How to Grow and Care for Raspberry Plants

Rubus idaeus

There are two categories of red raspberries (Rubus idaeus), the common raspberry, which ripens in early to midsummer and the so called ever bearing raspberry.

Unlike ever bearing strawberries which produce fruit continuously over the summer, the ever bearing raspberry produces an early-summer crop on the previous season's growth and a fall crop on the current season's growth. Raspberries are valuable in home gardens because of the fruits fragile and perishable nature which prohibits the shipping of fresh berries. Raspberries grow best in climates where the spring is lingering and slow to warm, but may succeed in warmer climates if the are grown in light shade. A row or hill of raspberries will ordinarily produce good crops of fruit for 10 years or more, before they need replacement.

Planting Raspberries

Raspberries grow best in rich,well-drained soil with a pH 6.0 to 6.5. They benefit from supplemental compost and manure. They should NOT be planted in an area where eggplants, peppers, potatoes or tomatoes have been grown within three years, because they are susceptible to verticicillium wilt which is associated with those plants.
New plants should be set in the soil about 2 inches deeper than they were originally growing. They should be planted in late fall or early spring about 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart in rows which are spaced about 7 to 8 feet apart. After planting, cut the canes back to 4 inches, leaving the stubs to mark the rows until new sprouts appear. Newly planted summer bearing raspberries should be left alone for the first year to establish themselves, and then cut back to 3-5 canes per plant when the buds begin to show in the following spring.

Care and cultivation

Raspberry plants should be fed in early spring by scattering all purpose 10-10-10 fertilizer around them at the rate of 1 pound per 10 feet of row. They must not be allowed to dry out during flowering and fruiting. In spring, shorten the canes to 3 feet, forcing the growth into lateral side branches which are trained along support wires.. After they produce fruit, the spent canes are cut back to the ground. With ever bearing varieties the second crop is produced on canes which sprout in the spring, these canes shouldn't be cut back until they produce fruit the following spring. Never cut off the new canes which haven't produced yet, they will produce the next years crop. Raspberries are easily propagated by tip layering (pin the tip of the cane to the ground, where it will root, then once rooted you may sever the new start from the parent plant), or from sucker growths which spring up around the parent plant.

Raspberry varieties

Summer bearing raspberries

Puyallup (Zones 4-8) large berries produced mid summer
Willamette (Zones 5-8) large, dark berries mid season
New Washington (hardy) small but very tasty berries
Latham (Zones 4-8) berries tend to be crumbly and prone toward mildew
Meeker (Zones 4-8) large fruit, pretty plants
Canby (Zones 5-8) very large red berries
Boyne (hardy) one of the earliest producers

Ever bearing raspberries

Heritage (Zones 4-7) bears in June and again in September
Fallred (Zones 4-7) bears in June and again in mid fall
Durham (Zones 4-7) primarily a fall bearer, medium berries
Indian Summer (Zones 4-7) small crops, but huge berries, fall crop tends to be more productive
September (Zones 4-7) small berries produced in June but primarily a fall bearer
Bababerry (Zones 4-7) bears in spring and fall (must have cold winters)