FruitStraightforward

Raspberry

Rubus idaeus

The best return of any fruit for the space it occupies, and the one where knowing which type you have matters more than anything else you do. Summer cultivars fruit on last year's canes and are cut back after picking; autumn cultivars fruit on this year's canes and are cut to the ground in late winter. Autumn types need no supports and no netting, which makes them the easier crop by a wide margin.

Position: Full sun or Partial shade
Water: moderate demand
Drainage: Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Grows to: 120–180 cm × 40–60 cm
Hardiness: H6
Harvest: June to October
Difficulty: Straightforward

Described view

Side-by-side raspberry canes: a brown woody fruited cane being cut at ground level and a green current-season cane being tied in

August

Harvest · Prune

Raspberry’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Plant	January.	February.	March.							November.	December.
In flower				May.	June.	July.
Harvest					June.	July.	August.	September.	October.
Prune		February.	March.				August.	September.
Take cuttings	January.	February.								November.	December.

Names that cause confusion

autumn raspberry — The same species, but fruiting on canes made in the current season rather than last year's. It is pruned in the opposite way, and confusing the two is the commonest reason a raspberry row stops cropping.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Pollination

Whether one plant on its own will set fruit, and what has to be true if it will not.

One plant on its own will crop.

Self-fertility: Self-fertile
Partner needed: No partner needed
Pollen moved by: InsectsSourced guidanceDepends on conditions

Where the pollination figures come from

Self-fertilitySourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Partner neededSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Pollen moved bySourced guidanceDepends on conditionsmoderate confidence

Applies when: Self-fertile, but each drupelet of a raspberry needs pollinating separately. Crumbly, partly formed fruit is usually incomplete pollination — often poor bee weather — rather than disease.

University of Minnesota Extension — University of Minnesota: Raspberry pollination

Checked 2026-08-13

Which of these will pollinate which

Worked out from flowering groups and ploidy for the 4 cultivars GrowingHQ holds — a small fraction of those in cultivation. A cultivar that is not listed has not been ruled out; it has not been recorded. Read a row as “this cultivar’s pollen reaches…”.

Pollen from	Autumn Bliss	Glen Ample	Malling Jewel	Polka
Autumn Bliss	—	not known	not known	not known
Glen Ample	not known	—	not known	not known
Malling Jewel	not known	not known	—	not known
Polka	not known	not known	not known	—

Autumn Bliss crops on its own.

An autumn raspberry: it fruits on canes grown the same year, so the whole stool is cut to the ground in late winter and it needs no support or training. Pruning it like a summer raspberry — leaving last year's canes — is the commonest way to get no crop.

Glen Ample crops on its own.

A summer raspberry: it fruits on canes grown the previous year, so those canes are cut out after picking and this year's growth is tied in for next year. Spine-free, heavy cropping and the usual first recommendation.

Malling Jewel crops on its own.

An old summer cultivar still grown for its tolerance of raspberry virus, which is what eventually finishes most raspberry beds. Lower yielding than modern cultivars and longer lived.

Polka crops on its own.

An autumn raspberry with larger and firmer fruit than Autumn Bliss, cropping from late summer until the first frosts. Same pruning: everything to the ground in late winter.

Rootstocks

No rootstock to choose

Raspberries grow on their own roots and spread by suckers. New plants come from suckers or from certified virus-free canes, never from grafting.

Pruning and training

Every piece of fruit pruning advice follows from one fact: where the plant carries next year's crop.

Fruits on: Wood made last year

Fruit forms on stems produced the previous season, which then decline. Pruning removes the oldest wood at the base each year to force new stems.

Sourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence

Applies when: TRUE FOR SUMMER CULTIVARS ONLY. Autumn cultivars fruit on current-season growth. The two are pruned in opposite ways and this single distinction governs the crop.

Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Cutting the wrong wood does not damage the plant. It removes the crop, and the loss is not visible until the following summer.

