Pruning raspberry canes in Northland

tramore, Jul 11, 3:42am
I was delighted to get a plant which fruited this past summer. I had been told it was too warm up this far north for them but that is obviously not right. Anyway, I am thrilled with the fruit. I have not pruned anything yet being an absolute novice to raspberry growing so would like some advice, please. How do I know which canes to prune- heaps have sprouted around the original plant- and how far down the cane do I prune? Do they like to be fertilised? Thanks!

aprilguy, Jul 13, 9:17am
If you search these messages for `raspberry' over the past year on the left hand side of the page there is a good pruning thread from January. I have the type that can be chopped right down but there are 2 types for pruning purposes I think.

tramore, Jul 13, 6:36pm
Yes, I have looked at these. My problem is all the canes look brown and appear to have budding so I have no idea which ones are the ones to chop to the ground. Is it the dead dry canes or what?

lythande1, Jul 13, 7:21pm
You don't prune as such, you cut out the old canes, new canes grow and produce next seasons fruit.

cantabman1, Jul 13, 7:41pm
I am a volunteer at a local Community Garden Centre, as well as a keen gardener.Recently I potted up a number of canes to sell off.
Mostly there is little or no pruning to be dune, rather digging them up if you have lots of shoots and spreading them out to produce more vines and fruit.Any broken or died off or diseased shoots; just trim off.
As for food, some well composted chicken and horse poo, and lots of good mulch will do the trick.

wine-o-clock, Jul 13, 8:16pm
Yes the dead ones, at ground level. They will also sound hollow when tapped. Any that u cut that have green area inside are not dead!

bluefrog2, Jul 14, 11:11pm
This is only my 3rd year with raspberries, but according to the internet, and my neighbour:
1) Remove dead wood and suckers (thin skinny canes)
2) Aim for cane clusters about 30-40 cm apart, so remove everything in between clusters.
3) Have 5 or so strong canes in each cluster, so remove everything else.
4) Top the remaining canes by cutting off the top third of the cane to a strong bud, pointing in a nice direction.
5) mulch and manure.

bluefrog2, Jul 14, 11:15pm
Look at the buds. Dead wood is darker than normal, and any buds are dried up and shrivelled as well. It also snaps off like a twig, and is brown all the way through the cross section.

tramore, Nov 22, 1:18am
Thank you all so much. You have been so helpful. I will attend to the raspberry on the weekend. Much appreciated. And here's hoping for a wonderful cropping!