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New Brunswick

Thanks for all the info on giant 'maters....but I cannot seem to find any in Canada....or at least around here...so I will concentrate on getting my already existing raspberrys to produce more that a bowl or so every two days. They are an old fashioned variety that I have had for over 25 years. I have cut out all the dead canes and snipped the tips off the canes with old last years fruit on them....I have even limed them ( a friend that grows them told me to do this) but they are still not doing anything great. The first few years, I had enough to make jam and even jelly but now...they just are not producing. I also have a more proflific variety (though sourer) that I planted last year, near the old patch. Would fertilizer or maybe even potash (I have a bag of that that I have no idea what to do with) be of any benefit? Of course they are just now beginning to get tiny leaf buds on them.

4/22/2005 9:16:08 PM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Desert Storm, here is some info on raspberries from a site that we just bought blueberry bushes from. Maybe the info on fertilizer and trellises may be helpful. http://www.noursefarms.com/planting_guide/brambles_guide1.html

4/22/2005 10:07:20 PM

Montoursville, PA

If you have been in the same patch area for more than three years consider digging these out and purchase new disease resistant varieties.

This fruit needs nothing special by the way of fertilizer. If any were added by me it would be very low organic number value fertilizer like Fertrell's 4-2-4. If pushed with fertilizer the plants will weaken and become more likely to have disease issues. A light mulch, of leaves or spoiled hay, would be my choice of fertlizer in the case of this fruit. Light mulch = 2 - 3 inches. Prune according to directions. There is a difference how red and black are handled.

4/23/2005 6:41:17 AM

Montoursville, PA

....Oops! Rotate to some other area on your property every three or four years using new certified disease free plants if the old plants show signs of failing.

4/23/2005 6:43:10 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Also adding fertilizer at the wrong time such as late summer may promote succulent growth which is susceptible to winter injury and may lead to entry points for disease. I don't know about currants and raspberries and every type of fruit is different but if fertilizer is added to blueberry bushes (and I won't add any)it says "If feeding with a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10, try to select a fertilizer with potassium sulfate and not potassium chloride. Blueberries can be adversely affected by potassium chloride." So what type of fert is perhaps as important as adding or not adding it. Also are you suppose to trim or cutback the old growth and allow new growth to floouish and produce more fruit? I dunno, just a thought. Best to do research on the specific fruit.

4/23/2005 7:52:13 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Sorry I hope that "floouish" can be translated in English as "flourish". So it should read "...allow new growth to flourish and produce more fruit?"

4/23/2005 7:54:50 AM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

about pruning the raspberry plants from Noursefarms.com it says: "Summer Bearing Raspberries
These varieties carry one crop of berries on the overwintering canes during the summer months. For best yields, prune out the canes that carried fruit directly after harvest. Thin remaining new growth to 6-8 strong, healthy canes per running foot of row.

Fall-Bearing
(Primocane-bearing, Everbearing)
These varieties will have two crops. The largest is borne in the fall on the tips of canes which grew throughout the summer. A second crop is then carried lower on those same canes early the next summer. To have two crops, the planting must be pruned as a summer bearer (follow the instructions).

Most everbearers will produce an even better fall crop if not allowed to fruit in early summer. To treat these plants as fallbearers, mow off all the canes after the canes have lost their leaves in very late fall, or wait until early spring in colder areas. Be sure to cut the canes as closely as possible to the soil surface, leaving as little stub as possible above the ground. The new, strong canes which grow again that summer will bear an abundant fall crop.

Black Raspberries and Purple Raspberries
Black raspberries and purple raspberries break buds from their crown region in the hill and send out few, if any, suckers. Prune plants to 4-6 canes per hill. Both of these types of raspberry plants respond well to a process called tipping, whereby the 1-year old canes are pinched back as they reach a height of 5-6 feet. This practice encourages fruiting lateral branches to break from the main cane and keeps plant height in check. Laterals, in turn, can also be headed back in the spring to 10-15 inches. Pinching back laterals prunes away winter damaged buds and can help increase berry size.
"

4/23/2005 7:59:02 AM

New Brunswick

Mine are summer bearing. I have pruned the tips back and removed all the dead cane. Will see what happens this year. They look very healthy.

4/23/2005 9:13:29 PM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Good luck! Best for your currents and raspberries. Let us know what happens with both. And your pumpkins!!!!

4/24/2005 7:51:14 AM

New Brunswick

Think I will skip the pumpkins this year. I am planting strawberries in my punkin' patch. I almost ruined my knees with the constant working on the pumpkins on the side hill they grew on....to the point I was to have surgery on one in February. I starting taking a liquid glucosomine "Syn-flex" in January and my knee is much better(avoiding the surgery)...however pumpkins are out for me for this year anyhow to see how my knees do. Besides other crops are much easier to handle and for the most part much tastier (:

4/24/2005 10:10:25 PM

NEPA [email protected] KB3QKV

Sorry to hear about your knees. Hope they are better. Your knees are more important. There will be other years for pumpkins. Whatever you grow we wish you the best of luck. There are some very good pmpkin recipes. My son makes a great pumpkin cheesecake and kilr gave me a great pumpkin recipe that was a lot beter than what I expected.whatever you choose, good luck :o)

4/25/2005 7:58:03 AM