Harvest Times of Raspberries

Summer Bearing

• The summer-bearing raspberry produces a single crop of fruit each growing season. While different cultivars offer a range of production periods, most will begin bearing in late June, shortly after the completion of the June-bearing strawberry crops. Some of the red and all the black and purple varieties fall into this category. The summer-bearing raspberry has one production period per year.

Fall Bearing

• Fall-bearing or everbearing raspberries produce as many as two crops each growing season. They produce in early summer, similar to the summer bearing, and again in the fall. The fall production can last until the first frosts of the year. Some red and yellow raspberry cultivars fall into this category.

Pollination

• All raspberry plants are self-pollinating. This means the pollen from the same plant fertilizes the flower, leading to fruit and seed production. This means a single raspberry plant of a given variety will produce fruit according to the cultivar's own timetable. Gardeners can try a single fall-producing raspberry in a batch of summer-producing raspberries without problems. Raspberries spread by root runner, and a single plant may multiply into several if not controlled.

Pruning and Production

• Summer-bearing raspberries produce fruit only on second-year growth. Gardeners commonly prune all the canes away at the end of production to allow the current season's growth to thrive. The Heritage cultivar of the red raspberry, a fall-bearing variety, sets its fruit on the current season's growth. Gardeners sometimes use a lawnmower to cut the canes just above ground level after the fall production is harvested.