dmtaylor wrote: If your canes look dead in zone 7B where it is *presumably* even warmer than it is here, then maybe they truly are dead. Wait another week or two and keep those fingers crossed. Yes, we've been getting in the low 80s for the past week. OK, I'll wait a week or two--thanks. The thing is, my Concord grapes only started showing signs of life a few days ago, so maybe there is hope for the raspberries. melikeeatplants wrote: Do you have people in the neighborhood who grow raspberries? No, but here's the thing. Last year, I bought 3 raspberry canes from Stark Bros. in June, and there were all DOA. So, they sent me some more at the end of November, and they all looked good then. These are the ones that I'm concerned about. I have 2 other raspberry plants as well, however. One of them just arrived a week ago, and it is starting to bud. The other one was an actual *plant*, not a cane, that I planted last summer, and it started showing leaves over a week ago. So, it's the 3 canes from Nov. that I'm concerned about. You might as well wait a bit longer, or cut a cane to the ground and look at the cross section. Oh, I can do that without hurting the plant? OK, sounds like a plan! :) You'll be able to tell if it's alive or dead. There's no harm in waiting longer. If they never push then just go buy some primocane type berries and you'll have some fruit in late summer/early fall. I'll wait at least a week before I try cutting the cane. Anyway, that would be really weird if all 3 canes didn't survive the mild winter. If so, I'll never buy any from Stark Bros. again! ;) If you have heavy clay soil you may want to build a raised bed for them. And if your old berries are truly dead I'd put the new ones somewhere else to avoid any cross contamination from root rot type diseases. Thanks for the helpful tips.

Hi Staceyneil- I am growing Royalty, but this is the first year that it will give me fruit, so I really can't comment on it yet. Haven't tried Nova or Souris. Yep, growing both the everbearer and summerbearer on the same trellis should be fine. Make sure you have a physical barrier between the rows. Otherwise, within 2 years, the raspberries will intermingle. By year 4, the more dominant varieties will have out-competed the weaker varieties. In the end, you'll loose varieties and pruning options. You need to go very deep to separate the varieties. Some say even 12" isn't enough, but it's worked for me. Good luck, -Glenn

They were planted in 2012, so 4 years ago. The raspberries tend to be small, but they are too "crumbly." The plants do produce a lot of raspberries every season. Maybe fewer this year, we'll see. I don't know if there is a virus infection, but the floricanes have looked like this for the past few year (maybe since 2013). If I were to decide to remove the raspberry plants, would waiting one year before replanting the same spot get rid of the virus? Same is limited in my garden. Or how replanting them a meter away in a new raised bed?

How many canes to keep depends on how large of a crop you want. Any canes that are not spindly can be kept. Let them go their own way on the trellis system; that is, do not bundle them tightly together with ties as they need a little space for proper foliage growth and fruit formation. This is still a young planting; you may get more robust canes in future years. And if this posting is related to your other recent post, your leaf problem may be transplant shock; you describe a lot of recent pruning and moving of plant material.