Pruning the raspberry

In Portugal, raspberries are commonly grown under cover, in tunnels or greenhouses, which allows two harvests a year:

• Late spring/summer – floricanes;
• In autumn – primocanes.

For the crop to be of good quality, two prunings a year are needed. The practice makes the operation more expensive, so it is necessary to assess whether the crop justifies the labour costs.

Summer pruning

• Excess lateral shoots are thinned out;
• Up to 5 primocanes are selected to form the basis of the autumn crop and the rest are thinned out;
• After the floricanes have been harvested, the canes that have already fruited are removed.

Winter pruning

• Carried out after the autumn harvest and leaf fall - defoliate first if necessary;
• The central stem is cut back;
• Unwanted and weak shoots are thinned out;
• The lateral branches are cut back to two buds.

The raspberry plant is especially vulnerable after winter pruning, since wounds take longer to heal in a damper environment. Measures should therefore be taken, such as:

• Disinfecting pruning tools;
• Applying Bordeaux mixture after pruning;
• Removing and burning contaminated pruning waste.

Do you follow these pruning practices?

Tell us in the comments!