Ever plant raspberries? I'm confused

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Ok so I came across some raspberry plants at HD when I was getting stuff for my hop garden. I thought it would be neat to plant some raspberries. When I bought them they came with a brown stick in the ground and some green growth at the soil level. I thought it said to plant them and they would produce raspberries early-mid summer. Not really detailed directions.

Ok, that seemed simple enough. I didn't think it would produce much in a few months though...

Doing some reading online I am confused. These things grow canes every year but only grow berries on the second year a cane has been around? How do you know what to cut off in the winter? Why do I need the cane sticking out of the ground if it is growing leaves at the soil level?

Can somebody explain these plants or point me to an idiot guide to growing these things?

 

[android]

i'm not really familiar with growing raspberries, but i would suggest you contact an extension agent from texas A&M, or see if your country has a horticultural extension agent, they will probably know best how to grow them in your area.

 

[FromZwolle]

my grandmother has had a huge patch of raspberries for longer than i've been alive. you can pretty much let them do what they want all year. cut em down only when the cane is dead. i don't know about the second year thing, as these have always been around, but they should give you two big yields with a few berries in between. the first boom comes just past mid summer, and the second is around september


edit- specific to illinois, your area may be a little different.

 

[TwoDollarBill]

The first year, you probably won't get berries...

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Depends on the variety also. I got red raspberries, black raspberries, and blackberries one year and planted them. Got lots of red the same season as planting and in later years I always got a couple harvests off of them. The black raspberries never seemed to do all that well despite tons of stalks. The blackberries were interesting though. They were almost by the book. The first year I just got leaf and stalk growth with maybe a couple berries. The next year I got a good chunk of berries off the original stalk and got new stalks that popped up in different areas near the original planting. Within a couple years if I had let it go I could have had a massive blackberry patch. They spread like wildfire. You can tell pretty easily when a stalk is done because it will be brown and very woody. Cut those down each year to make room for the green growth.

 

[Zider]

I hope you got thornless ones.

Cut to the ground after fruiting

 

[Homercidal]

I hope you got thornless ones.

Cut to the ground after fruiting

This. Raspberries may not produce the first year, but after that you can lay down a plant and bury in shallow soil and it will sprout more plants, quite like a hop plant.

After the season, you can just cut them to the ground.

 

[pjj2ba]

Yes, you will get raspberries this year. Raspberries can be handled two ways, depending on when you want them to fruit. Some varieties do better when fruiting on 2nd year canes. These will fruit early July or so, soon after the strawberries are finished. Other varieties fruit well on 1st year canes, typically in August. For these varieties, the canes are cut down in the fall/winter.

I worked years ago on a produce farm and preferred the 1st year cane type (we had Heritage) as after the season I just got on the tractor and took a brush hog to them. The early summer fruiting ones (we had Brandywine) needed some pruning which was not so fun.