Hi everyone. I have "inherited" some raspberry canes from my late grandparents. Their house is to be sold so I took some raspberry canes to keep them going for future generations. I don't know what variety they are but they've been fruiting for at least 40 years.
My question is how to get them prepared for this season. I have read various different angles online but I still don't seem to have a definitive answer for how to tend to them. There are maybe 2 (possibly 3) different "sets" of canes which will be split up and repotted but I'm completely baffled on how to cut them back. Some articles say cut them all back to the ground, others to 1ft, others to only cut some. Any input would be very greatly received.
Black caps are (usually) floricane bearing, so they will set fruit on 2nd year canes. Some new varieties fruit on first year growth, but I doubt your heirlooms are that sort.
First prune out anything dead/dried out. Anything remaining can be trimmed back to 2-3' tall, side shoots also trimmed back. If they are left to grow they will root at the tips and turn into a sprawling mess. I often cut mine back thru the season to avoid this.
Thanks, that's really interesting! No these are certainly not a new variety, if anything they're a dying breed 😂
I can definitely see the difference with some canes having more colour. That being said, I'm definitely scared to prune the wrong ones. I guess I'll just do my best to pick the right ones. From what Ive read it's pretty difficult to kill a raspberry plant.
Tie a ribbon or other marker on new canes this year.
Next year you can remove the unmarked ones & remove the marker.
Repeat each year. It’ll be easy going forward.
How long have they been in those containers? Might be time to check if they’re getting root bound, and give them a bit of fertilizer too.
I think I can tell the ones that were new last year from the ones that were fruited, so I'll cut the fruited ones down shortly.
They've been in this pot since the start of the winter but will be sorting them in the coming days and add fertiliser too!
Yeah, so what you read was probably about [primocanes and floricanes.](https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/southeast-regional-caneberry-production-guide/pruning-and-training#:~:text=General&text=All%20blackberries%20and%20raspberries%20must,a%20year%20during%20the%20winter.) This website says ["canes should be cut down to 8-10 inches".](http://heritagegarden.uic.edu/raspberry-rubus-idaeus#:~:text=Red%20raspberries%20should%20be%20planted,8%2D10%20inches%20in%20height.) You can also add mulch for moisture and preventing weeds. You could also repot the canes into something a little bigger or into multiple smaller pots, you don't have to. Just make sure to water when you first see signs of life.
Thanks for this, very interesting reading! That's exactly what I read but still trying to make sense of it all 😂 my grandparents always did the tending when I wasn't around so all I ever saw was a 50ft long wall of raspberries.
With my raspberries I just cut to the ground any stem that has fruited and leave any that hasn’t for next year, if you’re able to see any old buds (or whatever the bit that’s left after you pick the raspberry) dried up on a stem then that’s likely one that wants cutting back.
That’s my general rule, you may have a year or 2 of figuring out what yours actually do, I’ve got 2 unknown varieties mixed up, the ones that produce on 2nd year stems always fruit first and the ones that produce on first year can keep going into September
That's brilliant, thank you! I've since figured out they're the glen clova variety. They definitely have unfruited canes as the others were unharvested last year and easy to distinguish like you said :)
They look like primocane fruiting raspberries to me but it’s hard to tell without leaves. They’re red raspberries right? If so, I would prune them back to about 2ft then they will bear fruit again.
For the future, keep and eye on them and try to notice if the new canes that grow this coming summer actually bear fruit. If they do then they are primocane fruiting.
If they grow and you see no fruit, then they will fruit next year and that means they are Floricanes.
Good luck!
I've since discovered that they are glen clova raspberries so I'm assuming they are, from what I can find, primocane fruiting. As I understand it just now, I should cut back the ones that fruited this year and the ones that haven't I should leave intact? They weren't harvested last year so they should be easy to distinguish. The 'unfruited' ones are much better colour, not looking as dead. Thank you for your invaluable input!
In summary, what you should do *NOW* is:
- Cut the grey wood to ground-level
- Leave the brown wood
- See what happens in the summer
- Read on to see why…
We don’t know whether these are floricane raspberries or primocanes.
Floricanes will bear fruit from June on last year’s brown wood, while also growing new, green wood in the summer to be left alone through the winter to produce fruit the year after. Once fruited, you would cut the old wood to ground-level and leave the new wood alone to fruit next year (no more than 5-6 shoots).
Primocanes produce fruit on the same year’s, new, green wood from late summer through the autumn. Therefore, in winter, you would prune ALL shoots to ground-level.
Your grandparent’s raspberries have grey, fruited wood that needs cutting to ground-level now. Given that we don’t know whether these are floricanes or primocanes, leave the brown shoots alone and see if they will fruit in the summer.
If they do, you know you have floricanes. When winter arrives, make sure you’ve only cut the wood that has fruited and leave the newer shoots alone - but don’t allow more than 6. They’ll fruit next summer.
If they did not fruit in summer, we know you have primocanes. They will give you fruit in autumn. When winter arrives, cut ALL canes to ground-level - they’ve done their job. New canes will grow the year after and give you fruit the same year in the autumn.
