Topic: summer and autumn raspberries

[bumble]

What is the difference between the two and which ones should I be pruning?

[Old bird]

Summer raspberries fruit in the summer .  Then come late summer you cut the canes that have fruited leaving the new ones that will have come up ready to fruit the following year.

Autumn ones fruit late summer/autumn and I cut them completely down christmas time completely and they will then send up canes in the spring and will fruit on that years canes.

Simple really when you know!

Old Bird

 ;D

[valentinelow]

I am not an expert, but the big difference is that summer raspberries produce their fruit on last year's growth, and autumn raspberries fruit on the current year's growth. That means you cut the autumn ones right down to the ground in the winter; as a result, they don't need support. I think that you need some quite robust support for summer raspberries.
Ours are Autumn Bliss - a popular variety, and rightly so. Even though they are meant to be an autumn variety, they start fruiting in the summer (July, from memory) and keep on going for ages, right through to October or so. They produce masses of fruit, and dead tasty they are too.
If you ask me, I would say go for autumn ones every time.

[Deb P]

Two posters have beaten me to it, but as it takes me ages to type this I'm going to post it anyway!  ;D

Autumn fruiting raspberries are easy....they are cut down to nothing in February, grow new canes in spring, fruit in late summer autumn, canes are left overwinter and then cut down in Feb. again.

Summer fruiting raspberries grow new canes in the spring, but they will not fruit on these new canes until the next year. So you have two sorts of canes; 1 year old canes that will fruit that summer, and the 'new' canes that will grow that year and fruit the next. When the older canes have fruited, they are cut down, and the new canes left to overwinter and fruit the next year.

I only grow autumn fruiting raspberries; the advantage is that they do not grow as tall as summer types so are grown in a patch and do not need posts or wires to support them. They are also very easy to care for, cut back mine this morning, nice mulch of well rotted manure around them and that is it for the year!

[davholla]

When you tie summer fruiting raspberries to a wire always tie the same side (eg in front of the wire or back) and next year do the reverse.

Then you know which bits to prune !!

[leiden64]

Ours were given to us by a family member's neighbour but I've never worked out what type they are. They start fruiting early Summer (May/June) and continue throughout the summer. End of summer they stop briefly, then around Oct/Nov get a second, though smaller crop. Is it possible to have a type that is both autumn and summer fruiting. I'm pretty sure that they aren't a mix of varieties as all the plants behave the same.

With regard to pruning I'm usually confused as to what instructions to follow (books don't allow for raspberries that behave like summer and autumn varieties!). Generally to be safe I leave the old canes on until late Spring just to make sure which ones are going to fruit.  

[OllieC]

IIRC, early summer ones such as Prosen will fruit early & late, but then Autumn fruiting ones will also give an early flush next year. John Seymour makes a good point - it's best not to get too hung up with Autumn/Summer, just cut off wood when it's fruited...

[leiden64]

thanks, that seems to make more sense to me.

[Barnowl]

I have to seize this opportunity ;D  having memorised the terms to impress my fruit farming relatives:

Raspberries that bear on canes grown in the sames year are called 'primocanes' and those that bear fruit the year after the canes have grown are called 'floricanes'.



 

[theothermarg]

IIRC, early summer ones such as Prosen will fruit early & late, but then Autumn fruiting ones will also give an early flush next year. John Seymour makes a good point - it's best not to get too hung up with Autumn/Summer, just cut off wood when it's fruited...

that is a brill way !! I have just been trying to guess which is which as mine are all mixed up with a few blackcurrent thrown in as well! my book says late winter so a bit late.I,v already cut the old summers down but now they all look the same so I cut those with dead fruit on.I,ll try to remember that this year
ps read that is the best way to prune blckcurrents,makes picking um easier too
marg