Raspberry Canes

A wide variety of Raspberry canes or plants are available to buy online or by post from mail order soft fruit nurseries. Autumn is the best time to buy raspberry plants for immediate planting. Some Raspberries are summer bearing (floricane) and some are Autumn Bearing (Primocane).

Planting Raspberry Canes

A little fussy about soil, raspberries require a humus rich deep soil, moist but well drained. The plants theme selves are long lived producing fruit for 7- 8 years before production begins to fall off. Replace them after 8 years.

The best time to plant them is is winter to early spring while they are dormant, and as the canes are sold as bare rooted plants this works well.

Spacing

Give yourself some room between rows, around 2m, as these plants do grow out as well us up. Between plants around 30cm.

A trellis or wires.

Raspberries do need some support so before planting erect your supports and wires.

You will have received your plants as bare rooted canes, plant at the right level, spreading the roots out well in good lose friable soil.

Water in with a liquid seaweed fertilise and apply some mulch to keep weeds under control and the root run cool and moist.

Care of Raspberry Plants

Weed regularly
Fertilise with a good slow release fertiliser and a liquid seaweed tonic, vermicaste tea is also great.
You may need to net to keep the birds away. We need to net to keep our daughters from picking them before us, however they simply lifted the net and worked from underneath.

Pruning Raspberry Plants

Prune back the old canes to the ground at the end of summer (summer fruiting types) Autumn fruiting types are usually cut to the ground in spring. Canes should be burnt or disposed of properly, not left on the ground.

Raspberry Varieties

Autumn Bearing Raspberry canes (Primocane) include varieties such as Isabel, Pacifica and Ambosia. Primocane raspberries are cut to the ground in spring.
Summer bearing Raspberry Canes (floricane) are usually trained along wires with old canes cut out and new ca nes tip pruned. Floricane varieties include, Glen Ample, Glen Fyne, Glen Moy, Octavia, Tulameen and the clump forming Glen Coe.

Raspberry Plants are available for sale from the following suppliers