[tinalfc]

Hi All,

I'm new to all this posting on forums and stuff though I have consulted such areas for advice in the past!

I need some help! I have 2 varieties of raspberries in my garden - summer and autumn fruiting.  I planted them last year and got a bit of fruit - nothing to boast about though! As it was their first year, I let them off! I pruned them properly last year and although they have grown enormous and have flowered, there is no fruit! The flowers are brown and look dried up! I can see the beginnings of a berry on a couple (and only a couple!) of flowers but they will not develop any more than that!  There are plenty of insects around (I have grown bergamot near them) and I can see that pollination is taking place but still no fruit! I would expect the autumn canes to start fruiting now - but nothing! There are no other obvious signs of disease or pests so I just don't know what has happened!

I'm in Leicestershire in case that helps anyone!

Would appreciate any advice!

Many thanks

Tina

[KT]

Are they getting enough water? mine are in a quite shady spot and the tree's shelter them, i find that even if it rains regually they don't get enough water because the trees act as an umbrella, so i have to water them seperatly.

[Paul Plots]

Hello tinalfc...

Please do go to the Welcome pages and introduce yourself so others know you have joined us. It's nice to say hello.

Also... if you could let us know more or less which part of the world you are in answers to any questions that you post can be better suited to your region. 

[gillie]

tinalfc tells us she is in Leicestershire.  Have you  had a dry summer or a terribly dry summer?  Raspberries need a lot of water.  Mulching heavily helps too.

Gillie

[vet]

I've had the same problem with my raspberries this year. The fruit I did get was small and not so nice, my fault as I left the raspberries to their own devices while I struggled with the rest of the plot

[Paul Plots]

tinalfc tells us she is in Leicestershire. 

Gillie

Sorry - missed that!

My raspberries have not been at their best either - I should have watered and mulched but didn't  - partly because they were hiding on the other side of 5 rows of potato plant foliage  :blink:

A good weed and then a feed followed by lots of water if it's dry would help for sure.

[Christine]

I'm with Learner, plenty of water is essential and generosity with the fertiliser helps. As raspberries are fairly shallow rooted, you will find that you need to top up the soil in the bed every season if they are anything like mine (spent compost from tubs, home made compost, whatever you can scrounge).

[Goosegirl]

Mine are in raised beds and I lifted all mine out autumn before last, added more topsoil as the level had shrunk, then replanted. Last year there wasn't a lot of fruit - to be expected - and it rained a lot too - but this year... I've never had so much growth and thick canes! I agree - good drainage, not too alkaline, plenty of mulch and top it up in autumn for next year and plenty of feed. I wonder that, like strawberries, if it's best to feed after fruiting so that next year's canes are in good form.?

[shokkyy]

I had the same problem with my raspberries this year, lots of vigorous growth but dried up withered flowers instead of fruit. I was kind of watering them but not as well as I should have been, basically because they were hiding behind tomato plants that had turned into triffids

Do raspberries like well rotted manure, or too rich for them? I've got access to an enormous heap of well rotted horse manure at my horse's yard, so I'm planning to spread a fair bit around this autumn, but I'm trying to work out which plants like it and which ones don't.

[Paul Plots]

Mine are in raised beds and I lifted all mine out autumn before last, added more topsoil as the level had shrunk, then replanted. Last year there wasn't a lot of fruit - to be expected - and it rained a lot too - but this year... I've never had so much growth and thick canes! I agree - good drainage, not too alkaline, plenty of mulch and top it up in autumn for next year and plenty of feed. I wonder that, like strawberries, if it's best to feed after fruiting so that next year's canes are in good form.?

I'm moving all of mine this autumn and sorting them out instead of having different fruiting times all jumbled up in a line. 

I'm going to aim for a well dug fertile stretch of soil with plenty of compost below them and a mulch over their roots once the spring comes along. 

[tinalfc]

Oh WOW!!!

Thanks for all the replies guys!! I didn't realise people had replied as I am finding it difficult to navigate my way around this site! I'm not new to the internet or anything but I'm just finding this site a little confusing!  I ended up typing "raspberries" in the search bar in order to find my post!! I'll get there in the end....Anyway - I didn't want to seem rude for not replying sooner....

Well, from what you have all said, it seems that I have made the school boy error of not watering them enough! I feel terrible! I have watered them, of course, but maybe should have given them a bit more attention. My only excuse is that I had a baby in January so the garden has had to take a back seat!!  I will see if I can salvage anything this year.  If not, I will do as suggested and dig them up, top up the raised bed with plenty of compost (home made) and fertiliser, mulch in spring and make sure I water them WELL next year!!!

We have had quite a bit of rain this summer but I suppose it struggled to get through to the soil as I've lots of new raspberry canes shooting out of nowhere....they need a good tidying....any volunteers?!

Thanks again and I will go onto the Welcome Page and formally introduce myself!
 

[Paul Plots]

tinalfc

Click on "Profile" (top of the page) the scroll down a bit and find on the left "Modify Profile"

Nextish: "Notifications and emal"........ then you can choose to receive emailed notification of replies to your posts that way you will know when someone responds to your posts.

Well, that's the theory 

[gillie]

I have made the school boy error of not watering them enough! ... If not, I will do as suggested and dig them up, top up the raised bed with plenty of compost (home made) and fertiliser, mulch in spring and make sure I water them WELL next year!!!

I would not dig them up unless you have to, let them settle in but by all means give them a feed and a good mulch.  The new shoots will crop next year.  You can cut down the old ones, which will be dying back, sometime soon.

Summer raspberries are always a bit temperamental - too little rain and they shrivel, too much and they rot!

Gillie