Can raspberries fruit on previously fruited canes?

NinjaB

I have an allotment and didn't plant the raspberries myself and this will be my third year. I had some great yellow ones last year that fruited from May through to October. I had some rubbish red ones that came and went within weeks. The first year they had all been cut down when I arrived. The second year was as above. Now ... I thought you pruned the canes that had fruited the previous year. I cut some down today and then noticed they are all sprouting. Are there any raspberries that fruit on the same cane two years in a row? or am I safe to cut ones that have previously fruited. I tied ribbon around the fruiting ones last year so sure which ones they are but after I saw the sprouting have panicked that I have destroyed this years crop.

Does anyone know for sure?

thanks

Farway

Depends if summer or autumn fruiting variety

The summer ones fruit on last years canes, the autumn fruiting ones fruit on this years new canes

Both will fruit if left alone & un-pruned, but the crop weight & size will not be as good, witness the many "volunteers" growing wild, no one prunes them, they still fruit

DaftyDuck

As above, they'll fruit, but the yield will be low, there may well be a higher proportion of diseased fruit, and the weaker stems will be prone to breaking.

The old stems will continue to spout indefinitely, year after year. In the wild, these stems fall to the ground, root, and grow on as "new" stems.

Best prune away, and get your fruit from the new stems. Like so many plants, it seems counter-intuitive, to cut away all that valuable growth, but it's done that way for good reason.

NinjaB

Shall snip away all the canes that bore fruit last year without fear tomorrow now
thanks