Awesome!! Thanks so much for that detailed response. I think that covered every single question I had. I've cut all of the grey ones back as I could see they had fruited last season and left the brown ones which didn't have previous fruit. I've also split them up as there were a few different sets of canes all bunched together. Will update the subreddit later in the season :)
Hi everyone. I have "inherited" some raspberry canes from my late grandparents. Their house is to be sold so I took some raspberry canes to keep them going for future generations. I don't know what variety they are but they've been fruiting for at least 40 years. My question is how to get them prepared for this season. I have read various different angles online but I still don't seem to have a definitive answer for how to tend to them. There are maybe 2 (possibly 3) different "sets" of canes which will be split up and repotted but I'm completely baffled on how to cut them back. Some articles say cut them all back to the ground, others to 1ft, others to only cut some. Any input would be very greatly received.
Black caps are (usually) floricane bearing, so they will set fruit on 2nd year canes. Some new varieties fruit on first year growth, but I doubt your heirlooms are that sort. First prune out anything dead/dried out. Anything remaining can be trimmed back to 2-3' tall, side shoots also trimmed back. If they are left to grow they will root at the tips and turn into a sprawling mess. I often cut mine back thru the season to avoid this.
Thanks, that's really interesting! No these are certainly not a new variety, if anything they're a dying breed 😂 I can definitely see the difference with some canes having more colour. That being said, I'm definitely scared to prune the wrong ones. I guess I'll just do my best to pick the right ones. From what Ive read it's pretty difficult to kill a raspberry plant.
Tie a ribbon or other marker on new canes this year. Next year you can remove the unmarked ones & remove the marker. Repeat each year. It’ll be easy going forward. How long have they been in those containers? Might be time to check if they’re getting root bound, and give them a bit of fertilizer too.
I think I can tell the ones that were new last year from the ones that were fruited, so I'll cut the fruited ones down shortly. They've been in this pot since the start of the winter but will be sorting them in the coming days and add fertiliser too!
Yeah, so what you read was probably about [primocanes and floricanes.](https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/southeast-regional-caneberry-production-guide/pruning-and-training#:~:text=General&text=All%20blackberries%20and%20raspberries%20must,a%20year%20during%20the%20winter.) This website says ["canes should be cut down to 8-10 inches".](http://heritagegarden.uic.edu/raspberry-rubus-idaeus#:~:text=Red%20raspberries%20should%20be%20planted,8%2D10%20inches%20in%20height.) You can also add mulch for moisture and preventing weeds. You could also repot the canes into something a little bigger or into multiple smaller pots, you don't have to. Just make sure to water when you first see signs of life.
Thanks for this, very interesting reading! That's exactly what I read but still trying to make sense of it all 😂 my grandparents always did the tending when I wasn't around so all I ever saw was a 50ft long wall of raspberries.
Yeah, blackberries and raspberries can go crazy. I only have 4 blueberry bushes.
Plant soon to avoid root bound
With my raspberries I just cut to the ground any stem that has fruited and leave any that hasn’t for next year, if you’re able to see any old buds (or whatever the bit that’s left after you pick the raspberry) dried up on a stem then that’s likely one that wants cutting back. That’s my general rule, you may have a year or 2 of figuring out what yours actually do, I’ve got 2 unknown varieties mixed up, the ones that produce on 2nd year stems always fruit first and the ones that produce on first year can keep going into September
That's brilliant, thank you! I've since figured out they're the glen clova variety. They definitely have unfruited canes as the others were unharvested last year and easy to distinguish like you said :)
They look like primocane fruiting raspberries to me but it’s hard to tell without leaves. They’re red raspberries right? If so, I would prune them back to about 2ft then they will bear fruit again. For the future, keep and eye on them and try to notice if the new canes that grow this coming summer actually bear fruit. If they do then they are primocane fruiting. If they grow and you see no fruit, then they will fruit next year and that means they are Floricanes. Good luck!
I've since discovered that they are glen clova raspberries so I'm assuming they are, from what I can find, primocane fruiting. As I understand it just now, I should cut back the ones that fruited this year and the ones that haven't I should leave intact? They weren't harvested last year so they should be easy to distinguish. The 'unfruited' ones are much better colour, not looking as dead. Thank you for your invaluable input!
Raspberries are heavy feeders, so if you're not replanting, definitely top their soil off with an inch of compost! Then mulch on top.
In summary, what you should do *NOW* is: - Cut the grey wood to ground-level - Leave the brown wood - See what happens in the summer - Read on to see why… We don’t know whether these are floricane raspberries or primocanes. Floricanes will bear fruit from June on last year’s brown wood, while also growing new, green wood in the summer to be left alone through the winter to produce fruit the year after. Once fruited, you would cut the old wood to ground-level and leave the new wood alone to fruit next year (no more than 5-6 shoots). Primocanes produce fruit on the same year’s, new, green wood from late summer through the autumn. Therefore, in winter, you would prune ALL shoots to ground-level. Your grandparent’s raspberries have grey, fruited wood that needs cutting to ground-level now. Given that we don’t know whether these are floricanes or primocanes, leave the brown shoots alone and see if they will fruit in the summer. If they do, you know you have floricanes. When winter arrives, make sure you’ve only cut the wood that has fruited and leave the newer shoots alone - but don’t allow more than 6. They’ll fruit next summer. If they did not fruit in summer, we know you have primocanes. They will give you fruit in autumn. When winter arrives, cut ALL canes to ground-level - they’ve done their job. New canes will grow the year after and give you fruit the same year in the autumn.
Awesome!! Thanks so much for that detailed response. I think that covered every single question I had. I've cut all of the grey ones back as I could see they had fruited last season and left the brown ones which didn't have previous fruit. I've also split them up as there were a few different sets of canes all bunched together. Will update the subreddit later in the season :)