Big Crop of Small Raspberries

[Bruce L]

Last spring I sprayed a strip in the orchard with Round Up,then edged it with lawn edging to keep the grass out. I planted 50 Heritage raspberry canes about 18" apart,and anxiously awaited for my favourite berry. It didn't rain last summer,so I placed a soaker hose down through the middle next to the canes,and had the area covered with coarse wood shavings to conserve moisture and keep the weeds down.When it finally began to rain last fall,I began to get my first crop of berries and they were huge,some doubles. This year the berry plants have really thickened up,can't even see the ground in most places. It has done nothing but rain here so far this year,waaaay behind in haying,quite a few berries,but much smaller. Is this due to the rain,or do I need to thin the plants out some?

[Maplewalnut]

I have had luck getting much bigger berries by thinning as you propose. I also tip my canes around end of August. That produces a much sturdier plant with lateral branches that will give you more berries. I like growing my berries for summer crop vs fall when an earlier frost can wipe you out

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I have had luck getting much bigger berries by thinning as you propose. I also tip my canes around end of August. That produces a much sturdier plant with lateral branches that will give you more berries. I like growing my berries for summer crop vs fall when an earlier frost can wipe you out

What do you mean "tip the canes"? I am new to growing rasberries this year. I transplanted a dozen plants from a friend. They are a variety called Sodus and produce good-sized dark red/purple rasberries.

[maple flats]

Last spring I sprayed a strip in the orchard with Round Up,then edged it with lawn edging to keep the grass out. I planted 50 Heritage raspberry canes about 18" apart,and anxiously awaited for my favourite berry. It didn't rain last summer,so I placed a soaker hose down through the middle next to the canes,and had the area covered with coarse wood shavings to conserve moisture and keep the weeds down.When it finally began to rain last fall,I began to get my first crop of berries and they were huge,some doubles. This year the berry plants have really thickened up,can't even see the ground in most places. It has done nothing but rain here so far this year,waaaay behind in haying,quite a few berries,but much smaller. Is this due to the rain,or do I need to thin the plants out some?

Did you fertilize them? We have excellent results, large berries and we fertilize 2x a year, once in the spring and again after the early crop is done. We use 10-10-10 or 15-15-15, broadcast lightly and my wife softly talks to them (She says that helps, I'm not sure). Too late for early crop at this point, but as soon as it finishes add some fertilizer.
With all this rain, many nutrients were leached from the root zone.
We have grown red raspberries for about 16-18 years. We get about 3-4 seasons out of a planting then spray with roundup and till them under. At any given time we have 2 or 3 plantings going. We do well with both early season and fall season. The early comes on last year's canes and the fall one are on this year's canes. If you only want early season, just mow the tops off with the mower set as high as it will go, fertilize and then what comes up will be your June/July crop next year, if you only want fall crop, mow as late in the year as you can but don't fertilize until June next year.
Sorry, I can't specify how much fertilizer you need, a soil test will tell that, but we have super rich soil and we use about 1#/10' row, about 18" wide of triple 10.

[Maplewalnut]

What do you mean "tip the canes"? I am new to growing rasberries this year. I transplanted a dozen plants from a friend. They are a variety called Sodus and produce good-sized dark red/purple rasberries.

Just cut the tops off. Doesn't need to be more than a couple inches. The plant will then put its energy into fruit and growing laterals.