Raspberries getting too tall

[Digeroo]

I have a variety which I love called valentine, up to now it has been about a metre tall so I thought it was  a dwarf type. I am on a windy site, so the shortness was perfect, no support was needed.  However the newer growth for next year is already  6 feet high, does anyone know please what will be the effect of limiting them to 3 feet?

[Digeroo]

[Paulh]

No, but my guess is you would get much less fruit. It might be (or have been) better to cut them back to one foot and seen whether the stems became two shorter ones. But they weren't waving flags saying they were going for the stars. Ain't hindsight wonderful?

Stake them and hope the winds are gentle!

[ancellsfarmer]

Better get a box on which to stand.........

[Digeroo]

They are exposed to Mr NW Wind Esq.  There is a new hedge growing and in a couple of years I will be well protected from that direction but at the moment come winter it is very windy.

I actually cut off the tops at the end of last year and they have cropped very well.   I do have one that was knocked off when it was a few inches high and it has produced a little bush with lots of side shoots.

I was going to give it away because it is away from the main clump but I think I might keep it and see what happens. 

[Paulines7]

Have you got a structure to support them, Digeroo?  We have poles set well into the ground with wire for the raspberry canes to be tied into.  That way they can be bent over rather than growing upwards.  In another place we have raspberry and loganberry canes against the chicken enclosure fences.  John attaches them to bamboo canes which he ties to the fence. 

We have problems with wind where we are and wooden stakes that hold up our fences are forever breaking off in the ground.  Fortunately we have some tall, thick metal stakes from an old fruit cage which OH dismantled and these are ideal to give the extra support we need.   

[Digeroo]

They are totally unsupported.  Up until now they have only been a metre high, with quite strong stems.  No staking necessary.  I even took a few inches off the top in the spring to get them to sprout lower down, so they have formed a low hedge to keep my strawberries out of the wind. 

It is just they have suddenly year three decided to be more than twice the height, it is only July and they are showing no signs of stopping their upward progress, and I put my runner beans right behind them, expecting them to be only a couple of feet tall now.  If they keep on growing they will be huge.   Though the thought of 9 feet worth of raspberries next year is a very nice thought indeed.  Valentine are very tasty and so far the birds do not like their pinkness.

Putting in stakes is something of a chore because not far down is very stoney so not very easy to drive in stakes.    And as you say the wind will also blow over the stakes if they are not very substantial and well into the ground.