Intro to Raspberry Production and Uncommon Small Fruits Grant McCarty University of Illinois Extension Local Foods and Small Farms Educator Basics of Raspberry Production • Short-shelf life • Field or high tunnel production • A good U Pick option • Most are thorned • ‘Joan J’ an exception • Pruning will be an absolute must • Trellis needs in most cases • Most common= Red Type • But Yellow, Purple, and Black show increasing interest Basic Plant Structure •Canes live for two years • 1st Year: Primocanes • No fruit from them except if it’s an everbearing type. • Develop fruit buds in the fall • 2nd Year: Floricanes • Buds go dormant into 2nd year • Need 800 chilling hours (25-40 F) • Produce fruit and then die. • Floricanes pruned out Distinguishing primocanes from floricanes Raspberry Types •Red Raspberries • Red, Summer bearing (2-3 ft, 6- 10 ft btwn rows): • ‘Boyne’- very hardy, good for freezing • ‘Killarney’-good for fresh market • ‘Lauren’- good quality, large fruit • ‘Titan’- large, mild flavor • ‘Octavia’, ‘Encore’, ‘Tulamagic’, ‘Liberty’ Raspberry Types • Red, Everbearing (2-3ft, 6-10 ft) • Aka fall bearing/primocane fruiting • Mow off canes in late winter • Do not have to hand remove flouricane • Less disease pressure • Varieties • ‘Joan J’- early, spineless canes • ‘Jaclyn’- early, dark red • ‘Heritage’- good yields, hard to pick • ‘Anne’, ‘Nova’- good fruit size • ‘Josephine’- late season • ‘Autumn Bliss’, ‘Autumn Britten’ Raspberry Types •Non-Red • Yellow (2-3 ft, 6-10 ft between) • Red raspberry without red pigment • Will have everbearing and summer bearing types • ‘Goldie’ • ‘Amber’ • ‘Fall Gold’- good marketability • ‘Anne’- heat tolerant • ‘Honeyqueen’ (everbearing)-peach colored berries Raspberry Types •Black (4ft, 8-10 ft) • Not as winter hardy as red • Tend to be a bit more compact • Disease susceptible and less productive? • Varieties • ‘Bristol’- medium-large, firm fruit, high yield potential • ‘Jewel’- earlier ripening, anthracnose resistance, very hardy • ‘Blackhawk’- lg berries, vigorous • ‘Allen’- vigorous, moderate yields Raspberry Types • Purple (3-5ft, 10-12 ft) • Cross between red and black raspberries • Tend to be a bit more compact • Moderate hardiness • Fruit is larger and juicer than black • Varieties • ‘Brandywine’-large and tart fruit • ‘Royalty’-large and sweet fruit, not recommended for U Pick (based on growth) • ‘Estate’-flavor between Brandywine and Royalty Establishment • Full sun, well-drained soil, good air flow (but not too windy) • pH between 6.0-6.5 • Avoid planting in area with previous Verticillium susceptible crops • Pre-plant cover crop of Rye for weed control • Mix in compost before planting • Place the crown 1-2 inches above soil surface • Red/Yellow Raspberries: allow to spread to 12 inches • Purple/Black: will “hill” into a cluster Planting Systems • Hill system - Plants grown in hills, wide spacing, weed control by cultivation between and within row, recommended for gently sloping areas. Good for black and purple types of raspberries. • Hedgerow system - Plants are grown in continuous rows about one to two feet wide to form a hedge. Control by cultivation confined to one direction. More space saving, good for cultivars that produce a lot of suckers. Good for red and yellow raspberries. • Linear system - A modification of the two above, no suckers are allowed to grow by cultivating the width around the parent plant. Good for black and purple raspberries. High Tunnel Raspberries • Fertility should be lower on N • May need to consider a double-plastic layer • Keep up with moisture in bed- double drip • Issues: Spider Mites, Powdery Mildew • Results from Dixon Springs: • ‘Joan J’- best performing, thornless, good flavor • ‘Autumn Britten’- 2nd best, fruit size easy to harvest • ‘Nanthahala’- poor performer, maybe colder climate Mulching • Landscape fabric (Planting) • Expect several years of use • Can restrict primocanes emergence from roots • Plastic (Planting) • Needs irrigation • Usually breaks down within one season • Can restrict primocanes emergence from roots • Organic Mulches • Annual replacement • Labor intensive? Established Needs • Established Plants • Apply 2-4 ounces of ammonium nitrate per original plant every spring or alternatively use equivalent lower rates of 10-10-10 compound fertilizers. • Ensure higher fertilizer rates in sandy soils and with older plants. • Keep the area between rows weed free. This can also be achieved by seeding perennial grass or a mixture of grass and a legume as a cover crop. • When controlling weeds around the plants, do not dig 2-3 inches deep to avoid root injury. • Use trellis support to protect plants from wind injury. Raspberry Fruiting • For U Pick and longer season, look to have mix of early and late maturity • Reds/Yellows • Terminal