Forms it can be grown as

Canes on wires

Sourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence

Applies when: Summer cultivars need posts and wires. Autumn cultivars are usually self-supporting.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Summer cultivars: posts with horizontal wires at roughly 75 cm, 105 cm and 150 cm, with canes tied in. Autumn cultivars generally stand without support.

source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Supporting raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Annual maintenanceAugust, September
On SUMMER cultivars, remove the canes that have just fruited and tie in the new ones that will fruit next year, so the row never carries dead wood and light reaches the replacements.
Straight after picking, cut every cane that carried fruit down to ground level — they are brown and woody, and they will not fruit again. Tie in the new green canes that grew this season.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning summer raspberries
Checked 2026-08-13
Annual maintenanceFebruary, March
On AUTUMN cultivars, remove everything so the plant produces a fresh set of canes that will fruit the same year.
Cut every cane to ground level in late winter. It looks drastic and it is correct: the canes that will fruit this autumn have not grown yet.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning autumn raspberries
Checked 2026-08-13
Timing matters: Applying this to a summer cultivar removes the canes carrying the whole of that year's crop.

What you are committing to

Fruit is a multi-year decision. These are the numbers a nursery label rarely carries.

First worthwhile crop: 1–2 yearsSourced guidanceDepends on conditions
Productive life: 8–12 years
Propagated by: Suckers
Fruit type: Cane fruit

Where these figures come from

First worthwhile cropSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence

Applies when: Autumn cultivars can crop lightly in their first season, because they fruit on the canes they produce that year. Summer cultivars crop in their second.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Productive lifeSourced guidancehigh confidence

Vigour and yield decline as virus accumulates; a row is usually replaced with certified stock on fresh ground.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Propagated bySourced guidancehigh confidence

Certified virus-free stock is worth buying rather than taking suckers from an old row, because virus is what ends a planting.

Royal Horticultural Society: Propagating raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Keeping it: Does not keep. Eaten or frozen within a day or two; freezes very well.

source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Raspberries are among the most expensive fruit to buy and the least satisfactory to transport. A row a few metres long outproduces what a household would ever pay for.

Conditions it needs

Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Direct sun: 5 hours a day or more
Frost: Very hardy
Hardiness rating: H6 (RHS)
Soil: Loam, Silt, Sandy
Soil pH: 5.5–6.5
Drainage: Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Water needs: moderate
Drought: poor tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: poor tolerance
Wind and exposure: moderate tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Direct sunHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberries — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancehigh confidence

Slightly acid. On chalky ground raspberries develop lime-induced chlorosis and never thrive.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingSourced guidancehigh confidence

Raspberries will not tolerate wet feet, and root rot on heavy wet ground is a common cause of failure.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

A cool-climate fruit; they crop better in the north of Britain than in a hot dry southern summer.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Raspberry will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Works, with one condition	Raspberry will crop on sandy, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering.Water and mulch will carry it through. On this soil the watering is not optional in a dry spell, which is the difference between a crop and a failure.
Chalky and alkaline	Struggles here	Raspberry struggles on chalky and alkaline: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5. It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Raspberry as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. There is ample rooting depth for it.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits Raspberry as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Silt is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. There is ample rooting depth for it.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Raspberry will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Struggles here	Raspberry struggles on shallow over rock: It has little drought tolerance and this soil dries out fast — it will check and bolt in the first dry spell without watering. It roots to about 30 cm and this soil offers roughly 25 cm before rock or hardpan. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.
Made ground and urban soil	Struggles here	Raspberry struggles on made ground and urban soil: The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 5.5 to 6.5, and this soil sits around 7.2 to 7.8. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold. A container or a raised bed of imported soil sidesteps the problem entirely.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 120–180 cmSourced guidanceDepends on conditions
Mature spread: 40–60 cm
Rooting depth: 30–45 cm
Spacing: 40–45 cm apart
Row spacing: 180 cm

Where these figures come from

Mature heightSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence

Applies when: Summer cultivars taller than autumn ones, which mostly stay around 120 cm.

