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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #336733
Title: Alternative method of primocane management for primocane-fruiting blackberry and raspberry

Author
item Takeda, Fumiomi
item Rose, Ann

Submitted to: Bramble: The Newsletter of the North American Branble Growers Association, Inc.
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2017
Publication Date: 1/25/2017
Citation: Takeda, F., Rose, A.K. 2017. Alternative method of primocane management for primocane-fruiting blackberry and raspberry. Bramble: The Newsletter of the North American Branble Growers Association, Inc.. p. 10-11

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A study was conducted on ‘Prime-Ark 45’ and ‘Prime-Ark Traveler’ to determine the effects of primocane bending and defoliation on subsequent flowering and fruit development. Our findings indicated that leaf removal stimulated more of the buds pushed. The shoots that developed on bent primocanes were reproductive and produced a cluster of flowers one month after bending and defoliation. An increase in flower shoot numbers on bent and defoliated primocanes was also observed in primocane-fruiting red raspberry. Of the two cultivars evaluated in this study, ‘Prime-Ark Traveler’ responded more favorably to the alternative primocane management by developing more fruiting shoots on bent primocanes. We also observed that the initial flush of spring-emerging primocanes responded quite differently to cane bending then the primocanes from the second flush. Additional studies are needed to better understand the underlying factors of cane manipulation leading to varied plant responses to cane manipulation.