How long should the canes be?

by Diana Fox
(Brownsville, IN USA)

I started with a small number of plants and after about 5 or 6 yrs. , my plants are really looking good. My question is, how long should the canes be. Mine are quite long, up to 10 ft., Should I be cutting them to a shorter length, or continue to support them, or does it matter.

Doug says that here is the difference in both variety and in climate. In a zone 4, most canes aren't going to get above a 5-6 foot range. In a warmer climate, they can downright Jack-Beanstalk size. :-)

In my world, if I can reach the berry - this is a good thing. In warmer climates with taller canes, I'd probably be tipping off the second year canes to a height I could reach.

And I'd be running another support system (here in the north, we don't need a support system) that I'll diagram out and put on the pruning page shortly.