conserving space in the garden. Unwanted suckers arising too far from the mother plant may be grubbed out as they appear. After the first year when the raspberries are dormant, thin out the weaker or damaged canes leaving yourself 4 to 6 strong canes per hill.
One-crop or spring crop raspberries fruit on two year old wood. After harvest, the two year old fruiting wood begins to die and can be removed. The remaining one year old canes for the next summers crop can be cut back to head height.
Two-crop or everbearing raspberries, as they are known in the trade, are handled much the same except that they fruit in the fall on one year old canes. The fruit will appear on the top foot or so of the cane, and it is a common practice to remove the portion of the cane that fruited after harvest, leaving the rest of the cane to produce next summer’s crop. The everbearing raspberry thus produces a summer crop on two year old wood and a fall crop on one year old wood. As with the one-crop raspberries, the two year old canes die and are removed after the harvest or during the following winter.
Red raspberries can be supported either with tall stakes or ideally with a two wire trellis. The wires of the trellis are usually placed about one foot below the height at which the canes have been pruned. The wires are placed on each side of the post with large staples or nails. Sometimes cross pieces are nailed to the posts so that the two wires are 12 to 15 inches apart. A second set of wires may sometimes be placed a few feet below the top wires. The canes can be tied to the top set of wires. Certain varieties may need no support at all! The everbearing raspberries fall into this category.
Information Source: Weeks Berry Nursery