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

A row spreads sideways by suckering.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Row spacingSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries

Checked 2026-08-13

Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

In a container

Minimum volume: 30 litres or moreSourced guidanceDepends on conditions
Minimum depth: 40 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeSourced guidanceDepends on conditionshigh confidence

Applies when: An autumn cultivar in a large container is realistic; a summer one needs supports the pot cannot anchor.

Royal Horticultural Society: Fruit in containers

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Autumn-fruiting kinds suit containers best because they are cut to the ground each winter and need no support framework. Summer kinds need canes tied in and a much larger pot.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Open ground	Well suited source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries Checked 2026-08-13	Slightly acid, well-drained soil; Supports for summer cultivars
Traditional dug bed	Well suited source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13
Raised bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancehigh confidence A good answer on heavy or chalky ground, where the bed can be filled with something raspberries will tolerate. Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries Checked 2026-08-13
Polytunnel	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Protected raspberry production Checked 2026-08-13	Used commercially to extend the season and keep rain off the fruit.
Container	Workable Horticultural consensusDepends on conditionsmoderate confidence Applies when: An autumn cultivar, which needs no support, in a container of 30 litres or more. Royal Horticultural Society: Fruit in containers Checked 2026-08-13	An autumn cultivar; 30 litres or more; Ericaceous or neutral compost
Vertical growing	Workable source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence A row of summer canes on wires is vertical growing in the practical sense. No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13
Greenhouse	Workable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Protected raspberry production Checked 2026-08-13
Hydroponics	Marginal source GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence Canes occupy the system for a full year to crop for four weeks, and the floricane types need the previous year's growth standing through a cold winter. GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ Checked 2026-08-13
Windowsill	Not suitable source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

PruningEstablish which type you have before cutting anything. Summer cultivars fruit on last year's canes and are pruned after picking; autumn cultivars fruit on this year's canes and are cut to the ground in late winter. If the plant fruited in June it is a summer type; if in September, an autumn one.
MulchingMulch annually with well-rotted organic matter, keeping it off the emerging canes. Raspberries are shallow-rooted and dislike being hoed.
ThinningThin new canes to roughly one every 10 cm along the row and remove suckers straying into paths. A crowded row produces small fruit and cane disease.
WateringRaspberries root shallowly and in Britain fail more often from drought than from anything else. Water thoroughly while the fruit is swelling, and soak rather than sprinkle so the water reaches below the mulch. Keep it off the ripening fruit itself.
FeedingMulch generously with compost or well-rotted manure in late winter, keeping it clear of the canes, and apply a general fertiliser at the same time. Raspberries are hungry and shallow-rooted, so the mulch does two jobs — it feeds them and it holds the moisture they cannot reach.
PropagationRaspberries propagate themselves: suckers come up around the stools every year and most gardeners are removing them rather than looking for them. Lift a well-rooted sucker in late autumn or winter with a spade, cutting the connecting root, and replant it immediately. Take material only from plants that are visibly healthy — raspberry viruses travel in the suckers and are the reason a bed declines after a decade.

Where this guidance comes from

PruningSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning raspberries
Checked 2026-08-13
MulchingSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries
Checked 2026-08-13
ThinningHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Cane fruit — canopy management
Checked 2026-08-13
WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberries — watering
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberries — feeding
Checked 2026-08-13
PropagationSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberries — propagation
Checked 2026-08-13

The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Is it worth putting under cover?

Whether it will grow there is on the methods table above. This is whether the space is well spent, which is a different question and usually the one being asked.

Structure	What protection is worth	What decides it
Greenhouse	Extends the season source GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file. GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ Checked 2026-08-13	A full year's occupancy. Canes hold the ground for twelve months to crop for four weeks, which is the whole argument against them under glass.Commercially this is done at scale under tunnels for exactly the reason it is marginal at home: the area is cheap enough that a year of occupancy costs little.
Polytunnel	Extends the season source GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file. GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ Checked 2026-08-13	A full year's occupancy, which a tunnel can afford. Rain exclusion also takes most of the botrytis out of the crop.