buds bloom 1st and progress on laterals and on down to lower laterals • Fruit ripens over an extended period of time • Blacks and Purple • Fruit ripens over a short period of time • 2 to 2.5 weeks of production Bramble Diseases • Some varieties have disease resistance • Good airflow, pruning, trellising, and spacing can help prevent disease • Cane Blight • Start in wound sites of the primocanes. • Spreads through the cane from the wound and causes cankers to form. • Cankers caused by the cane blight fungus start out as reddish- brown streaks under the bark. • If the infection girdles the stem, the entire cane may wilt and die. Raspberry/Blackberry Cane Blight Raspberry Spur Blight Bramble Diseases • Anthracnose • Little round, sunken pits in the bark of the cane. • Spots are white to pale tan, while the margins sometimes are a purplish red. • Smaller spots than other blights • Very common on black raspberries but it can also occur on susceptible red raspberry varieties. Uncommon Small Fruits • Potentially expand your market • Reach new customers • Potentially diversify your operation • Suggestion: Test plot and talk to others • Major drawback: Not as much research as others • Variety and pest unknowns • Climate issues • General growth characteristics Grower Challenges • Who is your buyer going to be? • Grower Groups? Value added buyer? Standard direct marketing channel? • Know before you grow! • Uncertainty of market potential • Larger risk than others • Current vs. future trends • Educational gap between consumer and grower • Most are not fresh eating • Needs a market/buyer • Aronia, Chokeberry, many others Grower challenges • Do not always fit well on production scale • Figs, Hardy Kiwi, Paw Paws • Labor Needs • Reliance on hand picking • Needs to be processed and/or combined with other fruit • Seaberry, Wolfberry/Goji, Honeyberry/Haskaps, Persimmons, Hazelnuts • FSMA Compliance/Processing License may be needed Potential Opportunities Currants (Zones 4-6) • Black currants and white pines are extremely susceptible to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) • Introduced (white pine blister rust) into the U.S. around 1900 • Red currants exhibit varying degrees of susceptibility. • Always choose resistant cultivars • Black – ‘Consort’, ‘Crusader’, and ‘Titania’ • Better suited to a cool site • Will tolerate shade in hotter climates • Multi-stemmed shrub or trained as a standard White Pine Blister Rust Photo credit: Washington State Department of Natural Resources Photo credit: Robert L. Anderson, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org Examples of Resistance to White Pine Blister Rust • Black currant: • Blackcomb, Canada RIB0112, Consort (Prince Consort), Crusader, Coronet, Crandall, 'Doch Siberyachki (Daughter of Siberia), Kosmioleskaja, Lowes Auslese, Minaj smyriou, Pilot Alexander Mamkin, Polar, Risager , Tahsis, Titania, Willoughby • Red currant: • Rondom • White currant: • White Imperial, White Currant 1301 Gooseberry ( • In the currant family • Gooseberries exhibit varying degrees of susceptibility to white pine blister rust • Always choose resistant cultivars • Very tart when eaten raw • Excellent in jams and pies • Better suited to a cool site • Will tolerate shade in hotter climates Gooseberry • Types of gooseberry plants • American • Tend to be smaller fruited • ‘Poorman’ (red), ‘Hinnonmaki Red’ (red), ‘Pixwell’ (Pinkish) • European cultivars • Larger and better flavored (not always); make sure to select mildew resistant cultivars • ‘Invicta’ (yellow-green) • Susceptible to leaf spot • American x European • ‘Captivator’ (deep red) Examples of Resistance to White Pine Blister Rust •Gooseberries: • Achilles, Canada O-273, Captivator, Columbus, Downing, Glenton Green, Golda, Hinnomaen kiltaenen green (Hinnomaki yellow), Howards Lancer, InvictaJahns Prairie, Jeanne, Josselyn, Oregon, Pixwell, Poorman, Sabine, Whitesmith Jostaberry/pruterberry/yostaberry Zones 4-7 • Cross between gooseberries and 2 species of black currants • Seems to be highly resistant to white pine blister rust • Thornless • Fruit are deep black, tart, and borne singly like gooseberries • Don’t ripen evenly Image courtesy www.starkbros.com Hybrid Berries Blackberries (Rubus ursinus, R. Fruticosus) and Raspberries (R. idaeus) • Loganberry (California, USA, 1883), R. × loganobaccus, a spontaneous cross between R. ursinus 'Aughinbaugh' and R. idaeus 'Red Antwerp' • Boysenberry (USA, 1920s), a cross between R. idaeus and R. × loganobaccus • Veitchberry (Europe, 1930s), a cross between R. fruticosus and R. idaeus • Marionberry (1956), now thought to be a blackberry cultivar R. 'Marion' • Silvanberry, R. 'Silvan', a cross between R. 'Marion' and boysenberry • Tayberry (Dundee, Scotland, 1979), another blackberry/raspberry cross