I planted raspberries in a raised bed. I plan to use nylon baling twine as my guide wires.
I have some new canes that are 4 feet tall. Do I cut these to the ground in September or October?
I want to maintain the vines at 4 feet tall. Can I just keep topping them off at 4 feet? The plants are now 1 year old. I did not get any fruit this first year. Thanks for your advice.
– Don Lutz, Carmichael
How you handle your vines depends upon the variety of raspberries, says UC Master Gardener Bill Pierce. Are they everbearing or summer-bearing?
If they're everbearing, you should now have fruit at the ends of your 4-foot, year-old canes. This first crop shows up in late September.
After the fruit is harvested, it is best to not cut the canes until the plants are dormant in January. The leaves remain green during fall. That allows photosynthesis to continue to take place, storing energy in the roots for next season.
In January, cut the canes to 4 feet. In the spring, those canes will develop lateral branches upon which the spring crop will grow. At the same time, the roots will send up new canes.
As soon as the spring berries are harvested, cut the old canes to the ground; they will not produce again and will die. As you remove the old canes, thin any new canes that are weak or those that are too close together.
Baling twine works fine; all the wires are doing is making the canes stand upright. Give these plants some fertilizer or compost at bloom time in spring.
If your raspberries are summer-bearing, those plants should produce three to five canes in their first year. Dig or pull out any canes that grow more than 1 foot away from the main clump.
In early February, top these canes to four feet. During spring, new canes will grow all around the clump. After harvesting the crop, cut the old canes to the ground. Select seven to 11 of the strongest new canes for next year's crop and remove all the others. Cut the remaining canes back to 4 feet in February and feed at bloom time in spring.
You can learn more about raspberry care in the UC Cooperative Extension publication, "Environmental Horticulture Notes 86: Growing Cane Berries in the Sacramento Region." For our copy, send a stamped, self-addressed business-sized envelope to: EHN86, UC Cooperative Extension, 4145 Branch Center Road, Sacramento, CA 95847.
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