Black Raspberry - Munger

Best grown in organically rich, slightly acidic, moist but well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Intolerant of wet soils which can cause root rot. Prefers a loose textured soil. Raised beds should be considered in areas with heavy clay soils. Best fruiting generally occurs in climates with cool summers (high summer heat may stunt plants). Plants are self-fruitful. Canes are biennial, meaning that the summer fruit crop appears in the second year on old wood (vegetative canes that have overwintered from the prior year). Accordingly, each year, mature summer-bearing raspberries should be pruned as follows: (1) Remove canes that have fruited immediately after fruit is harvested, leaving the new vegetative (non-fruiting) canes to overwinter. Also remove at this time any non-fruiting canes that exhibit weakness or disease or are growing in strange directions. (2) In late winter, remove any canes damaged by winter and thin the remaining canes as needed, leaving only healthy, well-spaced canes. In addition, the height of all canes, or at least the longer ones, may be reduced at this time by up to 6” so as to remove the tips which produce the smallest fruit and to help the canes remain self-supporting (i.e., helps keep fruit off the ground).