Last year I planted raspberries for the first time and followed the prevailing wisdom of containing the growth of the Autumn fruiting ones within a wire “cage” whilst tying the summer ones (only 1 stem per plant in the first year) to a wire “fence”.
This year the growth of the summer ones has been phenominal and whilst picking I was wondering why it is not possible to use the autumn method for summer fruiting plants. The only reason I have so far come up with for tying them in has been to withstand the winter winds; so why not mount a horizontal mesh support frame?
Am I missing anything in why it is stated to tie in summer fruiters?
Derek I think it’s because summer canes are indeed taller, and heavy cropping, so risk blowing around and damaging fruit, in summer.
They can be grown without tying in but quality would suffer a little, it’s up to you.