Raspberries are red, violets are blue. But raspberries are also black, white, gold, and pink. They can be categorized by what time of year they bear fruit and if the canes have thorns or are thornless.
To make matters more confusing, black and purple raspberries are fall-bearing. But red raspberries can be either summer or fall-bearing. Gold raspberries follow the pattern for red.
Primocanes: this year’s growth. It is green and supple until late summer or fall.
Floricanes: 2nd-year growth and last year’s primocanes. They have a brown color and are more “woody.”
Fall-bearing or everbearing: varieties which will fruit in year one at the tip of a primocane and in year two lower down on a floricane. Harvest is spread out over the year in smaller amounts.
Summer-bearing: fruit only on floricanes (2nd-year canes). Since all the fruit is ripe simultaneously, they are preferred for making jams and jellies, wine, or other preserving methods where a larger batch at one time is a benefit.
Sucker: a new raspberry plant that sprouts from roots spreading out under the ground.
How can you tell if you have summer-bearing or fall-bearing raspberries?
Find a cane that bore fruit last year. Look for the little bracts and stems left from where the berries hung. You probably have a summer-bearing raspberry if the cane looks dried out and dead. Their canes die in the second year after they produce fruit.
Ways to Propagate Raspberries
Growing your own raspberries is easy and economical. Store-bought raspberries are often expensive and of lower quality, as they do not ship well or keep well.
If you can beat the birds to them, fresh raspberries from your own berry patch are a warm-weather treat not to be missed. Expanding your berry patch is almost as easy as eating the fresh fruits of your labors.
Raspberry stock can be purchased either bare root or as established potted plants from nurseries.
When selecting raspberry plants for propagation, inspect the existing plants for vigor and health. Do not attempt to propagate from a patch with disease issues, or you risk spreading the disease to your new patch.
Maybe you already have a berry patch and would like to expand it. Or someone you know has a patch with excellent berries and vigorous plants well-adapted to your locale.
How to Grow Raspberries from Cuttings
To root a new raspberry cutting in soil:
Select a piece of stem that has about five leaf nodes.
Trim it off with sharp scissors or secateurs.
Gently remove the leaves from the bottom two or three nodes, leaving only the top two or three sets of leaves. The stripped nodes are where roots will develop.
Optionally, moisten the end of the stem and dip it in a rooting hormone. Raspberries are so easy to root that it’s okay to skip this step.
Fill a gallon-sized container or pot with well-moistened potting soil, a compost mix, or moist sand.
Poke the raspberry cutting down into the medium until it hits the bottom of the pot. If you used rooting hormone, make a hole with a pencil first, so the rooting hormone is not pushed off when inserting the cutting into the medium.
Firm up your starting medium around the stem and place it in a bright location out of direct sunlight.
Keep the medium moist, but not soggy.
In 2-3 weeks, you can check the progress of your new raspberry roots by gently giving the stem a little tug. If there is resistance, your raspberry cutting has grown roots. Be careful not to pull it out.
Continue to let it grow until well established. If there is time left in your growing season, your new raspberry can be planted out yet this year. Otherwise, wait until spring.
If overwintering in containers, keep your raspberry planters in a location safe from rabbits and sheltered from the worst of the cold. The soil in pots reaches lower temperatures than in the ground.
How to Propagate Raspberry Plants by Division
Select a sucker with a stout, slightly woody stem that is about six inches to a foot tall.
Dig around a bit at the base with your hands or a trowel, down a couple inches.
Grasp the plant at the newly exposed below-ground location and pull it up. The connection to the more extensive plant root system will break, but there should be some lateral roots and fine roots still attached. If not, select a new sprout and try again.
Fill a gallon-sized container with moist potting soil and plant your new raspberry, trimming the roots to fit but taking care not to trim off all of the fine roots that will support the plant.
If the top foliage is excessive, trim off some lower branches and leaves, so the fledgling root system does not have too much to support.
