Raspberry
Rubus idaeus
Rosaceae · rose family
Origin · temperate Europe · Western Asia · Central Asia · East Asia · North America
- Matures
- 4–6 months
- Harvest
- Over a period · Perennial
- Sun
- 6–8+ hrs
- Spacing
- 24–36 in
Planting window
When to sow, by microclimate — foggier blocks run a different calendar than sunnier ones.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ● | ● | ● | |||
| Sunny | ● | ● | ● |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggy | ||||||
| Sunny |
Sunlight
How well it does at each level of direct sun per day.
Soil depth
Root room it needs — useful for sizing raised beds and containers.
Soil pH
The soil acidity it grows best in — most crops sit just below neutral, so this mostly matters for heavily amended or long-reused beds.
- Preferred range
- pH 5.5–6.5
Spacing
Room each plant needs — along the row and between rows — for sizing beds.
- In-row
- 24–36 in
- Between rows
- 96–120 in
Growth habit
The shape it makes in the bed and how tall it gets — what tells you whether to give it a trellis, a stake, or just room.
- Habit
- Upright
- Mature height
- 2–5 ft
Stands on its own; the tallest types appreciate a stake in wind.
Growing in containers
Whether it does well in a pot, planter, or window box — the SF balcony-and-deck question, weighing its footprint, form, and staying power, not just root depth.
Workable in a large, deep container with attentive watering and feeding.
How to start it
Sow it where it grows, or raise it under cover and set it out — and how far ahead to start the seedlings if it's the latter.
- Usually
- Direct-sow
Sown straight into the bed it will grow in.
Getting started
How it goes in the ground — how deep to sow or set it, and the soil temperature it needs to wake up. The cold-soil floor is the real limiter for direct-sowing in a foggy SF spring.
- Started from
- From crowns
- Ideal soil temp
- 50–70°F
- Set depth
- 1–3 in
Sprouts between 40–85°F; happiest around 50–70°F.
Watering & feeding
How thirsty and how hungry it is — the water it wants and how much feeding the bed needs to keep it producing. In the fog belt even a thirsty crop drinks less than it would inland.
- Water need
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Wants steady, even moisture — roughly an inch a week, a little more in a heat spell.
A balanced feed worked into the bed at planting usually carries it through the season.
Wants steady moisture from bloom through harvest — about an inch of water a week — but resents wet feet: standing water and overhead wetting during ripening invite fruit rot, so water at the base with drip and keep the crown well drained. In the fog belt it needs far less irrigation than inland, because the cool coastal summers this crop is suited to cut its water demand. A moderate feeder — an annual nitrogen feeding in late winter keeps the canes vigorous.
Pests & diseases
What tends to trouble this crop — what it is, what you'll see, and what to do about it, least-toxic first.
In the cool, damp fog belt the standout threat is spotted-wing drosophila, which stings soft ripening berries and lays eggs inside — harvest often, chill fruit fast, and clear over-ripe and fallen berries. SF's wet, cool air also drives the cane, leaf, and fruit diseases now listed here, and the shared defense is good airflow — thin canes yearly, skip overhead watering, and prune out and destroy infected canes — plus starting with certified virus-free, disease-resistant stock. Snails and slugs rasp ripening fruit and low new growth, and twospotted spider mites flare on the leaves in warm, dry spells.
Pests4
Spotted-Wing Drosophila
- What it is
- Adults are small flies about 1/16 to 1/8 inch long with red eyes and a pale brown thorax and abdomen with black stripes; males have a black spot near the tip of each wing, and females a sawlike ovipositor. Larvae are tiny, white, cylindrical maggots a little longer than 1/8 inch when full grown.
- What you'll see
- Unlike most vinegar flies, the female cuts the skin of soft-skinned, ripening fruit with her sawlike ovipositor and lays eggs just under the surface, leaving a small puncture or 'sting'. The maggots then feed inside, causing the flesh to turn brown, soft, and sunken.
- What to do
- Remove and dispose of fallen and infested fruit in sealed bags, and harvest ripening fruit frequently and promptly. Fine mesh netting (about 1 mm) placed over plants before fruit begins to ripen keeps the flies out; monitor with vinegar or bait traps to time control.
Aphids
- What it is
- Aphids have soft pear-shaped bodies with long legs and antennae and may be green, yellow, brown, red, or black depending on the species and the plants they feed on. A few species appear waxy or woolly due to the secretion of a waxy white or gray substance over their body surface.
