High Tunnel Performance of Seven Floricane Red Raspberry Cultivars in Western NY

Abstract

Seven floricane fruiting red raspberry ( Rubus idaeusL.) cultivars (‘Canby’, ‘Encore’, K81-6, ‘Killarney’, ‘Moutere’, ‘Prelude’, and ‘Titan’) were grown under high tunnels to assess their relative performance in a protected agriculture system in western New York. Yield among the cultivars was not significantly different in the first two harvest seasons nor cumulatively over the three harvests. ‘Moutere’ tended to have the highest yield over three seasons averaging over 9 t·ha ^-1per year. ‘Killarney’, K81-6, and ‘Encore’ produced very similar yields to ‘Moutere’. Generally, ‘Prelude’ and ‘Canby’ produced intermediate yields and ‘Titan’ was lower yielding with mean annual yields of 5.7 t·ha ^-1per year. K81-6 had the greatest mean annual fruit weight (3.55 g per fruit over 3 seasons) with ‘Titan’ matching it in season 1 and 2 and ‘Encore’ in seasons 2 and 3. The other four cultivars tended to be smaller with ‘Killarney’, and ‘Prelude’ having the lowest mean fruit weight. In each of the 3 seasons, ‘Prelude’ was the first cultivar to begin harvest and K81-6 the last. The season started as early as June 13 and as late as June 20 and averaged 43 days in length across the 7 cultivars over the 3 seasons, ending at the end of July to early Aug. With the largest fruit weights, K81-6 and ‘Encore’ both showed promise in the later summer season and ‘Prelude’ had the best quality among the early cultivars so that growing a combination of these cultivars which would allow for the longest harvest period in New York and regions of similar climate. Poor fruit quality in ‘Moutere’, ‘Killarney’ and ‘Titan’ made them less desirable cultivars, and susceptibility to powdery mildew in ‘Canby’ limited its utility under high tunnels where conditions are ideal for the disease.