Which raspberry ???

Zeusiblue

Hi all looking to try and grow rasberrys again next year. The one cane i planted this year died .:( In your opinions which of the varieties below have you had success with ?

Raspberry 'Glen Ample' (6 canes)
Most widely grown variety! (mid)
£12.50 £10.63
Raspberry 'Joan J' (6 canes)
Giant Fruits! (autumn)
£13.50 £11.48
Raspberry 'Malling Minerva' (6
(6 canes)
Spine-free canes! (early)
£12.50 £10.63

smallblueplanet

We grow JoanJ which are an autumn fruiting variety. They grow like weeds! I prefer autumn fruiting because they are less fuss - just cut them back in late winter and you're good to go for the next year. They're tasty and prolific...

valk_scot

I grow Joan J plus one of the other summer fruiting Glen varieties. (Can't recall exactly which.) If I only had room for one type though I'd go for Joan J every time. The berries are huge and very juicy, very prolific and there's something very satisfying about picking raspberries in early October! (They'll start fruiting in late August and keep going till the first frosts.) The one thing I will say about Joan J is that the high juice content makes the berries very soft and they don't keep at all well...I eat mine on the day of picking and if I want to collect a quantity for jam, I freeze them till I have enough to use.

The canes are far easier to care for too, as has been said. Cut them down after fruiting, leave. If you get canes of Joan J this winter you'll get a crop next September while with the summer fruiting types you're looking at a year for them to establish themselves, then cropping will start in summer 2012.

Kiwisaver_2

I'm also looking at Raspberries and wonder how many canes would one need to yield a couple of pounds of fruit?

smallblueplanet

We started with 3 canes - they throw suckers like weeds...we gave loads to the neighbours and dig loads up... We probably got a couple of pounds of fruit from the autumn fruiting JoanJ in the 1st year, 2nd year we got much, much more.

silvasava

Just came across this thread - I've been working on the garden today transplanting Raspberries! I got my canes through Freecycle & it looks as if I've got some autumn fruiting ones so I'm very pleased. DH has made a nice raised bed with lots of horse s***t & I've planted wild strawberries all round the edge as they're not invasive & fruit all year round - only trouble is you need a lot of plants as the fruit isn't very large but very tasty. Looking forward to a good crop of both next year!

zarazara

how does Joan J compare with Autumn Bliss? has anyone tried both?

markandkate

Most varieties from reputable growers are fine but agree that you should have some autumn rapberries. I am picking them at the moment. I had a good cropin June /July and a second one now which is great

Zeusiblue

Thank you for all your replies and useful information JoanJ it is then. Cant wait to see results.Just hope i get to them before the birds do