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I have a number of Fall Gold Raspberries that I bought last year from the reduced (on deaths door section) of the local garden centre! I was under the impression that they were supposed to be autum Yellow Raspberries but they are fruiting and ripening now. Does anyone have any experience of growing them? Are they just going mad with the weather?

Help please, very confused!

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Karen

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool
Even a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step!

Autumn-fruiting varieties are extremely quick-growing, quick-maturing/fruiting varieties. They fruit on both old and this year's wood/canes. If you did not cut them to the ground during last winter, as I suspect you didn't, they will be fruiting on last year's canes. They will fruit again in a few weeks on any canes made this year.
The down-side will be that you have asked an awful lot of stock that is only a year or so from cuttings/transplanting.

I put Polka autumn rasps in this year, they too are fattening up nicely, though still green - much earlier than I expected but maybe they slow down from here ? Its my first go at rasps so I cant add much. Mind you, I also put in Glen Prosen summer rasps for fruiting next year, and they are starting to develop fruit too - its a funny year for rasps !

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odd notes about our kitchen garden project:
http://www.distractedbyathing.net/tag/garden/

Were the canes on the new plants all cut to within 4 inches of the ground when planted?
All autumn-fruiting varieties are rampant - it is part and parcel of how they can fruit in the autumn - extreme vigor.

mine were cut to 4-6". New growth is a mix of totally new shoots from the ground and some branching out from the old cane. New canes look healthier than the shoots coming form the old cane.

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odd notes about our kitchen garden project:
http://www.distractedbyathing.net/tag/garden/

I grow autumn bliss and I have never seen shoots made from the stumps of last year's canes - odd.
If you do leave some canes through the winter, they can be semi-perpetual fruiting (here in the Midlands) - from late May/early June through to the first frosts which destroy the fruits. You'd need quite some bed to make a useful crop though, rather than a trickle of fruit over that time.

My autumn raspberries are fruiting too, on the old wood that came with them when I bought them earlier this year. The new shoots are still leafy and green, and I'm treating this as a bonus harvest.

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http://www.weeveggiepatch.blogspot.com

Hi Karen
Well this is strange - I was about to raise this very same issue but you beat me to it. I am new to fruit growing and bought 'Polka' earlier this year (autumn fruiting), planted the canes and cut them down to 4-6 inches above soil, etc. Well, they finished fruiting on 3rd July and have thrown up brand new shoots in a matter of a week.
I thought I had either bought canes with the wrong label on and actually planted summer fruiting canes, or wondered whether this is what actually happens to autumn fruiters in their first year. Clearly since several people have reported similar goings-on then I can assume it is just an odd year for raspberries, and next year my expectations of autumn raspberries should be fulfilled.
Just a question - should all the plant be cut down after fruiting?
P.

I find that autumn fruiting will bear fruit quite early on the runners that were produced last year, normally I would take all these out but I do miss the odd one or two, off the main section that was cut back to 4" in February these are about 5-6' high and just starting to produce flowers

PS Autumn Bliss

Same here, we put in a few Joan J (autumn) canes in April and they have some new shoots from the ground and some from the old 6" canes. The later have raspberries just going red on them! Both sets of shoots are only 18" or so high though.

As mentioned on another thread, my newly planted Autumn Raspberries have been producing for a few weeks now. Must have been the nice weather.

Autumn rasp 'official' advice is to cut ALL canes back to ground in winter.

I cut back 2/3rds of the canes to the ground, but leave maybe a third of the best & strongest canes in place (just trim the tips back to maybe 4' high).

Which is why I'm now (July) picking raspberries - and will again be picking in September ! - all from the same stock.

Admittedly they are not as well flavoured as 'proper' summer rasps, but the bugs & beetles seem to avoid them which is a serious bonus. Very little staking or tying back needed. Also - they grow at the base of a cupressa hedge (nothing else would tolerate such growing conditions)