Raspberry Cane Care

Anatomy

• The raspberry plant has two sets of canes. The first year, the primocanes produce leaves during the spring and summer seasons. If the plant is everbearing, the tips of the primocanes will bear fruit in the fall. The floricane is a second-year cane that produces flowers and fruit during the summer season and fall if it is an everbearing variety. The root and crown system of the raspberry is the perennial portion of the plant.

Planting

• Prepare the soil in an area of your property where the bare-root cane stock of raspberry plantings will remain for years. Raspberry plants need a moderately fertile soil, good drainage and plenty of sunlight. Use 5-10-5 fertilizer to feed new raspberries ten to fourteen days after they have been planted. Support canes with hills or hedgerows and a network of horizontal or vertical trellis wires and posts to prevent the canes from being damaged or broken. Cut the canes of new plantings to a height of one foot. Burn or dispose of the cuttings to prevent disease.

Maintenance

• Weed the raspberry cane patch to keep the nutrition in the soil solely for the fruit-bearing plants. Mulch the plants to keep moisture in the bed. Raspberry canes need about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water every week to 10 days. Sandy soil plantings need 1/3 to 1/2 inch of water every two or three days. Pick the berries from the stems on the canes without pulling on them to prevent breakage.

Pruning

• Raspberry canes are quite hardy. Prune canes that have produced fruit after the growing season has passed in the fall. Floricanes that have finished bearing fruit will die. It is best to prune them away to prevent disease and insect infestation. Weak canes on red and yellow raspberry canes should be pruned in the spring time dormant season. Prune away any cane tips that have show no sign of green life after the winter season.