Primocane fruiting rasps info for those interested in yields of having a floricane crop also or not. (this is just 3 cultivars tested so ymmv on other cultivars etc)… some may be much better or worse.
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Dinkum if it comes back around is one of the most heat tolerant rasps.
I will say that August Red withstood my brutal summer and drought like a champ. I lost a bunch of red and yellow rasps this year with my torture test. I just dont want to irrigate all summer long here any longer.
I will continue with August Red as it is also one of my most tasty raspberries. Its fairly new to me so i am really surprised it has done as well as it has. Time will tell.
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I agree with total yields for the season in general being greater for primocane varieties if you allow them to fruit on both the primocane and floricane.
One thing I experienced though this year was my Anne raspberries started fruiting the primocane crop later in the season than they had when I had cut down the floricanes to the ground early spring. Double Gold in particular fruited very little and too late on the primocane this fall, which is why I’m thinking about giving it away.
Blackberry and raspberry container winterizing question: I thought I had a plan, but with the first real freeze tonight, I’m feeling lost. Does anyone know how long it takes to freeze a root ball of various sizes? I have some small blackberries in 1g containers. They are not dormant. Can they handle 8 hours below freezing? I have raspberries in 7-10g containers I was planning to leave out/exposed for these few hour freezes. They are also not dormant yet. Thoughts? Do I need to move everything into garage for the nights below freezing? Unfortunately, my unheated garage is very well insulated and temp has been over 65 despite nights in the 30’s or 40’s.
Root-freezing will depend mostly on how root-bound the plant is, regardless of pot size. If the actively growing roots are pressing against the inside of the pot, those will freeze readily.
That’s helpful. None of these are root bound. The blackberries were plugs in September that I up potted to 1g to have more insulation. I wonder if they can handle 8 hours in the 20’s? I know once daily temps are also near or below freezing, they need to be in the garage, but would love to leave them out if not high likelihood of killing them.
…keeping the pots clustered together and close to an outside wall may buy you a few degrees and hours for minor freezes.
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Cascade Legacy coming soon…
I think its mainly thornless except for the lower portions of the canes…
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I’d bring the little ones in. I’m not too far from you and the weather report keeps adding longer time at lower temps… My weather is now saying 4-5 hours at 22F and 12+hours below freezing. I was walking around in short sleeves yesterday!
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Thanks! Moved all the small containers in. Risking the bigger ones outside for these two colder nights.
If the canes in pots are not mature and wont support fruit in the following year then there is no real sense in ‘protecting’ them.
If at some point they do go dormant and they are then ‘protected’ and break dormancy then that is a whole nother situation.
At this time of the year… there are tip roots that are accidents, or some folks have them stuck in pots… those need no protection.
You can take root cuttings now and plant them… those roots need no protection other than a few inches of dirt etc.
You can plant just about anything now… as the soil is much warmer than the air temp…and will stay warm for a long while.
Its November 11 here and 20F with 2-3 inches of snow on the ground… this weekend it will be 70F.
Long story short roots and canes need to go dormant and stay dormant. On some if not many occasions the warmer soil will allow more root growth during dormancy… which is why some folks plant in the Fall. Plants in soil or heeled in will break dormancy and send up new canes when the time is right with nearly frost proof emergence.
Once canes and roots harden off and go dormant… they are ‘protected’ by their own mechanisms.
You could cover these plants with a foot of snow and they would spring to life once they break dormancy… however it would be best if they were planted first…
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Thank you for all the information. These little plants will be staying container life, though I plan on putting them in 20 gallons partially buried in the ground next next year. As you said, I know they need to stay dormant once they go and that’s my main concern. I think they’ll get moved to a family garage that is colder than mine.
I have a few garlic ‘beds’ that i think i am going to convert into either rasp or blackberries. Pretty simple trellis with 4 t-posts… a couple of wires and some baling string is all that is really needed for mine. I like this idea.
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I use this four post set up too. Works well for me. Although in your case I might leave the garlic there. I like having tons of garlic!! I make garlic powder once they start getting old. I don’t use it that often but do make a few dishes using garlic powder instead of garlic cloves. My hard necks are getting old , I made powder with them and now using my soft necks till next harvest in June.
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Do you put the wires on both sides of the plant like a Florida weave, or do you just but it on the outside so they don’t fall out of the bed?
I have a trade going on with one of my neighbors… I got them started on garlic from my cloves and they make me about 2 quarts of powder in trade for blackberry picking.
I am hooked on the powder… its 5X strong as the grocery store ‘powder’… and tend want to use it over the cloves just about every time now.
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i do something like this with mine, using tomato cages that are modular. Basically let them get to the point theyre heavy with fruit and start drooping, then put the cage around them to lift it up. the htought is this keeps the air flow, everything getting max sun until i have to stake them. I just wear rose gloves so i dont get poked while doing it
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No weaving… the wires are there on top for tying if needed…and the strings on the side are just for training if needed and to provide boundary.
East coasters dont seem to favor the baling twine whereas the west coasters seem to more.
I am 5 years on some baling twine as lower ‘wires’ some would say that they harbor disease etc but i havent seen any. Super easy to get taut and move and change things up vs real wire also.
I did some rasps last year with twine as a top wire and it works great as well… the blackberries get too heavy though.
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I got my idea from this page awhile back… not a bad video either.
I dont do commericial growing just mostly dessert and making jams etc… so i dont need the big full rows of 10000 canes myself.
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Newcomers-to-caneberries alert: do not stack your harvest deeply into woven baskets like the pretty image above! (unless they are going straight to jam and the basket is disposable).
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