- What you'll see
- Low to moderate numbers of leaf-feeding aphids aren't usually damaging in gardens or on trees. However, large populations can turn leaves yellow and stunt shoots; aphids can also produce large quantities of a sticky exudate known as honeydew, which often turns black with the growth of a sooty mold fungus.
- What to do
- Before planting vegetables, check surrounding areas for sources of aphids and remove these sources. On the other hand, these aphid-infested weeds can sometimes provide an early source of aphid natural enemies.
Spider Mites
- What it is
- To the naked eye, spider mites look like tiny, moving dots; however, you can see them easily with a 10X hand lens. Adult females, the largest forms, are less than 1/20 inch long.
- What you'll see
- Mites cause damage by sucking cell contents from leaves. A small number of mites usually isn’t reason for concern, but very high populations—levels high enough to show visible damage to leaves—can damage plants, especially herbaceous ones.
- What to do
- Cultural practices can have a significant impact on spider mites. Midseason washing of trees and vines with water to remove dust may help prevent serious late-season mite infestations.
Snails and Slugs
- What you'll see
- Snails and slugs feed on a variety of living plants and on decaying plant matter. They create irregular holes with smooth edges on leaves and flowers by scraping with their rasp-like tongues.
- What to do
- It will not be possible to eliminate some shelters, such as low ledges on fences, the undersides of wooden decks, and water meter boxes, so make a regular practice of trapping and removing snails and slugs from these areas. The survivors congregate in the remaining shelters, where you can more easily locate and remove them.
Diseases10
Anthracnose of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- In spring, infected young canes develop small purplish spots that are slightly raised or sunken; the spots later enlarge, their centers turning gray with slightly raised purple margins. Leaves may also become spotted, and severe infections canker and girdle stems, causing cane dieback and loss of fruit production.
- What to do
- Switch from sprinkler irrigation to drip or flood to keep foliage drier, and prune off and destroy infected canes after harvest. Where these cultural measures are not enough, canes can be sprayed with a dormant-season copper fungicide such as Bordeaux mixture.
Botrytis Fruit Rot, or Gray Mold of Caneberries
- What it is
- Flattened black masses of sclerotia (hardened fungal mycelia) develop on the canes of infected plants in late winter. When canes are wet, the sclerotia germinate to form masses of gray mycelia and spores.
- What you'll see
- A watery rot develops on infected drupelets, followed by grayish brown spores and hyphae, and infected berries left on the vines become mummified. In storage, white mycelia can grow to cover infected berries.
- What to do
- Promote good air circulation to hasten drying of plant tissue through pruning and canopy management, and pick fruit in the cool of the morning and refrigerate it promptly. If preventive fungicides are needed during bloom, rotate among different fungicides.
Cane Blight of Caneberries and Roses
- What it is
- Infected areas develop a black, brown, dark red, or purple sunken area (canker) that is commonly elliptical. Infection generally occurs in new canes during spring but is not externally obvious until fall or the next growing season.
- What you'll see
- The cankers can girdle canes, causing shoots to die outward or upward from the canker, which reduces blossom and fruit production. On caneberries, the damage often is not noticed until the fall or the season after infection.
- What to do
- Prune out infected canes during dry weather in the dormant season, using sharp tools and proper cuts, and protect plants from injury while providing good growing conditions. A copper-based fungicide applied in late winter or spring can supplement control when cultural practices alone are insufficient.
Downy Mildew of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- Downy mildew first causes a pale green to yellow discoloration on the upper surface of leaves, which later turn brown, purple, or red. Infected fruit is dull colored with dry, shrunken drupelets, and yield and quality are reduced.
- What to do
- Use resistant varieties and pathogen-free planting stock, improve air circulation by removing suckers and controlling weeds, and avoid overhead irrigation in favor of drip. Remove affected plants after harvest, and apply fungicide only as a preventive measure when conditions favor the disease.
Orange Rust of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- Infected plants produce spindly, weak shoots with sparse foliage and an overall spindly appearance, and systemically infected plants produce few or no fruit. Infected leaves may wilt and drop prematurely.
- What to do
- Start with disease-free planting stock from a reputable nursery, thin healthy canes and control weeds to increase air circulation, and remove infected plants, including their roots, before they produce spores. Eliminate nearby wild blackberries as infection sources; fungicides are not effective against orange rust.
