Allotments 4 All

Hi All,

I'm thinking of growing some raspberries on my new allotment, probably in one of the larger beds once I've cleared it of weeds and rubbish.

What I want to know is how long raspberry canes take to start producing fruit.  If I put some in now would an autumn variety fruit this year?  Do they need any special care such as fruit cages to protect them from birds?


Steve

Hi Stedic and welcome to A4A
Autumn canes will fruit this Summer. Cages depend on your locality... I never need to net mine here.
:)

My neighbour has a support wire that is near the top of the canes, and the birds sit on the wire and help themselves to the fruit.

My support wires are lower down, and the birds seem to leave mine alone as they can't reach.

a consideration for planting as reccomended to me by one of the timers at our site:  raspberries put out lots of roots so consider that when you choose your patch so that they do not invade other beds.  You could sink a barrier into the edges of the raspberry bed.

Autumn Bliss are right thugs and theyll fruit fine this year without any problem, if just a little light.  Birds don't seem overly bothered with them and they don't need any support.  I have found them to be rampantly invasive however, and a narrow bed bordered with paths to mow is not a bad way of keeping them within bounds.

I planted some raspberry canes (Joan J) this time last year and I had a crop from late july untill the first frosts

I don't use any kind of support or protection for my Autumn Bliss. I do find you have to get right underneath to pick some of the fruit, but then so do the birds so they tend to leave them alone.

I have grown Autumn Bliss for years and done well. If you put them in around now, they will fruit from August onwards. But Joan J is an improved version of Autumn Bliss, and I highly recommend it - I planted some last spring. Huge sweet berries from August onwards, and plenty of them. Hoping for even more this year now they have settled in.