Comments on: Autumn Raspberries

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:53:10 +0000

Re: Autumn Bliss
Have grown these for about five years now. They will tolerate some shade, but some sun is required for best quality. Like all raspberries they like a cool moist root run and no hoeing to disturb the roots, otherwise you will get suckers springing up. I solved that by laying old narrow (450mm wide) paving slabs between the rows - dry and mud-free walkways, plus moisture preservation for the roots.
The plants grow to about 1.5 metres in height. They can manage without support, but when they are tall and the winds and rains arrive in June/July time, they will tend to keel over somewhat. I solved this by putting in two wide posts 1600-1800mm high at each end of a row, then screwing 450-600mm wide horizontal cross arms (1-inch thick tanalised lathing from a DIY store is fine) at 450mm and 800mm heights onto the posts. The cross arms have a small hole drilled near the end, and I stretch 2mm diameter garden wire end-to-end at the two heights. That way, as the canes grow, you make sure they stay within the wires, and that is all the support they need. It helps if you cross-tie the horizontal top wires at 1-metre intervals, because the density and weight of the canes can make the long horizontal wires bulge outward a bit.
For feeding, use 1oz of sulphate of potash per sqare yard in late January/early February (encourages flowering and promotes fruiting quality) and at planting - and every three years after that - use 2oz of superphosphate (promotes root growth). Once that has been applied, cover with about two inches of farmyard or composted manure (conserves moisture, improves the soil texture, and raises the soil acidity level). That’s it. The canes will grow and fruit; because they flower later than summer raspberries they tend to avoid getting raspberry beetle (no no spraying is required); all you need to do is cut the old canes down just above ground level in January.
I let the canes grow in slightly staggered clumps about six inches apart along the row. Any fruit which falls and grows outside the rows can be gently dug up in early spring and replanted in the rows or used for new rows. Just water well initially if you do that.
If you are planting from scratch, dug out a trench about 300-400mm wide and six inches deep, line it it with farmyard manure, add superphosphate (or bonemeal) and mix in, cover with reasonable quality soil, plant the canes with the old tops showing above ground level, and backfill with same reasonable quality soil and gently firm in. Water regularly to help the plants get established.
Sorry if that has been a bit long and I have mixed metric and imperial measurements, but I hope the posting helps.

By: Michelle Ascott

Michelle Ascott — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:25:19 +0000

Hi i have just read with interest your post on autumn bliss raspbeeries, i have just been given 5 autumn bliss raspberry canes for my xmas and need some advice on planting please,
i have a relatively small garden and the best sunny but sheltered spot for me to plant these canes is quite clayey!? would they be ok if i mixed some good compost in the ground before planting?
also there are five canes in a ball do i seperate and plant these in rows or just as one big wigwam shape? can i plant these now or do i need to wait a bit? and finally do i need to trim back the canes after planting. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
x x x

By: sue gollop

sue gollop — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:27:11 +0000

Inspired by the thought of Autumn raspberries from your picture -painted more than a thousand words for me. Planted 12 Autumn raspberry canes today-variety called Polka. Anybody heard of them? Hope it is not too late for them to get established.

Granny Sue

By: Terry

Terry — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:10:37 +0000

I planted 6 canes of Autum Bliss last November & my little girl an I have had great pleasure picking so many raspberries this autumn.
Made several crumbles and lost count of how many jam jars we filled.
Jast planted 3 more canes and cut back this years all ready for another great years harvest in 2010.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:25:48 +0000

I planted 25 Autumn Bliss in November 4 years ago. They fruited the following autumn and I did not cut any canes back until after they had fruited a second time the following June. I have carried out this procedure each year since, having two excellent crops per year. The cutting down of the canes cropping in the autumn during the winter would thus deprive me of the following June crop, thus the only time I cut out old canes is after this crop.

I have to net carefully against birds stealing my June crop but they have no interest in the autumn crop which therefore I do not net.

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:28:54 +0000

The raspberries I made jam with this week have not made such nice jam. It’s still edible and delicious just slightly tarter.

Loads more to pick that will have to wait until tomorrow though, and hopefully some plums to be picked again.
The damsons are teasing me. Leaping to their death on the ground where the slugs are finding them first.

And I’ve got to find time to go pick some blackberries too!

By: mtp

mtp — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:15:01 +0000

Hi Gabriel,

I planted my Raspberries in a very heavy, sticky soil at my allotment when I had it. They did fine. If you’re worried about your clay then you could work in some compost before you plant your Raspberries. I think you might find that a tub will be too small after the first year. They tend to spread quite a bit by sending out suckers.

Hope that helps

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:04:55 +0000

Can I plant golded raspberries in a half cut wine barrel, or do they need to be planted in the ground? My concern is that The soil I have in the ground is clay based and I understand that it is not good for raspberries? Is that correct, or will they do ok in a clay based soil?

By: Bill Adam

Bill Adam — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:23:22 +0000

I grow golden raspberrys at home. Why? Because they don’t get those little white maggots in them (with which my previous red ones were plagued). Only snag is they are very vigorous, grow to over 5ft. and send out underground shoots 6-8 ft. away.

By: mtp

mtp — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:15:54 +0000

Hi Cteds,
You did well to find raspberries on sale at this time of year! The blogs are right raspberries should be planted in Autumn. However, now that you’ve got your plants I would plant them. What have you got to lose? Raspberries are pretty robust plants - it takes a lot to faze them. Maybe think about nipping the flowers off this year to allow the plant to gain strength before it fruits next year.