What You Should Know About Raspberry Plants
Summer-bearing raspberries and fall-bearing raspberries are two types of raspberries that differ in their fruiting habits and growth patterns. Here’s some information about each:
Summer-bearing raspberries:
Fruit production: Summer-bearing raspberries, as the name suggests, produce fruit during the summer season. They typically bear fruit on the second-year canes (also called floricanes) that grow during the previous year.
Harvest time: The harvest period for summer-bearing raspberries usually starts in early to mid-summer, depending on the variety and climate. The fruiting season typically lasts for several weeks.
Growth habit: After summer harvest, the second-year canes that produced fruit start to decline and should be pruned down to the ground. New primocanes (first-year canes) then grow during the summer and fall.
Pruning: To maintain healthy growth and encourage fruiting, it’s important to prune summer-bearing raspberries properly. Remove the old canes that have fruited, leaving the new primocanes for the next season’s fruiting.
*IMPORTANT FOR NEW PLANTS* Your new small raspberry plants may look like they died if you only had a cane up that was fruiting the last season. Wait for a bit into spring to see if new canes pop out of the soil before digging them up.
Fall-bearing raspberries (also known as everbearing or autumn-bearing raspberries):
Fruit production: Fall-bearing raspberries have a different fruiting habit. They produce fruit on both the primocanes of the current year and the floricanes of the previous year. This means they can produce two crops in a year.
Harvest time: The first crop of fall-bearing raspberries typically starts ripening in late summer or early fall, like the summer-bearing raspberries. However, the primocanes continue to produce fruit until the first frost, allowing for a second crop in the late fall.
Growth habit: Fall-bearing raspberries grow primocanes throughout the summer and fall, and these canes carry the first and second crops. After the second crop is harvested or frost occurs, the entire plant is pruned to the ground in late winter or early spring.
Pruning: Since fall-bearing raspberries bear fruit on both primocanes and floricanes, the pruning process is slightly different. In late winter or early spring, remove all canes that have fruited the previous year, leaving the new primocanes for the upcoming season’s fruiting. This promotes better airflow and prevents diseases.
Both summer-bearing and fall-bearing raspberries require well-drained soil, full sun exposure, regular watering, and adequate spacing for optimal growth. They are generally easy to grow and can provide a delicious harvest of sweet and tangy berries. The choice between the two types depends on your preference for a single abundant harvest (summer-bearing) or two smaller crops (fall-bearing) throughout the growing season.