help with raspberries...

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itachis.eyes

New Member
so i live in an older town, our yard once housed a garden of raspberries, that now have become just part of the yard. i have been "tending" these "feral" berries for about three years now. all i know is that we have red and black raspberries.....

1) i was wondering how i could identify what particular kind they are (any good sights for comparison, or whatever you got, XD)

2) and also do i have to wait until winter to see if they are ever bearing or summer bearing?

i figured i would be better to find out these things because they really haven't been pruned in about 80 years, XD just growing as they please and i have come to find that you have to prune them a particular way depending on summer or ever bearing variations.
 

Gloria

Super Moderator
Staff member
Oh, I forgot to say..if you look in the recipes forum, there are some recipes for blackberries.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
There should be some dead canes among those that are alive. Those could be pruned without harming anything. What you want to avoid is pruning the growth that comes on this season. Those are the canes that will bear fruit next year. I have no idea how many varieties of the red raspberries there are, nor do I know if there is more than one variety of black raspberries. The black raspberry that grows here locally is also called "black cap". It has a lavender colored cane and is quite obvious when you pass a field of them. There is also an orange raspberry and I am holding two spots open for those in my berry patch. I will get the plants in the early spring of next year when they will be available as bare-root plants and fairly inexpensive at that time. I think the only way you will find when they bear is just to wait and see. Our raspberries are in season right now.
 

Kya D

Active Member
Hi Itachis.eyes and welcome to GF. Jump in relax and ENJOY.
I love berries but I don't grow any here, but I am sure you will get lots of help from the people on site.
 

itachis.eyes

New Member
Welcome to gardenforums Itachis.eyes. I live in SC and we have blackberry bushes growing wild. I've never pruned any myself but here's a link that might help.
http://www.gardening-guides.com/fruits/pruning-raspberry-bush.php

thank you much, i'm not so much worried about identifying the specific species of raspberry as much as knowing how to prune it, (i think after 80 some years of growing wild it will help it bear more fruit and more nutritious fruit)
and i'll have to look at those recipes...i don't cook much but i'm sure my wife will like them, i usually just eat the raspberries right off the plant
(^_^)
 

itachis.eyes

New Member
There should be some dead canes among those that are alive. Those could be pruned without harming anything. What you want to avoid is pruning the growth that comes on this season. Those are the canes that will bear fruit next year. I have no idea how many varieties of the red raspberries there are, nor do I know if there is more than one variety of black raspberries. The black raspberry that grows here locally is also called "black cap". It has a lavender colored cane and is quite obvious when you pass a field of them. There is also an orange raspberry and I am holding two spots open for those in my berry patch. I will get the plants in the early spring of next year when they will be available as bare-root plants and fairly inexpensive at that time. I think the only way you will find when they bear is just to wait and see. Our raspberries are in season right now.

thanks very much! (^_^)
 

Gloria

Super Moderator
Staff member
Truthfully, I don't know if there's a difference between black berries and raspberries. I know that when the bushes here put on fruit, it's bright red and then goes to black and thats when I pick. I plan to do a little picking in the morning, there's a patch by the road right down from me and the bushes are loaded!! Good luck with your pruning.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
There is a difference, Gloria. Besides the taste, the berry itself is different. Inside each berry is a central stem that each of those little seed containers is around. I'm sure they have a more scientific name, but I don't know what it is. When you pick a raspberry, that central stem comes out and leaves a cavity in the center of the berry. That doesn't happen with a blackberry. The stem will break off at the top of a blackberry leaving that other part inside the berry.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
There is another thing that I learned recently about pruning berries. It is advisable to prune some of the new growth off of the new canes. This should be done in August. The growing season is not over yet and by cutting off the end of the growing cane, it will promote lateral growth and increase the fruit production the next season.
 

Dale

Super Moderator
Staff member
Randy on the trailing blackberry bushes I have, when you pick a ripe blackberry the berry comes away for the stem and there is a hollow in the center of the berry.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dale, are the vines sort of purple? I've not seen the stem come out of the berry leaving a cavity unless they were raspberries. The black raspberries are as black as any blackberry I have ever seen.
 

Jade

New Member
I miss our red raspberries that we had in Ontario. We started with just 5 canes and ended up with 2 30'x5' rows within 5 years. They were just outta control. I hear that the people who bought our house mowed them all to the ground. Our old neighbor was especially sad, as she always helped herself. If it as rainy and cold as what I am hearing up there, the berries would have had a rough time up there this summer.
 

Flower4Yeshua

Super Moderator & vegemm
Staff member
Randy on the trailing blackberry bushes I have, when you pick a ripe blackberry the berry comes away for the stem and there is a hollow in the center of the berry.

i would thing you have the black raseberry...as that is what they do...not the blackberry
 

Dale

Super Moderator
Staff member
All I know is they are trailing thornless, was told they are blackberries. The berries are big around as your big thumb and about an inch long. Will have to look to see what the bushes are.
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
I would have to taste one to see if it tasted like a "blackcap". but I am inclined to think they are black raspberries.
 

Dale

Super Moderator
Staff member
Randy do they have hard seeds in the berries? Are they thornless?
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Yep, the seeds are hard, but there are probably thornless varieties. The raspberries I have are not thornless but they are much less agressive than the wild blackberries. Those things will get you. I just made a bunch of wild blackberry jam this evening. I generally get some blood on my arms when I pick those.
 


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