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Who knows how to trim raspberry plants?

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DrBob

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My raspberry plants need trimming this spring. can I just cut them all off now? It is early spring here in wisconsin. I heard that was a good idea but I also heard I should just trim out the old shoots.
 
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istanbulin

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Which type of raspberry you have (red, black, everblooming etc.) ? How old are they ?

I think you intended to trim them for rejuvenescence. Different types requires different trimming patterns. Raspberries are generally trimmed in February or March here but if it's early spring in WI this is the right time for you.
 

Jitterbugdude

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They are easy to do. Go out and look at them real close. You should see really brown canes and canes that are "brownish-greenish". The really brown canes are the canes that fruited last year, they will not fruit anymore so cut them off at the ground. The "brownish-greenish" canes were last year's new growth. These are the ones that will fruit this year. If they are really tall you can cut them down to your liking but you will lower your berry yield.
 

DrBob

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They are easy to do. Go out and look at them real close. You should see really brown canes and canes that are "brownish-greenish". The really brown canes are the canes that fruited last year, they will not fruit anymore so cut them off at the ground. The "brownish-greenish" canes were last year's new growth. These are the ones that will fruit this year. If they are really tall you can cut them down to your liking but you will lower your berry yield.

sounds easy enough!The plants were set about 5 years ago and now I better trim them.
 

deluxestogie

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You really should find out the variety of raspberry. Many raspberries produce a crop which forms only on the 1 year-old canes. If you cut these to the ground each year, you will never have fruit. Ever-bearing raspberry varieties (e.g. Heritage, Fall Gold) produce a crop in late-summer at the tips of new canes, then form an early-summer crop along the length of those same canes the following summer.

If you know you have an ever-bearing variety, mowing them in late fall will still leave you with the crop that forms on the new growth at the end of the following summer. This method (just for ever-bearing), while reducing your crop, minimizes the pests that can overwinter on the canes. For non-ever-bearing raspberries, only the method described by Jitterbugdude should be used--removing the dark, old canes each winter, leaving the one year-old canes so that they can bear the following summer. The tops of the one year-old canes (either standard or ever-bearing) can be winter-pruned to about 3' in length, for tidiness; the fruiting branches will emerge from the sides of those canes.

Bob
 

DrBob

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thanks stogeyman. I do not know much about raspberry's but I know more now.

How about fertilizer? I have some 12-12-12 would that be ok?
 

Jack in NB

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Better to dump a bucket of nutritious propwash on them. And be sure to paint your pruning cuts with a dab of prop pitch, then wrap the cut with a foot of rudder trim tape ;).

Actually, a bit of compost topdressing, and 2" or so of bark mulch on top helps a lot to feed them a bit and reduce competition from grass and other weeds. Getting rid of that competition will double plant performance.

Or a sprinkling of a high phosphate fertilizer (10-20-10) or any other high mid-number would be better than the 10-10-10. The higher mid number is better for roots, fruit and flowers. N, that first number, grows green.
 

Fisherman

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"Better to dump a bucket of nutritious propwash on them. And be sure to paint your pruning cuts with a dab of prop pitch, then wrap the cut with a foot of rudder trim tape ;)."

Ok Mr Jack.............. I think I know what rudder trim tape is but after spending 85% of my life on fishing vessels have never heard the other 2 terms????????????
 

Jack in NB

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They're kind of related to Dr. Bob's occasional activity - dicing with death in airplanes. And in the same category as left-handed monkey wrenches....

Actually you have both on your boats. Your props are rated in diameter and pitch - yours is fixed, though, and Bob's 180 is variable. And the propwash is that disturbance behind the prop when turning - water or air.

But because of the terminology, they can be easily misunderstood, and the know-it-all kid can be sent all over the turf searching for them.
 

DrBob

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I used to look up frrom my fishing boat and wish i was flying the airplane above me. Now it is just the opposite. Be careful what you wish for.
 

Matty

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Lol, jeepers.

My experiences are with blackberries, a 4 year growth cycle, but I do watch rasberries. In my area there are 2 types of cultivated rasberries and 3 or more types of wild rasberries, never mind the wild ones. As someone said before, cut the old brown, woody stalks to the ground. This will help the young'ins grow more. With my blackberries there are up to 7 stalks per root bundle and cutting the old ones off makes the young ones produce bigger, sweeter and more of them berries. Just cut what looks woody and brown and let the greened stalks go crazy. That's my opinion.
 

Matty

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Oh, and each year my blackberries make a new stalk. 7 Stalks, 7 years old. Tried plowinb them under to control them but they'd have none of that. Up they came, strong as anything, lol.
 

DrBob

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thanks will do. the berrys did not amount to much last year, hopefully I will get a good crop this year.
 

DGBAMA

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we had several varieties. the way I always trimmed rasberries: two year old growth cut off at the ground (by spring it was obviously dead); last year's growth cut below the flowerhead where the previous berries were. The one year old growth will grow out an early crop and new shoots will start at the ground for a late crop. A two year cycle.
 

rainmax

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thanks stogeyman. I do not know much about raspberry's but I know more now.

How about fertilizer? I have some 12-12-12 would that be ok?

Each year I cover them with two years old cow manure compost. I'm rewarded with lots of fruits. When is heavy drought I water them well. Also mulch is welcome.
At spring I cut all dead stems and cut the new ones about 1m underground(cca. 3ft).
 

DrBob

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I did take out all the old ones yesterday, it was really easy they just snapped off at ground level. The new ones are limber and just waking up from the winter and are showing signs of life. I will look at them some more today and try to trim the tops as DGBAMA suggests. I will give em some composted horse manure besides soon. Hopefully I will have a good crop this year. Last year was not too good at all, but I know the weather just was not that good last year. Nothing did well, my tobacco production was way down from previous years, tomatos were poor too. About the only thing that did great was the rhubarb. This year I may try to make some rhubarb wine.
 
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