HORTICULTURE

Raspberry Variety Testing at MSU

Eric Hanson and Marcos Morales
Department of Horticulture
MSU, East Lansing, MI 48824

Growers can choose between several dozen raspberry varieties in commercial catalogs. Due to the time and costs required to conduct raspberry variety trials, and the relatively small size of the Michigan raspberry industry, trials have not been conducted regularly to test all varieties. MSU recommendations have not changed for some time from the older summer-fruiting types Latham and Canby and the fall-fruiting variety Heritage. Recent testing at MSU indicates that some alternatives to these old standards are worthy of trial.

Two raspberry variety trials were planted in a sandy loam soil in East Lansing, MI in 1993, using 18 foot plots, replicated three times. One trial contained 9 summer-fruiting varieties, and the other trial compared 6 fall-fruiting types. Standard management practices were followed. The fall-fruiting types were mowed to the ground each March. Fruit were picked by hand for yield and berry weight. Rot incidence was compared by placing half pints of fruit in a cooler (34F) for 1-2 days, followed by 1 day at 68F. Berries with visible mold (primarily Botrytis) were then counted.

Fall-fruiting varieties had similar yields, except Fallgold, which was less productive than the others. Ruby had the largest fruit, followed by Autumn Bliss and Heritage. The earliest fruiting variety was Autumn Bliss (24 days before Heritage), followed by Summit (18 days), Ruby (10 days), Redwing (9 days), and Fallgold (8 days). Fallgold and Heritage appeared to be the least susceptible to Botrytis fruit rot.

The two fall-fruiting varieties that should be considered as alternatives to Heritage are Autumn Bliss and Ruby. Autumn Bliss offers larger fruit than Heritage. Autumn Bliss is also much earlier than Heritage, so yields will be much greater in northern areas where much of the Heritage harvest is lost to fall freezes. The large fruit of Ruby justify its trial as an alternative to Heritage. Redwing provided earlier fruit than Heritage, but they were slightly smaller and softer. Summit fruit were very small and this variety was also severely infected by anthracnose during our trial.

Fall-fruiting raspberry performance, East Lansing (means of 3 years).

The standard summer-fruiting varieties for Michigan are Canby (southern areas), Latham and Boyne. Boyne was the most productive in our trial, followed by Algonquin, Reveille and Latham. The varieties showing the most potential as alternatives to Boyne, Canby and Latham were Reveille, Titan, and Algonquin. Reveille was productive and had large flavorful berries. It appeared about as hardy as Candy, so significant winter injury could be expected in more severe regions of Michigan. Titan is suggested for trial primarily because the fruit are so large. Two disadvantages of Titan were that the fruit were quite susceptible to Botrytis rot, and the plants are very susceptible to phytophthora root rot when planted in heavy or poorly drained soils. Algonquin was productive and hardy, but its small berries may limit its value in Michigan. Chilliwack and Tulameen produced high quality fruit but the plants are not sufficiently hardy for Michigan.

Summer-fruiting raspberry variety performance,
East Lansing¹.

¹Data are means of 3 years except berry rot %
(means of 2 years).

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Last modified: December 30, 1997