Raspberries, blackberries and blueberries

Jacey53

Hi all

I would like to grow some raspberries, blackberries and blueberries if possible in my small south-facing garden.

Could anyone advise me of reliable varieties? I believe that there are summer and autumn fruiting raspberries - how do i find out which are which?

Is it best to buy from a local source or do mail-order suppliers have a better selection?

I get bewildered by so much choice.

Thank you to all on this forum - i will become a gardener with your help.

Jacey

Kimonokawaii

I'm looking into raspberries and blueberries myself as a first timer. The things I have learnt so far is to get 'spine-free' raspberries and that to produce blueberries you'll need 2 plants to pollenate each other. I don't think it matters whether you get summer or autumn fruiting raspberries...I'm leaning towards autumn but only because I have an allotment and I don't want to be overfaced with a glut of produce all in the summer months. As for varieties I'm afriad I too am pretty clueless...I'm planning on getting The Kitchen Garden Magazine this month as it has a special on soft fruits. Maybe that will help us!!

lufoo7

Blueberries need acidic soil so are either best grown in pots of special compost or you need to fill their planting holes with special compost, or i guess you could spend some time turning your soil acidic by adding stuff to it. if you do plant them in the ground you need to monitor the ph of the soil on a regular basis.

i grow autumn bliss raspberries, the way to tell the difference is autumn ones fruit on new growth and summer ones fruit on last years growth.

j parker bulbs offer good prices but tend to sell in large amounts so it really depends on how many you want

Lotus-eater

There are some good threads on here about varieties of raspberries and blueberries, if you search you should easily find them.

Do you really need to grow blackberries? Or can you find them in the wild.
If you can find them in the world, think about growing something slightly different, I would recommend Loganberries, really heavy amounts of great tasting fruit, that crops for a long time.

Kimonokawaii

I havbe a local supply of wild blackberries so I haven't bothered growing any. Loganberries were recommended to me by a fellow allotmenteer but I hadn't looked into them, since a second recommendation has come in, I'll check them out!

billieboy_2

I got some raspberry canes last October through Freecycle from someone very local to me, maybe worth a try. If they don't take, the lady has said I can have some more in the Spring :j. Only problem, I don't know what variety they are.

midnightraven3

my teen son just brought me blueberry, raspberry & redcurrant plants from poundland of all places

i sat them on the window sill, last week, and today they have green leaves poking out the top!!!

Farway

Raspberries, a big difference between Autumn & Summer fruiting is the care required

Summer fruiting need supports, and the pruning [for novices] can be confusing, Autumn fruiting is easy, no support needed, cut to ground in winter, that's it

Blackberries, as OP only has small garden then these may be a continual struggle to keep in check, as may all derivatives like loganberry, boysenbery etc. However I do think despite this an out of the normal berry would be best choice, Tayberry maybe?

macma

We grow both summer and autumn raspberries on our allotment,the summer variety are a pain ,fiddly to prune and they need support AND they are diddy little things compared to Autumn Bliss which are fab ,no support whopping fruit and just chop the lot down at this time of year ('doing mine tomorrow)Blueberries are best in pots because of the compost AND you must remember to water them with rainwater !
Ps we only grow the summer rasps 'cos they come a bit earlier.

conradmum

midnightraven3 wrote: »

my teen son just brought me blueberry, raspberry & redcurrant plants from poundland of all places

i sat them on the window sill, last week, and today they have green leaves poking out the top!!!

Actually, it isn't a very good idea to keep these plants indoors. They're outdoor plants. Blueberries at least need a period of winter cold in order to fruit the next year. At the moment your plants are sprouting because the warmth inside your house has tricked them into thinking it's spring.

I would put them outside as soon as you can but you'll need to reacclimatise them to winter first, so put them out for increasing amounts of the daytime for a few days, then maybe one night before planting them in their final positions or heeling them in (placing the roots in a shallow trench in the soil so they don't dry out.) Blueberries will only tolerate an acid soil so you may need to put this one in a pot of ericaceous compost.

Dave101t

i put in my 1st rasberry plants last year, fruited 1st year too, looking forward to the new shoots and to see what year 2 brings! yes there are loads of threads on here, do a search, i remember buying from fothergills, thompson & morgan, and alan roman, all good special offers.
still not found any snozberries tho....