Study of the Chilling Requirements of Four Floracane Raspberry Varieties for Greenhouse Raspberry Production

Note to readers, attached is the complete final report for FNE02-425.

Chilling the plants in cold storage resulted in earlier production of fruit so that all fruit was sold for $3 per half pint. However, between the cost of cold storage and the cost of fuel for heating the greenhouse, early greenhouse production of raspberries in Southern New Jersey is much less profitable then it was when the study began.

The results of this study show that a 40 day cold treatment is consistently sufficient to produce fruiting in the varieties of raspberries studied. Tulameen is by far the best variety of the four studied to produce greenhouse raspberries. We found that Titan berries while large (spectacular eye appeal) are quite flavorless when produced in the greenhouse. We also learned that there is a limit to how early chilling can be accomplished (in the growing season) as in the 2003 year study where the canes remained vegetative due to immaturity of the fruiting bonds.

• FNE02-425 Final Report