About 3 years ago, a man in Colorado Springs gave me a lot of suckers from his raspberry patch. They produced well for him, as I saw him picking the berries. However,although we are only 30 miles east, and the elevation, weather etc. are the same, My plants never ripen any berries. They seem to be only fall bearing, and by the time they set fruit, the grasshoppers are thick and eat all the leaves, fruit, etc. So haven't gotten one berry. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what type I can grow that will produce one early crop of berries, possibly in the summer, before the hoppers get big enough to wipe them out? Also any fertillizing etc. that helps? Thanks!

-- Janice Bullock (Janice12@aol.com), January 19, 2000

Answers

If the same variety is doing well for him, it's not the variety thats the problem.I am no berry expert, but I do know that raspberries are easy to grow,and they need plenty of water. If the grasshoppers are eating them, I would guess that the health of the plants is compromised in some way.Insects are very drawn to plants that are ailing or stressed. A lack of water could do this, or they might need some manure.What do the plants look like; are they as tall and strong as the parent plants? Are they well established now or have they been challenged by weeds? They should bear the same time as the parent stock, because they are suckers and therefore a genetic twin to the parent, like a clone. I would look into the managemnt that you have been giving them, and if all else fails, go to the man and ask him what he is doing differently. We have some fall bearing raspberries, but they also bear in the early summer.

-- Rebekah Leaf (daniel1@transport.com), January 19, 2000.

You might try floating row covers as the berrys open that way bugs couldnt eat them.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), January 21, 2000.