Yikes--they were a gift...how do I tell?
Primocane raspberries fruit in the first year, on new wood, whilst Floricane do not fruit in the first year, but fruit on wood produced the previous year.
It make a huge difference, obviously, to how you prune them.
Durgan has primocane raspberries, but imv, is pruning them too early.
Pruning encourages the production of new shoots in this type of raspberry, and is best left until early Feb, or, with poor light levels, the new shoots can grow lanky.
They are sometimes called "Autumn Raspberries", as they crop from August until the first frosts, although in the UK the taste drops off mid-October.
Floricane raspberries, as stated, fruit on the previous year's wood, and, because they have a head start, the fruiting period starts and finishes earlier. (June/July)
They tend to grow tall, and you have to tie them in (subject for another post).
If your raspberries are just being planted now, here's what to do, regardless of which type they are, as, it will obviously be right either way:
Plant them any time the ground isn't frozen or water-logged.
Come February, cut them right down to the ground.
When shoots come through, top-dress with a little organic fertiliser.
You won't get a crop this coming June/July either way.
The decider comes in late July, early August; if they begin to fruit, you have primocane, and should cut everything down to the ground each Feb.
If they don't fruit, you must protect the year's growth by giving it a support framework to tie it to.
It'll fruit June/July 2017, and then, after fruiting, you must cut out all the canes which have fruited, and tie in all the new growth for the following year.
It IS possible to get primocanes to fruit twice, by leaving a little wood which hasn't fruited, but in my view, the quality of the fruit is so poor, and we're at the height of the strawberry harvest, that it just isn't worthwhile.
Both types, grown to their best, are delicious and bountiful.