Growing it without soil

Nearly anything can be grown in a soilless system by somebody with enough equipment. The useful question is whether it is worth it, in which technique, and what goes wrong.

Not worth it

It can be made to grow, but a soilless system is the wrong tool — usually because of rooting volume, running cost, or a result no better than a pot of compost.

source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

Canes occupy the system for a full year to crop for four weeks, and the floricane types need the previous year's growth standing through a cold winter.

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Commercial substrate production is real and is done on hectares under tunnels, not on a bench.

Techniques that suit it

Drip-fed mediumSolution is dripped into an inert medium around each plant. The most forgiving technique and the one that suits large, long-season, heavy crops.

Horticultural consensusDepends on conditionsmoderate confidence

Applies when: Substrate beds, as commercial protected raspberry production does — at a scale a home system is not.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Root space: Large, and permanent for the primocane types.
pH band: 5.5–6.5

Where these figures come from

Root spaceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

pH bandSourced guidancehigh confidence

Outside roughly this band, individual nutrients become unavailable even when they are present in the solution — which is why a crop can starve in a full reservoir.

Purdue Extension — Purdue University: Hydroponic solution management — pH

Checked 2026-08-13

No nutrient recipes here

GrowingHQ records pH bands, which are measurable properties of nutrient availability, and deliberately records no EC or PPM targets and no mixing instructions. Published targets vary by cultivar, growth stage, water source and technique, and the figures that apply to your system are on the product you bought.

Harvesting

When it is readyRipe when the fruit pulls away from the white core cleanly, leaving the core on the plant. If it resists, it is not ready.
How to pick itPick into a shallow container; raspberries crush under their own weight.
Keeping itA day or two refrigerated. Freezes excellently spread on a tray first.

Where the harvest guidance comes from

When it is readySourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Growing raspberries
Checked 2026-08-13
How to pick itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Keeping itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Keep picking

Regular picking keeps this plant producing. Fruit or leaves left to mature signal it to slow down or stop.

What goes wrong

Problem	How often	Notes
Normal autumn leaf fall	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	Seasonal, and the reason an autumn yellowing should not be read as a deficiency.
Raspberry cane blight	occasional source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberry cane blight Checked 2026-08-13	Canes that die suddenly while carrying fruit. Usually traced to damage at the cane base.
Grey mould	common source Sourced guidancehigh confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Grey mould (botrytis) Checked 2026-08-13
Bird damage	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13
Lime-induced chlorosis	occasional source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	On chalky soils; the reason raspberries fail on some sites whatever else is done.
Aphids	occasional source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	The vector for the viruses that eventually end a planting.

What to look for

Views that settle something a description cannot. Where the photograph has not been taken yet, the description of what it will show is here instead — which is the useful half of it either way.

Described view

A row of summer raspberries tied to three horizontal wires strung between end posts

Summer cultivars need this; autumn cultivars generally stand alone.

Grown with, grown after, grown instead

Every relationship states its mechanism. A pairing nobody can explain is a pairing nobody has checked, and it does not go in.

Closely relatedBlackberry
Both Rubus cane fruit fruiting on wood made the previous season, trained on wires and pruned by cutting out fruited canes. Blackberries are far more vigorous and need more space and stronger supports.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Rubus
Checked 2026-08-13
Shares a problem withTayberry
Both are Rubus susceptible to cane blight entering through wounds at the cane base, so both are hand-weeded rather than hoed and both are tied in to prevent chafing.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
Royal Horticultural Society: Raspberry cane blight
Checked 2026-08-13

Sources for this page

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board · GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-13.

If something is wrong with it

Growth has stalled — 3 causes GrowingHQ holds for raspberry
Lower leaves turning yellow — 3 causes GrowingHQ holds for raspberry

Something else? Work through it with the diagnostic tool.