Best raspberry cane variety

[russell]

Hi all

Im looking for autumn fruiting thornless raspberry canes I’d they exist please.

fot a south facing garden and my raspberries go crazy every year.

the kids help me pick but the canes ive got are full of thorns and I hve to hold them with gardening gloves on.

any advice would be great.

thanks

[B Porcupine]

Hi russell,

I would say Joan J. Lovely tasty large fruits, no thorns. Very easy to prune and I don't bother netting them (like I had to with the summer ones). This year they started fruiting in July (yeah, a bit early) and they generally fruit through to October. My freezer and jam cupboard are full!

Someone recc Polka to me, so I am growing both but I prefer Joan J. Although it does not have thorns, Polka is prickly, which was a surprise. and I think the fruits are smaller and lighter coloured. I won't grub them out but I prefer the Joans.

I think these have "replaced" Autumn Bliss", a variety I grew many years ago.

[burnie]

A trick I've been doing with autumn fruiting canes is I cut around half to the ground after fruiting and half I reduce by around 50 %, then next year the longer canes seem to fruit earlier and the ones cut to the ground fruit in autumn, extends the picking season for us a bit.

[Bren In Pots]

I do that as well Burnie, mine are autumn bliss they’re a tasty raspberry they don’t have large spines but do have kind of prickles that catch your arms.

[MarkPelican]

I like Polka. But wait until they are good and ripe. That said, I've had a bad year this year. For reasons I don't know, they grew taller than normal (6ft) and then in the recent winds, they've got severely whipped about and much of the fruit has come off or the tops have got broken so they haven't filled out. Don't know if Joan J are shorter?

[annie8]

I bought Joan j bare root canes early this year, but they all died. Shame I had been looking forward to trying them.

[It never rains..it pours]

Polka got 6ft here too and dont like the wind. Think the summer double cropping has forced the autumn canes to grow higher above the summer canes and now weak the summer cut/taken out. But can't moan as summer canes yielded well. Have tried Joan J too this year and have one out of 5 bare root canes alive. Wonder if they don't tolerate wet clay soil like Polka do here

[B Porcupine]

Hmm, I am on heavy clay and Joan J seems fine here. I do no dig, so there was about 3-4” of compost added before I planted them and they get another 1-2” manure/compost each winter, but that is it. Some years are just not good for starting plants off - too dry, too wet, too hot....or all of the above!

[Dorothyrouse]

Sorry to ‘ high jack post’! But my Autumn fruiting raspberries seem to be tasteless compared to the summer fruiting ones, this is their first real year of producing fruit. They are Polka, as mentioned above, will they improve? ( sorry if that’s a silly question) but I’m thinking of getting rid!

[MarkPelican]

Sorry to ‘ high jack post’! But my Autumn fruiting raspberries seem to be tasteless compared to the summer fruiting ones, this is their first real year of producing fruit. They are Polka, as mentioned above, will they improve? ( sorry if that’s a silly question) but I’m thinking of getting rid!

I know this might be a silly answer but "are you letting them get ripe enough"? My better half used to tell me off for picking them too early. Now I only pick every other day and make one pass picking the ones that are properly "dark". They must come off very easily.

I don't think the canes get better with age.

Finally I've only grown for autumn, not both summer and autumn but I've not got a lot of space.

[Dorothyrouse]

Yes, as they are very dark red, and come off stem very easily, almost breaking up.

[peanut]

Sorry to ‘ high jack post’! But my Autumn fruiting raspberries seem to be tasteless compared to the summer fruiting ones, this is their first real year of producing fruit. They are Polka, as mentioned above, will they improve? ( sorry if that’s a silly question) but I’m thinking of getting rid!

Have you had a lot of rain recently? Raspberries are shallow rooted. When there has been a lot of rain this can water down their flavour considerably. Taste them again after a few days of warm dry weather, you should notice a much better flavour then.

[It never rains..it pours]

Hmm, I am on heavy clay and Joan J seems fine here. I do no dig, so there was about 3-4” of compost added before I planted them and they get another 1-2” manure/compost each winter, but that is it. Some years are just not good for starting plants off - too dry, too wet, too hot....or all of the above!

Hope you are right as im keen to try different varieties, but rainfall is rather higher here than east anglia

[It never rains..it pours]

Sorry to ‘ high jack post’! But my Autumn fruiting raspberries seem to be tasteless compared to the summer fruiting ones, this is their first real year of producing fruit. They are Polka, as mentioned above, will they improve? ( sorry if that’s a silly question) but I’m thinking of getting rid!

In my experience polka taste did improve over the first two years. They dont like dry spells either not that thats an issue here often

[Hillwalker]

Sorry to ‘ high jack post’! But my Autumn fruiting raspberries seem to be tasteless compared to the summer fruiting ones, this is their first real year of producing fruit. They are Polka, as mentioned above, will they improve? ( sorry if that’s a silly question) but I’m thinking of getting rid!

I've grown Joan J and Polka for years, to be able to eat raspberries in Autumn. I've found them to be the best tasting of the Autumn varieties, and they avoid the dreaded raspberry beetle, but they're not a patch on a decent summer variety.