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After a few years of development, my raspberry vines are yielding a bumper crop of beautiful, perfect looking berries:

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They have great texture, too.

Unfortunately, they don't taste that good. They're not sweet and, worse, they just don't taste that much like raspberries. Some have a faint raspberry quality, but some don't really have any flavor at all, they're just kind of flavorless bags of water.

And yet, the plants seem quite lush and healthy. They get plenty of sun and water (while draining well) and they're expanding territory on their own.

What could explain this, and what should I do about it?

Joshua Frank
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  • Have these plants seen a lot of water this year? How hot & sunny has your summer been so far? – MackM Jun 26 '23 at 18:11
  • It was a really wet early spring and it's been a pretty sunny late spring and summer. That's just a vague impression. I don't really know the actual data. Why? – Joshua Frank Jun 26 '23 at 19:06
  • I'm not certain so I can not offer an answer, but I have heard that sunny, dry summers produce the best berries and wet, overcast summers can produce bags of water. That doesn't entirely make sense to me, but it's what I've heard. I'm hoping the info will help someone more knowledgable answer your question. – MackM Jun 26 '23 at 19:11
  • What variety are they? – Peter4075 Jun 28 '23 at 07:23
  • @Peter4075: I don't know. I planted some initial canes years ago, and if I ever knew the variety, I don't remember it now. – Joshua Frank Jun 28 '23 at 12:04
  • I have a suspicion that the variety you're growing yields good-looking fruit that come off cleanly (perhaps too easily - another day or two of ripening might be in order). Mine are rather the opposite - good for flavour, but less tidy, smaller, and easily squashed when picked – Chris H Jul 03 '23 at 12:08

1 Answers1

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My initial suggestions are

  • Over-watering - this can dilute the flavour of many fruits
  • Extreme pH - this can prevent the uptake of nutrients
  • Picked too early - they need to be picked when a slight sideways pressure pops them off.

There are more causes here. I am not affiliated with it, and I have not had experience with the other causes mentioned in it.

We have a self-watering system, with a reservoir under the pots. This allows the bottom of the pot to remain moist. And the top of the pot does not get drenched (unless it rains). We have three plants and we have to harvest every few days, to ensure that we don't take the fruits off too early.

Rohit Gupta
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