I really want to like Mysore Raspberries since they’re the only raspberry that does excellently in all of Florida and even deeper into the tropics.
It’s a prolific and close-to-weedy cane fruit that bears abundant quantities of blue-black fruit. I’ve written about it before in this post on growing raspberries in Florida… however, one thing I failed to mention is that the Mysore raspberries we’ve grown are somewhat lacking in flavor.
I don’t think it’s just the plants we were growing, either. When I interviewed Sandy Graves (inventor of the BoonJon composting toilet) a month or so back, he told me his Mysore raspberries were pleasant but not all that flavorful.
There’s a rich raspberry flavor to true raspberries from up north. Blackberries also have their unique rich flavor… yet the Mysore raspberries, though great producers, just don’t have “it.”
Anyone else notice this? I’m wondering if it’s a cultural or a genetic thing. If they were grown in rich soil or with less water, would they have more flavor? Or are their genetics such that they just won’t ever hold up against their temperate cousins?
I’d like to hear your experiences.
You can have greener thumbs by this weekend!
12 comments
So it’s not just me.
Are they in full sun? That might help.
I transplanted some very nice wild blackberries a few years back, great flavor. They never have given good flavored berries in the new location. Might be the soil, they came from rich forest soil, and got moved to heavy clay, basically subsoil.
David, I just purchased a couple canes of the Mysore raspberry and I placed them in a large 30 gallon pot for manageable growth together. I am still waiting on my soil ph kit to arrive, so in the meantime I have amended the soil with adequate nutrition and even a little baking soda to help alkalinize the soil area for the raspberry canes. However, two weeks after in the container, one cane completely went limp. I started to notice slight yellow discolorations with brown-tinged dots on the leaves but perhaps something went south with the roots… I tried to revive it seperately, but now I am just done to that one cane. New shoots are coming from the bottom and green growth continues up top as well. I believe it is getting ready for flowering stages which is cool to see. Could you offer me tips for good fruiting; I have come to hear the more water the plant gets, the more bland/tasteless the berry is. Thanks in advance, I enjoy watching your videos and the lifestyle you have been able to create. You soil rap is hilarious too :’) Well anyways, peace.
Zone 9B garderner, Pasco County Florida
Thanks, Brandon. In my experience, they like soil a little acid with lots of compost. Once they get established, they grow like a weed. Your canes may just be suffering from transplant shock right now.
Hate to tell you this Brandon, but you killed them by amending the soil and raising the ph so high. They like a ph of 5.0 so very acid! Sandy soil in Florida is 5.5-5.7 and these berries thrive on a limestone type of soil.
The mysore canes I planted in my yard last summer are now starting to produce raspberries. I agree they are bland compared to the northern varieties. At first I wondered if the lack of flavor is due to the fact that these are the first batch of berries but it seems others are encountering the same issue. I’m thinking of giving them less water. The plants grow like weeds. They get partial sun. Besides a little fertilizer last summer I haven’t supplemented their growth with anything. They don’t seem to need it.
They are really bland with a tint of sweetness, not even sour. These are the only raspberries that grows in India, so no other option for us except imported ones which are way too pricey.
copied from:
https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mysore_raspberry.html
“The Mysore raspberry tends to bloom and fruit throughout the year but summer fruits are of poor size and quality. Therefore, the seasonal pruning has the additional purpose of preventing spring and summer flowering and allowing the first blooms to appear in December. Thus managed, the fruits are borne continuously from about February to May or June.
Old canes should be cut to the ground at the end of the fruiting period and there should be severe pruning and thinning out in the late fall to force new growth for a winter-spring crop.”
Very interesting – thank you.
I did minimal lazy guy research on cross breeding mysore raspberries with other varieties and found that if someone tried they did post results where Chat GPT could find it. I am not a successful plant breeder but I am willing to try. Only problem is getting pollen from northern raspberries. I still have acquired mysores to get started with. Maybe in the next couple of years I can send out a plea to have someone mail me adults male flowers of various cultivars from up north. Maybe some else has already tinkered with this. I am guessing if enough people try we can end up with cultivar with better flavor than can thrive in zones 8 9 and 10 with a bit more flavor.
That would be fascinating. It would be a cross-species hybrid if it worked.
Got some to grow in PR. Hope they turned out well.
I ordered this kula black raspberry variety but had trouble growing from seed:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/201877417/kula-black-raspberryraspberry-seedsblack?click_key=b6cde9bd19ee9a5bdca8d0c6b69cf5838171a0b4%3A201877417&click_sum=a7ea345e&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=kula+raspberry&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1&pro=1&sts=1&referrer_page_guid=f6e88e9283e.080a5c6ee14bb2578ee4.00
Maybe a more experienced grower can get this one to work
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