Raspberry
Spreads by underground suckers and will colonise well beyond its original planting spot if left unmanaged, so it's worth planting somewhere suckers can be mowed or dug out easily, or containing the roots with buried edging. Needs a sturdy trellis or wire support to keep canes upright and fruit accessible. Summer-fruiting and autumn-fruiting varieties are pruned differently, so it's worth knowing which type you have before cutting anything back.
- Sun
- full sun
- Water
- moderate
- Spacing
- 60cm
- Harvest
- Ready in about 1-2 years
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Grows in
- Whangārei / Northland, Auckland, Hamilton / Waikato, Tauranga / Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Napier / Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth / Taranaki, Palmerston North / Manawatū-Whanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Tasman, Blenheim / Marlborough, West Coast, Christchurch / Canterbury, Dunedin / Otago, Invercargill / Southland
- Expected yield
- 1-2kg per plant per season
- Cost to grow
- ~$15 NZD
- Grocery value
- ~$70 NZD
- Mature height
- 1.8m
- Flowering season
- Oct, Nov
- Evergreen
- No, deciduous
- Common diseases
- Cane blight, Root rot in poorly drained soil
- Common pests
- Birds (fruit), Aphids
When to plant by region
In Whangārei / Northland, Auckland, Hamilton / Waikato, Tauranga / Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Napier / Hawke's Bay, New Plymouth / Taranaki, Palmerston North / Manawatū-Whanganui, Wellington, Nelson and Tasman: June-August. In Blenheim / Marlborough, West Coast, Christchurch / Canterbury, Dunedin / Otago and Invercargill / Southland: July.
Growing stages
Planting & establishmentBare-root, winter
- Install a trellis or wire support at planting time, before canes need it
- Plant where suckers spreading outward won't be a problem, or bury edging to contain the roots
- Water while establishing; this is a moderate-water plant once settled in
Early growthFirst 1-2 years
- Pinch out the growing tip of new canes once they reach about a metre to encourage branching
- Watch for cane blight (dying, brittle canes) and remove affected canes at ground level
- First proper crop is usually 1-2 years away
Flowering & fruiting
- Self-fertile and mostly self-pollinated, though visiting bees still improve fruit set; avoid spraying open flowers
- Net plants as fruit ripens; birds will take a crop quickly
- Know whether the variety is summer-fruiting or autumn-fruiting, since pruning timing differs between the two
MaturityOngoing annual harvest
- Established canes yield 1-2kg per plant per season
- Summer-fruiting types are pruned by removing the canes that just fruited immediately after harvest; autumn-fruiting types are cut back hard in winter instead
- Dig out unwanted suckers regularly to stop the patch spreading beyond its bed