Because the plastic pipes are buried, they do not interfere with cane-cutting operations. Trellising of floricane fruiting raspberry and blackberry plants helps reduce primocane interference and improves production. Without trellising, fruiting canes must be cut short in the dormant season to prevent canes from breaking or tipping over. Because most of the fruit buds are on the top half of the cane, topping low can significantly reduce the productivity of a planting. Staking brambles in a hill is a trellis system that is occasionally used.
Advantages are low cost, ease of harvest, and suitability for two-way cultivation.
The disadvantage is low yields per unit area. Cane interference can be reduced and yields increased by using a trellis that separates the fruiting canes from vegetative canes. One such system is the V-trellis. Fruiting canes are tied to wires on the outside of the V in early spring, and primocanes are permitted to grow in the middle of the V. Spraying, harvesting, and pruning are easier because floricanes are pulled to the outside where they are accessible and primocane interference is minimal. The presence of primocanes in the middle forces lateral growth outward.