I planted some Autumn Bliss canes 2 winters ago, the first time I've tried autumn raspberries. This year they've grown well, produced (and are still producing) a good amount of fruit, but the taste is very disappointing, nothing like as good as the Glen Ample summer raspberries planted at the same time. Is this a general feature of autumn raspberries or were Autumn Bliss just a bad choice? Any better varieties out there?
Richard
My autumn bliss were gorgeous, plump and huge last year with lots of flavour. This year they are later, small and lack any flavour- I think it must be the lack of rain as its been soooo dry in Norfolk this summer/autumn.
I'd a few yesterday off my neighbour, they were lovely.
Do autumn fruiting bushes have to be in good (autumn) sun to have flavoursome fruit ?
My Autumn Bliss did not taste so good this year. I made most of them into a sweet relish with some odd apples and pears. I wondered why.
I put it down to not feeding them enough but actiongran could be right. Not enough moisture. I am moving mine to an area which is not so well drained. This site does have some good info..
what are you folk feeding them with?
Even Autumn Bliss like a bit of sun/warmth for tasty fruit... we are in Mid-October ..... :-X
Mine have done really well this year, but the flavourhas diminished asthe weather has got colder. Never grown anything else to compare them with,mind you.
Whilst mine are still covered in fruit, they're no longer as sweet as they were a couple of weeks ago. Whilst the frost hasn't finished them off I expect the rain, if we actully get any, will.
As to feeding, I feed mine with either well rotted manure or pelleted chicken manure in February/March, just as they start growing.
Mine are small too but I thought the taste was fine. Then I noticed the rogue cane I left growing in the potato bed had produced fruit - it was much larger and tastier ! No idea what kind it was though.
Now I'm thinking I may try another row of a different autumn fruiting variety. And maybe some summer ones - none of our raspberries made it off the plot this year!
Fed mine with a thick layer of manure in April.
Then later with nettle and bindweed tea.
I had to deluge the whole bed with gallons and gallons of water several times from June through to the end of September, as down in Surrey we went weeks without rain.
I only grow autumn fruiting raspberries, but I do prefer Joan J, Polka, and Fallgold.
I planted polka last winter and they are doing well.
I do find their flavour can vary quite a bit, depending on how much sunshine there has been.
Thanks everybody for your most useful comments, including other varieties you like. Here in west Cumbria we haven't had a problem with lack of rain recently, so it may be insufficient sunshine that's causing the low flavour. But as they ripen in September and October, I'd imagine this is a perennial problem.
Feeding: having only grown summer raspberries before, I've never fed them apart from manure when planting and when I tried a dressing of potash many years ago, and they've always produced great crops every year without fail whatever the weather. My present summer raspberries are doing the same - do the autumn ones need something different?