Growing Raspberries in Montana
 | Author:
Allison Kosto, MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent
MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent |
Growing Raspberries in Montana
Allison Kosto
MSU Broadwater County Extension Agent
Eating a fresh raspberry straight out of the garden brings flashbacks of my childhood and eating raspberries out of my mother’s and grandmother’s raspberry patches. My mom always had a huge raspberry patch. That is until my sister hit it with weed spray; a mistake we’ll never let her live down. That was the end of the raspberry patch, but the memories have lived on. A few years ago, I added raspberries to our garden and those memories came flooding back.
While there are a few challenges with raspberries, they are still one of the easier berries to grow in Montana. They are classified into two bearing habits: June-bearing and everbearing. Despite their name, June-bearing raspberries will perform through most of the summer into August. They are the most common and only have one crop per year. Everbearing raspberries are less common and have two crops in the spring and fall. However, it is fairly common for the fall crop to freeze out, making June-bearing the more popular choice.
There are four types of raspberries: red, yellow, black and purple. Red June-bearing is the most common and are typically the hardiest. Yellow raspberries were developed from a color mutation and can also be hardy. Black is the least hardy. Purple raspberries are a hybrid between red and black. They are intermediate in hardiness and are less popular due to their strong flavor. However, the flavor holds up well for cooking and baking.
Raspberries prefer full sun. They can be subject to winter desiccation so protection from the wind will help reduce winter losses. Raspberries need supplemental moisture but don’t do well in waterlogged soils. Wild raspberries, which are native to Montana, can share several diseases with cultivated raspberries, so plant at least 300 feet away from wild raspberries.
Ideally, raspberries should be planted dormant in the very early spring or late fall. However, they can be planted at other times as well with decent success. Plants should be set 2 to 5 feet apart. This might seem far, but they will fill in quickly with suckers. Use pruning strategies to maintain a bed that is 3 to 4 feet wide. Plants will not produce much or anything for the first year or two.
Pruning is critical for raspberries to maintain optimum production. Raspberries produce two types of canes. First-year canes are called primocanes and second-year canes are called floricanes. June-bearing types fruit on the floricanes. After they fruit, the floricanes can be removed, usually in the spring the following year. Everbearing types fruit a little differently with two crops on the same cane. However, they can also be removed after fruiting. Thin remaining canes to 6 inches apart. Raspberries tend to droop when they are heavy with fruit. They can be trained using a wire between posts to help keep them upright.
Fertilizer is often needed to produce higher yields. A soil test is ideal. If one is not available, a complete fertilizer (such as a 10-10-10) or a nitrogen fertilizer is most likely needed. Iron deficiencies are also common with raspberries due to the alkaline soils in Montana. Iron deficiencies result in interveinal chlorosis, where the leaf turns yellow, but the veins stay bright green. Iron fertilizer annually is beneficial for raspberries or as needed when symptoms appear.
There are a few different pests that can affect raspberries,s including aphids, mites, pear slugs and root rot. Maintaining healthy vegetation is the best way to combat insects and diseases. Vertebrate pests such as birds, rodents and deer can also be an issue and may require fencing or netting. Raspberries are also subject to winter damage. Warm winters like this one are especially hard on raspberries if the temperature gets above 41 degrees for several days. If the temperatures fall again, it will kill the active tissue. Winter-damaged canes will often still survive but may have undersized leaves, yellowing and/or small fruit.
Contact your local MSU Extension Office for recommendations on managing pests and diseases, along with any other questions about growing raspberries. MSU Extension in Broadwater County in Townsend can be found at 416 Broadway or contact us at 406-266-9242 or allison.kosto@montana.edu.
