High Tunnel Raspberries and Blackberries
New on-line and hard copy Publication from the Department of Horticulture:
High Tunnel Raspberries and Blackberries
Northeast growers can capture more of the lucrative local market for fresh berries by growing brambles (raspberries and blackberries) in high tunnels, according to researchers at Cornell and Pennsylvania State Universities.
These relatively low-cost, usually unheated, plastic-covered hoop houses can help growers fill late-spring and late-fall gaps in the market. Instead of mid-June, high-tunnel berries can be harvested in May. The field-grown season for brambles usually ends in early October. But growers using high tunnels continue to harvest berries through November.
Other benefits of high tunnels include:
- Floricane-fruiting raspberries and blackberries can over winter in climates where they would otherwise be killed by cold temperatures.
- Primocane-fruiting blackberries ripen where the growing season is otherwise too short.
- Berry yields from tunnels can be two to three times greater than field-grown, and the berries can be significantly larger.
- Tunnel-grown berries also have longer shelf-life with reduced pesticide inputs.
The publication, High Tunnel Raspberries and Blackberries, is available online at http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry.html or to order hard copies contact Max Welcome of the Horticulture Department at mw45@cornell.edu
Lori Bushway | Campus News, Hard copy pubs., Resources, on-line publications