This is a general pruning guide for both floricane and primocane fruiting raspberries. Depending on your zone, growing conditions or personal preference, these variables are subject to change.
Recommended Supplies
hand pruners for summer pruning and shortening lateral branches
loppers for ease with cutting canes at soil level
leather gloves for protection from prickles
jute twine, tomato clips or plastic ribbon for securing pruned canes
Late Winter through Early Spring
With summer bearing (floricane) raspberries, cut damaged, diseased and dead canes which fruited last year down to soil level. Cut short and weak canes down to soil level and thin remaining canes to 3 to 5 per linear foot. For purple and black raspberries only, trim lateral canes 9 to 15 inches from the main cane where it is pencil diameter.
With fall bearing (primocane) raspberries, for a summer and fall harvest prune the canes to just below where the canes fruited last fall. For a fall harvest only, cut all canes down to soil level.
Mid-Summer
For summer bearing purple and black raspberries only, prune canes at 2 to 3 feet tall to stimulate lateral growth to increase fruit yield in the following year.
I disagree with some of the advice. In my own personnel experience letting them have two crops gives the largest yield. Not even close. Summer crops tend to have long lateral all over the place. The summer crop is 2-3 times larger than the fall. So removing it is not going to increase yield. No way does allowing only 1/3 of the cane to fruit out produce allowing the other 2/3 to fruit.
Remember fall crop is only on the upper one third of the cane. If one pruned to create laterals on primocanes to produce more berries you may delay ripening past first frost. This is suggested for the prime ark blackberries. Prune early if you can to give them time.
Iām being picky here but the text is wrong about purples too as we now have primocane fruiting purples. Well I may be the only person in the world with one right now. But I hope to change that.
I have heard some primocane fruiting reds produce a poor summer crop. If this happens maybe one should prune for fall crop only. In my experience most produce a good summer crop. It may not only depend on cultivar but your environment too. If you have super hot summers production could be low for summer crop.
I grow Himbo top and it has an amazingly large summer crop. Two to three times the berries of the fall crop.
You must live in an area with good snow cover and low spring wind pressure. I am in 7a and summer crop is zero because drying winds kill overwintering canes completely.
We have some snow cover. Not this year but canes have survived -12 F temps in past years. Itās too bad as you canāt grow summer bearing types which in general I find to have excellent flavor
Cascade Gold and Taylor are large and have excellent flavor.
Iām in zone 6 Michigan.
Wilt stop and similar products work to stop desiccation but are a lot of work. And weather has to be decent when applying.
When the new primocane fruiting blackberries were first released the powers that be stated to grow both crops.
You should try one year to leave one foot of cane. This keeps the floricane small but it will branch in the spring and produce a summer crop. You could even put a bucket over it.
Would you be able to share a link to a reputable online resource which states that two crops for primocane raspberries provides a greater total yield for the season than a fall crop only? I have been diligently reading material and watching videos on this subject for a few years as a hobbyist and I have often come across the statement that the choice is either two small āeverbearingā crops (summer and fall) or one large crop (fall) for primocane raspberries. The justification I have heard is the plant is saving its potential for one crop instead of two, whether that is actually true or not. I understand your logic about length of the cane for fruiting.
I tried PrimeArk Freedom last year in NW Ohio and did not get the results I expected with growth, like my other varieties. The plant grew very slowly and didnāt reach tipping height until it was late in the season. The Ohio State University says, āPrime-ArkĀ® Freedom and Prime-ArkĀ® 45 can benefit from the protection of high tunnels for full ripening of fruit in central and northern Ohio, where they would not ripen otherwise.ā Source For these reasons, I am hesitant to try any other primocane fruiting blackberry varieties until I hear about a variety that produces well in my area without special care. Primocane raspberries have been much more reliable for me.
What variety of primocane purple raspberries do you grow? I would be interested in learning more about it. The guide was created to be general in nature and itās meant for home gardeners who only have access to new varieties at retail or online. I planned on posting a separate pruning guide for blackberries and blueberries as well.
