[Janeymiddlewife]

Much to the amusement of the old-timers OH and I carefully built raspberry supports last year and planted Autumn Bliss, which have produced a few fruit this year. They are planted through weed suppressing membrane.
I would like to interplant them with early summer fruiting raspberries, to make good use of the supports, so here's the question:-
Should I remove the membrane so the new shoots can pop up, or will they just push their way through anyway?
&
Will i get totally confused growing both varieties together, as I believe summer fruiters are a lot bigger and should be easier to spot??
thanks

[Yorkie]

If the membrane is sufficiently durable, the shoots will not be able to push their way through without holes being made for them, I would have thought.

I don't grow raspberries but others have asked the interplanting question recently and I believe that answers included a comment that it is harder to prune where they are mixed together; if they are separated then you just go down the row and apply the appropriate regime to the whole lot.

[Janeymiddlewife]

Thanks Yorkie - I might bung the autumn bliss somewhere else then once they're dormant and put the new ones in instead - not sure how they'll take to being moved again though!

[DD.]

I would advise against planting them together, you'd lose the ease with which you can prune the Autumn ones.

My Autumn Bliss are actually larger than the summer ones we inherited and if planted together would actually overwhelm them. The "hedge" of raspberries is now at least 32' x 6' - plus overhang.

[Janeymiddlewife]

I would advise against planting them together, you'd lose the ease with which you can prune the Autumn ones.

My Autumn Bliss are actually larger than the summer ones we inherited and if planted together would actually overwhelm them.

Ecky thump    So I might need the supports for the Autumn bliss then DD?

[DD.]

I don't support them, but if I was desperate for space I'd tie them back a bit.

[New shoot]

I've got Autumn Bliss on the allotment and for the first couple of years, I grew them without any supports at all. It worked but they did flop over and I lost quite a bit of fruit as it got muddy/squashed/munched

So a couple of years ago built some supports. They consist a central post with a cross bar top and bottom and wire strung end to end if that makes sense    I've got 2 rows of what were 5 canes when they went in, but it's a double hedge now like DD has. The wire holds it in & I thread the escapee canes back inside.

Has made a huge difference to yield - get loads of fab huge fruits, so I'd go for more supports.

The old timers love my contraptions too - you should have seen them when I was bodging....sorry constructing....my veg cage 

[Janeymiddlewife]

Hiya newshoot - whereabouts in Reading is your plot? I'm on the Reading Road site in Woodley 

[Kristen]

Hmmm ... interesting point.

I've had my Raspberries [both Summer and Autumn fruiting] two seasons now.  Have had good crops and haven't got around to putting up any supporting wires yet ... and nothing has fallen over.

Am I not feeding them enough, been lucky, or something else do you think?

[tode]

Some rasps are 'stockier' than others.  I've always found my Summer ones to be shorter and stronger than the Autumn fruiting.  This year though, they've both gone bananas: the Autumn ones are 8 feet plus !    At least I don't have to bend down to pick em   

I'd put up wires at about 4foot6, but am having a real job supporting em this year.

[New shoot]

Hi Janeymiddlewife - I'm on the Oakley Road site in Caversham. Clay soil but good once you have got enough compost into it 

[Janeymiddlewife]

Hi Janeymiddlewife - I'm on the Oakley Road site in Caversham. Clay soil but good once you have got enough compost into it 

Is that the one behind the school, on a bit of a hill??

[New shoot]

No - it's at the end of the road the school is on. You turn left up the hill at the crossroads/mini roundabout thing.

Ours has a slope but the one behind the school needs ropes and crampons. The council offered me a plot there but it was mostly trees from what I could see