Couple things. You don't want to grow red and black near each other. There is a disease that the reds carry and will infect your blacks eventually. At least a 100 feet apart. There are 2 different types of berries out there today, Summer bearing and everbearing. The summer bearing, which you probably have , bear fruit on last years canes. So if you have canes from 2 years ago you cut them back to the ground, they are dead. Last years canes will have your fruit for this year and then you will also get new canes from the crown of the plant for next years crop to replace this years. Pruning is more important to do it this summer on the new growth to make plant ready to bear next year. Any pruning you do this year on last years growth will cut down on your fruit. Confusing I know but not really. Lets take black rasp. They are different than reds in that they don't send out runners, roots, to form new plants. They spread by tip rooting. The stem grows very long bends to the ground and roots. This is a good way to get more plants if you want. Let tip root and grow for a year and cut it off and replant the new rooting. see picture below. I throw lots away each year. No room. Now since they grow so long I cut them back, the year they are growing, new growth , as soon as they get to be 4 feet high, cut right off. This will then cause the the stem to send out lateral branches, side branches, this is where your crop will come from. Once the side branches get to be 2 foot I cut them, because they will grow long and try to root and i don't need any more plants. The following year you are good to go and will only need a little tiny bit, if at all, of pruning to keep them from getting unruly. Once I harvest the crop I cut them down to the ground to make way for the new growing stems of next years crop. You can wait till the following spring to clean out the old canes, which I need to do this year, but gives the new growth more room if you do after harvest. It gets really crowded. Reds are done pretty much the same way. What grows this year is next years crop. All else is cut to the ground.
You are not pruning raspberries for form, such as apples and blueberries, which bear on old wood. No need to sculpt the bush, as in the diagrams you posted above, as it dies and regrows every year. Diagrams are for other types of plants, not raspberries, more like blueberries or ornamental plants. With raspberries what you grow this year will be gone after next. You don't have to worry about which way the branches go as it will be very crowded anyway.
You also should set up a trellis for them as you don't want them leaning on the ground and getting smooshed and eaten by insects and easier to control.
1st picture of rooting tip. Cut above roots and plant #2 you can see where I cut long stem last summer to stop growth and you can see side shoots off that stem that will grow this year and produce fruit.
Last edited by ProfessorM; 03-24-2008 at 03:57 PM..
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