Purple Blotch of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- Dark green, irregularly shaped lesions form on canes late in the growing season and turn brown, purple, reddish, or a combination of these colors. The lesions develop into cankers that can girdle and kill canes, mostly on blackberries and their hybrids.
- What to do
- Improve air circulation with adequate spacing, raised soil berms, weed control, early pruning, and trellising, and avoid overhead sprinklers in favor of drip irrigation. If needed, Bordeaux mixture or another copper fungicide applied after harvest and at spring budbreak may provide control.
Septoria Leaf Spot of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- Lesions are circular with a brown or purple margin and a pale brown to tan center, generally 1/8 to 1/6 inch across, and small black fungal fruiting bodies are visible in mature lesions. Lesions on canes and petioles resemble those on leaves but are more elongate.
- What to do
- Plant in sunny, open locations and use proper spacing and pruning to increase air circulation and reduce surface wetness. Use drip or furrow irrigation rather than overhead sprinklers, and apply a copper fungicide such as Bordeaux mixture after harvest and before fall rains if the problem has been serious.
Stamen Blight of Caneberries
- What you'll see
- Infected flowers develop a powdery gray to white fungal growth on the stigmas and stamens, with tiny black fruiting bodies on infected anthers. The resulting berries fail to mature properly and become misshapen, dry, and seedy, making them unpalatable and hard to harvest.
- What to do
- Buy disease-free plants from reputable suppliers and improve air circulation through proper spacing, pruning, and raised planting, using drip irrigation and watering early in the day. Bordeaux mixture or sulfur can be used as a secondary measure if cultural practices are not enough.
Virus Diseases of Caneberries
- What it is
- Viruses are submicroscopic pathogens that infect cells, changing some cell functions and causing disease, and several plant viruses can infect caneberries in California.
- What you'll see
- Infected leaves become discolored, cupped, and undersized, and canes grow shorter, thinner, and weaker. Affected plants usually become unproductive within two to three years, producing little fruit or crumbly, unusable fruit.
- What to do
- Plant only certified virus-free stock and remove nearby wild caneberries that serve as infection sources. There is no cure for infected plants, which spread virus by pollen and by insects such as aphids and thrips and by root-feeding nematodes, so remove them if performance declines.
Yellow Rust of Red Raspberry
- What you'll see
- Yellow spots develop on the upper surface of infected leaves in spring, followed by orange to yellow pustules on the undersides of the leaves in June and July. Severely affected leaves can dry out, die, and drop prematurely, reducing fruit yield when infections occur early on fruiting laterals.
- What to do
- Grow raspberries in full sun and improve air circulation through proper spacing and pruning, and remove and bury infected floricanes after harvest. If rust was severe previously, a copper or myclobutanil fungicide may be applied during the dormant or bloom stages.
Harvest & storage
How to tell it's ready to pick, and how to keep it once it's in.
- Keeps
- DaysBest eaten within a few days of picking.
- Ready to harvest
- Pick when the berry is fully colored and slips off its core with a gentle tug, leaving the white plug behind; go over the planting about twice a week in the morning while the fruit is cool and firm.
- Storing
- Highly perishable — refrigerate the berries unwashed in a shallow container and use within a day or two; wash only just before eating.
Culinary use & nutrition
What it's for in the kitchen, and the nutrients a 100 g raw serving is a notable source of.
In the kitchen
- Raw
- Baked & sweet
Nutrition highlights
- Excellent source
- Vitamin C, Manganese, Fiber
Share of the Daily Value in a 100 g raw serving (USDA FoodData Central).
Pollinators & wildlife
What this crop offers the garden's wildlife once it flowers — often the payoff for letting a bolting plant stand.
- Bees
- Honeybees and natives — bumble, mason, and sweat bees — working the flowers for pollen and nectar.
Like strawberry, the raspberry flowers as part of cropping rather than only when it bolts, so the white spring-to-summer blossoms are a steady, heavy draw for honey bees and bumblebees — raspberry is a noted honey plant — and the better the bee visits, the plumper and better-formed the berries. Butterflies and other pollinators work the flowers too.
Sources
Growing data on this page is drawn from UC Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM), USDA GRIN Taxonomy, and the other references on our sources page.