[Shrugg]

I got a small allotment nearly a year ago and then earlier this year I got the plot next door. Previous allotment holder had 4 hexagonal raised beds and the rest was very uneven grass.
There's a lot of work to do on the new plot and I'm lifting the raised beds as tried to use them this year and they were hopeless due to size and shape.
However, one of the raised beds had autumn fruiting raspberries so thought I would leave them and see how well they did this year. The answer is, not very well at all possibly due to wild strawberries and bindweed.
My initial plan was to dig up the canes and move to Plot 1 (ensuring no bind weed) but I'm wondering whether its worth it as I don't know what variety they are or how old they are and based on the poor fruit this year should I just buy new.
Advice please!

[Nobbie]

I’d buy new to avoid being disappointed again next year. It also allows you to properly clear the area where the new canes go. New varieties are generally better and you don’t know how old the existing plants are as they have a limited productive life,

[Joe Hicks]

Personally, if you're not really short on cash I would start again. When I got my allotment there was a mass of unknown raspberries growing all over the place. I spent quite a while digging them all up and getting rid of them. Then I bought enough summer and autumn raspberries for two rows, each about six meters long. I used weed membrane in between the rows to reduce the need to weed. I bought the raspberries as bare root plants, which you will be able to get either now or on order for later in the autumn/winter, and they should be very cheap. I think in total my two rows cost something like £20-30 (I think that was for something like 10-12 plants per row), which considering they may stay productive for ten, fifteen or more years seems very good value to me. It also meant I got the varieties I wanted to better spread out the season and ensure I got tasty varieties. A few plants didn't establish but I got them replaced under guarantee. I bought them all from Ashridge Nurseries (no affiliation). Later on I also got a couple of unusual varieties from Lubera (a purple and black raspberry), but they can't deliver to UK customers anymore because of Brexit.

[mumofstig]

I'm giving up the back half of my allotment where most of the fruit bushes were, so thought I would dig up a few of the old Rasps to move. When I got down to the roots, they just didn't look very healthy, so I've ordered some new ones.
No point in moving very old plants, they aren't ever going to be as productive as young ones.
Different if you find you need to move young plants after a year or 2, they should still be in good condition at that stage.

[Growster...]

As everyone here, get some new ones when you can.

We had to use a pickaxe to get a load of old raaas out, as they were just unproductive and choked with weeds and grass, the same as your canes!

I'd go for 'Joan J' as they always seem to be there in abundance when lots of other soft fruit is finished, like straws and blackcurrants!

[MrsPea]

We grow Tulameen raspberry which an Autumn one it's still going i've picked bowlfulls this year 

[Goosegirl]

I'm planning on getting some and have looked at Chris Bowers, Pomona and Ken Muir as they are good quality firms. I want one with the old-fashioned tangy taste not the sweet ones I tried a few years ago at our old place as they weren't very nice. I am also looking at the purple one which I think is a rasp crossed with a blackberry or summat.

[mumofstig]

I'd go for 'Joan J' as they always seem to be there in abundance when lots of other soft fruit is finished, like straws and blackcurrants!

That's what I've ordered, they are just lovely - and so easy, just chop all growth to the ground in winter  I never bothered with the new-style half and half pruning, but still had a freezerful every year from my old plot.

[Growster...]

I'd go for 'Joan J' as they always seem to be there in abundance when lots of other soft fruit is finished, like straws and blackcurrants!

That's what I've ordered, they are just lovely - and so easy, just chop all growth to the ground in winter  I never bothered with the new-style half and half pruning, but still had a freezerful every year from my old plot.

This year, Mum, I've let them 'have their heads', and they have grown all over the place, without any tying in, because an old gardener once told me that if the tip is pointing down, the fruit at that point (which is the growing end), seems to produce a better crop, and It yup, it seems to have worked again!

[JayG]

I replaced half my row of Autumn Bliss with Joan J two years ago so they are now growing side by side.
JJ fruits are claimed to be half as big again as AB and better flavoured - for me it's true! 

I'd heard of 'raspberry replant disease' which also turned out to be true - some of my JJ struggled or even died in the first year, and I had to do a fair bit of plant juggling and soil replacement to overcome it.
(I was aware of the potential for problems but I didn't really have anywhere else suitable to move them to.)

[Growster...]

I'm planning on getting some and have looked at Chris Bowers, Pomona and Ken Muir as they are good quality firms. I want one with the old-fashioned tangy taste not the sweet ones I tried a few years ago at our old place as they weren't very nice. I am also looking at the purple one which I think is a rasp crossed with a blackberry or summat.

Isn't that a loganberry, Goosey?

[Goosegirl]

Just looking at Pomona's catalogue it's called Glencoe which is a cross between a black and a red rasp. Says it has spine-free canes, an intense flavour, makes delicious jams and forms a multi-clump which can grow between 10' to 15'!!  As the Pomona order is 2 x 9cm pots for £26.95 it's expensive but you can get one plant in a 1 litre pot from Victoriana for £9.95 or from Dobies in a 2L pot for a current discount price of £14.99 which are good prices for a trial rasp. I might get one and stick it in one of our 30L black buckets.

[Growster...]

They look marvellous, Goosey!

Go get 'em!