2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Ten floricane (‘Prelude’, ‘Boyne’, ‘Killarney’, ‘Nova’, ‘Meeker’, ‘Latham’, ‘Encore’, ‘Amthyst’, ‘Royalty’, and ‘Mac Black’) and ten primocane (‘Polana’, ‘Polka’, ‘Autumn Bliss’, ‘Autumn Britten’, ‘BP-1’, ‘Himbo-Top’, ‘Joan J’, ‘Caroline’, ‘Heritage’, and ‘Anne’) raspberry cultivars reported to be hardy to USDA hardiness zone 3-5 have been field tested since 2013. Due to the harsh winter and short growing season in North Dakota, the evaluation focuses on winter hardiness, ripening time, fruit quality, and yield. Field trials were conducted in two locations (Fargo and Absaraka). The planting spacing is 9’ × 5’ and the “V”-shape trellis system was used to support growth. Results showed that all floricane cultivars except ‘Meeker’ and ‘Mac Black’ showed a high winter survival rate (<10% bud damage) in last two years. Most of the primocane cultivars well survived the winters in which ‘Polana’, ‘Heritage’, and ‘J. Joan’ showed no or a low winter damage (<15%). Research also found that winter hardiness largely increased after first year in the field and spring planting helped plants survive the first winter. ‘Prelude’ is the earliest ripening cultivar and 5% fruit were harvested between late June and early July 7. ‘Polana’ is the earlies ripening primocane cultivars and 5% fruit were harvested in early August. ‘Heritage’ was the latest ripening cultivar and its fruit were harvested after September 2 in 2016. Fruit quality evaluation showed significant differences in size, soluble sugar contents (SSC), firmness, and flavor among these cultivars.