Is it time to rip out out my arctic raspberries?

Hmm…ok scratch that theory.

Any reference to the actual breeding program takes you to 1980. So these have been around for a while. I did find this article-

https://www.apfga.org/nagoonberry-trial/

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If Hartmann his self has already been asked, I do not think I will fair any better with the help desk. But maybe @staalmannen might be more knowledgably about growing conditions.

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What about putting some wild ones among your clones? Also, I think Valentina is ground cover only and not really one grown for fruit.

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Yeah I am trying to grow arctics in Belgium (I am a Swedish expat that tries to bring some of “home” down here), so pretty much south compared to where they normally grow. I had a few fruits last year, but only had Linda and Beata. Now I got 2 more clones (Marika and Tarja) so I hope that will help.

I have recently made an artificial bog in a shaded area where I will grow billberries, cloudberries and R. arcticus. We will see how that will go.

I have been playing with the idea to make a self-fertile hybrid and up until recently I was looking for the raspberry/R.arcticus hybrids to start off with, or to use wineberries. However, after recently finding an article showing that salmonberries are much closer related I think those will be my main strategy going forward. For both R. arcticus and salmonberries are the first generations after crossing with raspberries poorly fertile, so I hope crossing them with each other will be more successful.

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i have salmonberry and thimbleberry i got from the former Rolling River nursery. they grow well but are scant fruiters. not as scant as the arctics though. i get enough to forage off of. thimbles got a nice taste. salmon is fairly bland. i just mix them in with my other raspberries. my dewberry is also from them. they fruit better that the 1st. 2 but not nearly as much as other popular raspberry and blackberry cultivars but the taste is worth growing them. they have half the seeds of my other cane fruit. taste is like a blackberry mixed with a raspberry. i plan to put in more of them. i lay the 20ft. long canes on the ground in winter and tie them onto a trellis come spring. never get cold damage on them. they stay put as well but will root if left touching the ground like other cane fruit.

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i could try that. we actually have 2 types that grow here. one grows like a dewberry rooting as it grows out across the ground. dont remember the name. they too are very scant fruiters but maybe the wild pollen might be the trick here.

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I have the two varieties Logee’s has to offer this year. After reading this thread, I am a bit disheartened, but will try it anyway. All of my cultivated brambles are in their own pots and this will be the first year I could get fruit from any of them.
My first thought was essentially mentioned, and that’s that they might not be fruiting because they can spread so easily underground. No reason to expend the effort on fruits when they have no need to shop for new territory.
My second thought is that they are a small, ground accessible fruit. I’m wondering if something else may just be getting to them faster than they can appear. Mine will be in wine barrels, so I’ll make sure I can put a screen over them the first year.
I haven’t found the cloudberry yet, but that is on my list to try. All three are apparently in high competition among the various foragers. I’m 6B, so at the upper end of the grow zone.

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i dug 4 and put in a 10gal fabric pot last summer. going to see this summer if they fruit that way. i put them in premium soil also. they greened out pretty good. i dont really think its the soil as i have many other berries in ground right near them and they fruit really well and look healthy. ive also got 4 different patches going all over the property of 4 cultivars from 2 different nurseries and they all act the same. even put some in front of my red raspberries to see if they could benefit from their pollen. at least they make a nice groundcover.

Could be they’re in too nutritious soils? Peat soils are wet, acidic and low in nutrients

That picture with dense clusters of fruit looks like they just took unripe clusters of blackberries and set them on top for the photo. If the flowers aren’t produced in dense clusters then there can’t be dense clusters of fruit.

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ive got them in both types from poor to rich. only difference is the richer soil they spread more and flower more.

my native soil is perfect for berries. around 6 ph.

Don’t know much about it may be like thimble berry (a light fruiter)…be nice to find in wild and verify normal production. Some rubus are light fruiters

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Hi! Sorry to barge in. Your post came up when I was googling for arctic bramble cultivars - I just ordered the exact four that you have. If you have a moment, could you please share how your berries are doing or any tips for growing those cultivars? Thank you so much and cheers from Croatia.

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Yes the two extra (Marika, Tarja) made a huge difference. Now all my clones (including my original Linda and Beata) are giving lots of fruit. They are not ripe yet but here are some photos:

Currently trying to cross with salmonberry and wineberry. My hope is to get self-fertile hybrids

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I grow them in peat mixed with wood chips and acidic soil (rhododendron soil).

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im growing anna, sophia, beta, and valentina in the same soil mix and others as well in my yard… they have spread all over my yard and flower but i never get more than a few small crumbly berries. they grow and spread but not much else. tried fertilizing them and not fertilizing them. it only makes them spread more but still no fruit. i put woodchips around them annually. my plants came from 2 nurseries but were developed by the same Swedish breeding program. ill keep them as they make a nice groundcover under my trees and bushes but i wish i could figure out why they wont fruit for me. contacted both nurseries and theyre stumped as well. i even got them growing near my red raspberries hoping the extra pollen would help. i got to be missing something in my soil but ive added compost, woodchips, organic fertilizer and 10-10-10 fertilizer over the last 5 years and still no berries. they are growing in amended peat, clay and in pots with quality potting mixes. i probably should just give up hope of getting a crop and just focus on my other brambles instead.

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I planted one between each of my blackberries last year just to suppress the weeds and maybe get a few fruit. I also planted the extras in a planter bordering my garden filled with 2/3 composted mulch and 1/3 garden soil (great for herbs and strawberries) that I throw some 13-13-13 on during the winter months and so far I have just one plant in that planter that has sent out multiple blooms but nothing else to pollinate it, so I hope it keeps pushing them out to pollinate with my salmonberry or red/black raspberry hybrid nearby…not sure…

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just about everyone ive talked to on here has gotten few fruits from them so i think the advertised results posted by the nurseries by the breeders was b.s. they say 2 lbs of fruit per plant and i cant get 2 berries per plant and im in the goldilocks zone for growing raspberries. the things are weeds here. open a spot in the woods and it immediately becomes a red raspberry patch.

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Thanks for the info! Your plants look so healthy and thriving. I have no idea about the pH of my soil and will have to look into that. I have raspberries taking over the place and some blackberries, redcurrants and gooseberries doing very well (we had no late frosts this year and I’m hoping for a full harvest, finally!) so I hope the arctics like it too… I recently planted two haskap cultivars as well. I’m new at all this but definitely falling in love with all the berries.

Crossing the arctics with salmonberry and wineberry sounds delicious!

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