raspberry troubleshooting

I have rather a lot of raspberry canes, some of which are three years old, others two. Last year I had a modest crop of amazing-tasting, luscious fruit. This year I have a phenomenally large number of fruit, but they are all small and the few that have ripened are not as tasty as I remember from last year.
What am I doing wrong and is it too late to do anything about it? Under watering and under feeding seem obvious culprits. I gave them each a handful of fertilizer in the early spring. The watering... well perhaps I have not been too assiduous until lately. I have also let them get a bit out of control (will be doing some serious pruning late autumn.) I have some Joan Js, Glen Coes and a Black Jewel.
p.s the red and white currants planted among them are a bit small too. Oh dear... one of the unfortunate things about edible gardening is that when you screw up, you can't put what you learn from your mistakes into action for a almost whole other year!

 

Arent rasps meant to be cut down every year. Summer ones after flowering and autumn ones in late winter. So 2-3 year old canes will be knackered hence small fruit.

Just thought the low rainfall levels wont have enabled the fruit to swell properly

 

I'm the same as you @REMF33, good crop last year but just picked the first few raspberries today which are small and almost bitter/sour tasting.

Might be the uneven weather this year, but I have found in the past when they are like this now, they do become larger and sweeter as the crop continues.

Ironically, just been enjoying a week plus of a good strawberry crop, where previous years have been a waste of time.... that's gardening !

 

Thanks.
I am feeling a bit down about the garden now... I have a jostaberry tree that was full of fruit. Now very little left (birds) even though they aren't ripe. It's weird. They don't *seem* to be going for the bright red redcurrants so much! (But lost most of cherries on dwarf cherries.) A netting strategy needs to come into force next year.
I am not having much of a strawberry crop. I put a lot of new ones in a pyramid planter, so all new. Some haven't even survived (bare root mail order) others - out of 50 plants I have just had a couple of fruit so far :o but I suppose it's early days...?! (There are a lot of different varieties.)
My courgettes are doing ok, and I have a mini crystal lemon cucumber. Tomatoes... well we shall see.

Anyway, back to the raspberries, I am giving them lots of water now. Will cut all down in the autumn/as recommended. I think most of the plants are in their second year and are only about 4ft high. The three year old (which is silly feet high) has a huge amount of fruit on it. If they were knackered, would they not just not produce? They have been fertilized, as I said, which should give them some energy?!
I suppose I was a bit blase as they did so very well last year.

 

I impulse bought a 3-in-1 pack of raspberries some 8 years ago (from Wilkos- about £2 ), it has early, mid, and late fruiting plants. They have been growing happily in a 50cm container so far and give reliable crops every summer all summer long.

Initially I tried to prune the varieties according to the books, but in recent years I have just left them. The plants which flower on previous year's growth stay ok over the winter, the ones fruiting on new growth die down in winter and I just snap the dry canes off as the new shoots emerge from the base.

Plenty of water is needed to produce juicy, big fruit. Fertilising will probably add to the yield, but in essence raspberry is a humble plant and will grow even in poor conditions.

Growing edibles is a brilliant, thrilling way of life especially for us non- country people but personally I have firmly declared it as a hobby with potential rewards rather than a task to produce x amount to meet a goal. A handful of raspberries fresh every Sunday morning is more important than having enough to make jam to last over the winter.

And birds... aren't they lovely? OK, they'll eat your unprotected fruit but will also provide free netflix nature channel