Topic: Raspberry Erika only just forming fruit

[Mme Muck]

The canes were planted year before last. They didnt fruit last year , I cut them down.  This year they have put on a phenomenal amount of growth (but fairly late in summer), but it's now Oct and theyre only just forming fruits. There have only been a few ripe fruits.
Why are they fruiting so late?

[Paulh]

When did you cut the canes down? Though unless it was well into this year, that shouldn't have caused the delay in fruiting, which should be August / September mainly. Too much feed and water? Or are they shaded? I suspect they are just being cussed.

The pruning advice on the Crocus website is:

Cut back all the canes to just above ground level each February if you just want one crop of fruit in late summer and autumn. To grow as a primocane (ie producing two, smaller crops each year), cut back the new spring stems, which have produced fruit at their tips in autumn, to a point just below where the raspberries were produced, soon after they have finished cropping. These half-canes can then be left to overwinter, will put on new top growth in spring and will then go on to produce the first crop of berries in early summer. After these two year old canes have finished fruiting they should be cut right back to their base. In the meantime, new canes will have emerged from the base of the plant in spring and these should be tied onto their support as they grow. These new canes will then produce the second, later crop and should have their tops lopped off after fruiting. This then creates a repeating cycle.

So you could try shortening the 2016 canes in November / December to get a summer crop in 2017, and that may kick the 2017 canes to fruit earlier.

[playground]

The canes were planted year before last. They didnt fruit last year , I cut them down.  This year they have put on a phenomenal amount of growth (but fairly late in summer), but it's now Oct and theyre only just forming fruits. There have only been a few ripe fruits.
Why are they fruiting so late?

I've noticed that different patches of blackberries,
those i pass on my walks, have fruited earlier or later
depending on how much sunshine they get.

The south facing ones at the edge of the field were the
first to go black (and hence ripe), the ones in the forest
only started fruiting at the start of Sept (and still have
fresh fruit now)

I wonder if your Raspberries are in a shady or slightly
shady spot?  How many hours of direct sunlight do they get ?