Grow Your Own Magazine

... raspberry canes do I need to provide fruit for a family of 4? I'd like fruit for as long as possible as well so would like summer and autumn varieties - any suggestions? I know I'm looking at a couple of years or so for decent yields but that's OK and I'd prefer raspberries that taste better over just heavy croppers.

Also there seems to be quite a wide difference in prices in the catalogues, is it a case of you pay for what you get? Any advice greatfully received,

Rob

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http://a-plot-too-far.blogspot.com

Hi Rob Welcome to the vine.

Thats a difficult question. Are you growing at home ofr on a lottie? If it's a lotty & the row is about 20ft wide I would say 2 rows, a row of earlies/mids & a row of Mids/lAutumns if you could split the the rows so it was about 3/4's earlies & Autumn fruiting that would be about right as the Mids overlap a bit anyway so you don't need so many of them.

As to price, some of the fruit suppliers are just more expensive & some are probably better quality plants but you'll have to decided what you want to pay & then get the best for your money.

Also grow them on a double row system & you'll get more fruit. This involve a post at either end of the row with 2 horizontal bars one at around 30" & onne at around 5ft with wire between them. top bar about 30 " bottom one about 18" then the canes are tied to this in the form of a 'V' lets light & air in & also allows you to have twice as many canes compare with the singl row of wires.

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Rob, I bought some supermarket clearouts,10 plants for 75 pence each.2nd year and we've had loads of tasty fresh fruit.
I will be adding "better" named brands though as they are my favourite fruits.
I made the mistake of planting against a wind break which means I can't access both sides to pick easily.
I feed with blood fish and bone at the start of the growth and again after pruning out the old fruiting wood from this season.

Thanks for the replies, really helpful. Now of course I just need to clear some space and prepare the ground...

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robD, for the autumn fruiting raspberries, I would recommend Joan J. I bought some at the beginning of the year. They started fruiting in mid-July, and according to the catalogue should continue until mid-October. The fruits are large and very good flavoured.

valmarg