Raspberries

ampersand

It's that time again, or is it?

I'm often late cutting down old canes, but this year the undersides of leaves now look sooty and everything's bedraggled, including late limbo-land fruit which even the birds disdain.

Is it too soon to fell the old canes? We haven't had a really cold spell yet and that's usually the signal for taking them down.
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Supplementary -
Planted some of my extras down in S of France a few years ago and last year did the usual pruning. I wasn't there this season, but friend's young grandson complained about no framboises to grand'mère. Everything's been tended as usual in a verdant valley full of produce. Leafy canes, but no framboises.
Any ideas? Won't be down again for a month or so.

Linda32

Both Summer and Autumn fruiting raspberries should really be pruned by now. It just depends when they fruited as to how you do it.

If you had fruit in the Summer you need to cut right down to the ground the canes which had fruit on this year. You know which ones they are, as they will hopefully be tied to supports. If they fruited around September/October then they won't need quite so much support and you cut down all of the canes.

Can't help with gardening in the South of France.

DigForVictory

Heads out into the night with headtorch & secateurs...
Thank you!

And likewise, unable to comment on the ways of framboises en Sud, but surely if one severe pruning did not suffice to produce amazing fruit, then a firm reminder may be in order?

sheramber

Summer fruiting raspberreis are pruned when fruiting has finished. Mine are oruned in August s fruiting finsihes then.
Cut out the old fruiting canes down to the ground. Next year's fruiting will be on the current year's new growth so cutting out the old canes allow all the energy to go into the new canes.

Autumn fruiting raspberries are pruned when fruiting is finished and before February. Cut all canes to the ground as fruiting is on the new growth each year.

Did you prune the raspberries correctly. If you cut off the new growth on summer fruiting raspberries then you cut off the fruiting canes.

mel48rose

Mine have only just finished flowering. I will cut them down in Feb. They fruit like mad every year, I love em.

ampersand

Thankyou all, I do know about when/how to deal with them, but I'm somewhat brain disengaged at present and didn't i.d. them.
It was the soot factor that concerned me.
These are autumn fruiters, but start early July-ish - thumbjoint size, go on, becoming huge - thumblength and heavy, until they stop, nowish.
They - and this year's rhubarb crowns, which have taken themselves to bed - are my mass crop dependables and I let them get on with it. The only staking is where the 8-10' arcs hinder me.
Happens often, so there's a x-lattice of 12' canes atm, to let me leave along path.
I always fell the lot.
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'Mine have only just finished flowering. I will cut them down in Feb. They fruit like mad every year, I love em'
Agree, mel48rose. It's Marie Celeste on them this year and I asked elsewhere about secondary leaf bracts bursting from axils of fruited canes. These seemed flimsy and I knocked a fair few off when mowing or jungling through when picking. The weight of their 'second coming' green fruits on soft green stems didn't help.