Book Description

The Raspberry and Blackberry Production Guide is intended as a comprehensive resource for both novice and experienced growers as well as crop advisors and educators. It provides information on all aspects of raspberry and blackberry culture from site selection and preparation, trellising and pruning, to nutrient management, to harvesting and marketing. There are descriptions of more than 70 cultivars including Summer-fruiting red, black, and purple raspberries; Fall-fruiting red and yellow raspberries; thornless, thorny, and fall-fruiting blackberries, and hybrid berries. Field production, high tunnel production, and greenhouse production are reviewed. Detailed information is included on planning and managing irrigation and chemigation systems. With more than 35 descriptions and 70 color photos of insects, mites, diseases, and physiological disorders.

This publication is intended to help raspberry and blackberry growers plan and implement production and marketing decisions. The cultivars mentioned either have performed well or show the most promise for the Northeast, Midwest, or Eastern Canada. Pest management chapters emphasize cultural controls, since chemical use is regulated on the state or province level. The sample budgets are based on 2006 costs. The book includes 11 chapters, 156+ pages, 134 color photos, 14 chapters, 36 line drawings, 30 tables, 18 sidebars, sample calculations, suggestions for further reading, and a glossary.

Table of Contents

 1.  The History and Biology of Cultivated Raspberries and Blackberries

 2.  Site Selection, Site Preparation and Preplant Cover and Green Manure Crops

 3.  Plant Selection  

 4.  Production Methods (field, high tunnel, greenhouse)

 5.  Trellising and Pruning

 6.  Water Management  

 7. Soil and Nutrient Management

 8. Insect and Mite Scouting and Management

 9.  Disease Management and Physiological Disorders

 10.  Weed Management

 11.  Spray Application Technology  

 12.  Harvesting, Handling, and Transporting Fresh Fruit

 13.  Marketing Bramble Fruits

 14.  Budgeting  

  Glossary

  Table of Conversions