Raspberry thinning?

Cherbear 6/23/2014, 9:29 am

I planted a patch of raspberries last year. A lot of the old canes broke over the winter from the heavy, wet snow we had this winter, and others look like they were girdled or chewed by voles. Anyways there is a new crop of canes growing now, and the patch is chock-a-block full of them. Should they be thinned out? Do I trim them or what? I will post pictures soon.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/24/2014, 8:14 am

Yes, they need to be thinned. Take out the remainder of the old canes and any chewed up/diseased ones.

They need to be burned. Don't just toss them in the compost pile. Goes for blackberries, etc. as well.

**camprn** 6/24/2014, 8:17 am

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yes, they need to be thinned. Take out the remainder of the old canes and any chewed up/diseased ones.

They need to be burned. Don't just toss them in the compost pile. Goes for blackberries, etc. as well.

Marie can you please explain why the burning and maybe provide a link on how to thin the new canes. I'm asking because my guess the OP doesn't know the facts here.

Cherbear 6/24/2014, 10:43 am

yes, I was wondering how much thinning should be done as they are very dense now. I also purchased a single yellow raspberry cane this year and was wondering if I had to dig a new bed for it.

**AtlantaMarie** 6/24/2014, 2:06 pm

If you do a Google search, you'll find some good sites. Cornell Univ has a nice little pdf - http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/production/pdfs/rasppruning.pdf

Here are a couple of pretty decent articles:

http://www.finegardening.com/pruning-red-raspberries

http://gardening.about.com/od/berries/a/Prune_Raspberry.htm

The reason you want to burn them is due to fungal infections & diseases that could spread thru your compost. So you'll need to look at wind conditions vs your burn area to ensure spores don't float to new canes.

http://www.raspberry-depot.com/pruning-raspberries.html

Someone here has over 200 raspberry plants... GWN? Is that you? Or NHG? What advice can you offer?

lyndeeloo 6/24/2014, 8:58 pm

Hmmmm....I've never thinned mine. In early winter I cut everything down to about 4 inches high. Guess some reading and research is in my future. Here's what they look like now.

I get berries from them twice a year. Last year I had enough to make 48 jars of jam.

GWN 6/24/2014, 11:31 pm

I have quite a large raspberry collection, about 200 plants and LOVE pruning. In fact I wait for the times to prune.
Do you have June bearing OR fall bearing raspberries, because the pruning is totally dependant on which you have. This is the hardest time of the year to determine which is which. I have a combination and have never labeled them.

Cherbear 6/25/2014, 8:58 am

I'm not sure what kind of raspberries I have. I think the variety is an everbearing variety as some of the new canes last year fruited that year. I guess the main thing is to cut out the old canes and the dead looking ones and thin every thing to 3-5 per linear foot of row. And to make a better trellising system. Or something. I have a lot of work cut out for me!
Thanks for those links! They are awesome! Very interesting reading and I think I have a better grasp of these things now. Smile

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Aahh! So much information!

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