My raspberries in 22in whiskey barrel containers are partially to fully shaded by a large oak tree for most of each morning. Typically in NW Ohio our summers max out around 95F but a couple years ago we reached close to 100F. So far I havenāt noticed any noticeable impact of summer heat to the raspberries, but I have been growing them for the fall crop only except for floricane black and purple raspberries which did fine. The blackberries in the same size containers and with perhaps a few more hours of sun did not like 90F and above when they flowered last June. The flowers dried up and it wasnāt until that fall that a couple varieties, Osage and Sweetie Pie, gave fruiting a second try and I managed to have a small yield for the season.
Well if you have grown both ways it would be obvious 2 crops are better than one.
Retaining floricanes increased total yields across cultivars by 48% (lower floricane density) or 58% (higher density) compared with removal of all floricanes
I have not named them yet. I found a volunteer in my yard. How cool is that? I happen to breed brambles for fun, and my yard is filled with unusual examples. And Mother Nature, wanted to show me that she can breed better than me. Right in my face! So Itās Niwot x unknown red raspberry. Purples are a cross between red and blackcaps.
Seems the above study outs a giant well repeated myth that cutting down floricanes gives more energy to the primocane crop.
From the studyā¦
āprimocane fruiting was unaffected by floricane density.ā
So growing out floricanes or not growing them out, either way will not affect primocane crop.
Breeding is a hobby within a hobby! I consulted a professional breeder and he sent me all kinds of resources and helped me out a lot, even gave me seed.
Commercial growers often only do one crop because it requires half the labor, maybe even 75% of the labor as pruning is more difficult and takes longer with floricanes. You canāt just mow the whole thing down. This one crop method pretty much breaks the cycle of pests like borers too. So lowers the pesticide costs. Harvest is easier too when all the berries are only on the upper plant.
Also often stated it improves primocane fruit quality, but that was not found to be true in this one study. Itās only one study, but it matches my own experience. I also didnāt find the primocane crop quality to go up. I have grown them both ways.
Even with increased production it might not be enough to warrant the extra costs.
But a lot of us here are backyard growers and this advice does not always apply to us.
My developed raspberries
Lynnās Black raspberry (Primocane)
Sterling Black raspberry (Primocane)
Ireneās Pink (red raspberry species)
Sterling Yellow (red raspberry species)
and developed
Volunteer Purple Primocane
As far as I know, this is the only purple primocane fruiting raspberry so far.
This is a pretty good demonstration of what happens if you prune half of the canes to 4 feet and thin them hard versus just letting them goā¦ I have taken his advice and i prune most of my stuff very hard and sometimes only leave two or three canes per crownā¦this significantly decreases the yield but ups the quality of the berries. This is for floricane fruiting cultivarsā¦and only if u are into higher quality berries vs higher quantity of berries. Not good advice for U-pick or salesā¦ but for backyard fresh eating and some personal storage mostly. YMMV
This is the same row and how he pruned it before the previous video.
Personally i like simple and easy tutorials or when im trying to explain thingsā¦and this is one of my favorite for everbearing raspberries.
As for black raspsā¦ there are two tutorials that i like. Each with different outcomesā¦depending on what works best for you. Trellis vs no trellis and compact vs higher production.
I learn better by watching and then doingā¦ and im always learning as i go.
Everybody learns differently and goals vary too. Do what works for you. I do enjoy growing and breeding raspberries and stone fruit too. I just post my results and hope somebody can find it useful or at least be inspired to do their thing.
Last week I came across an article by Oregon State University which states to do the followingā¦
āFor container plantings, in addition to pruning in winter, thin primocanes during the growing season (Figure 30). Wait until the earliest primocanes are about 2 feet tall. Thin the primocanes to keep from four to five (summer-bearing) or five to eight (everbearing) primocanes per 20- to 30-gallon container; remove primocanes that are thinner or shorter than average and those at the outside edge of the container (Figure 30).ā
This is the first time I read about thinning canes prior to dormancy. I asked for clarification on what advantage this serves besides limiting plant size and received the followingā¦
āThe thinning canes earlier is intended to enable the ones you leave, to develop more robustly. And so the top doesnāt develop beyond what the young root system can support. Itās pretty similar to pruning your fruit trees to a few desired branches.ā
Good info Robert. A lot of growing info advice is geared to commercial crops. Nice to see advice that is directed for home gardens. Itās not always obvious as to which canes will be weak or strong. It eventually becomes obvious though.
So Itās Niwot x unknown red raspberry. Purples are a cross between red and blackcaps.
