Therefore, the grower must use every precaution to avoid the possibility of the reintroduction of viruses once the new plantings are established. Types of Plant Propagation Nursery stock is available as transplants, suckers, tips, root cuttings, or tissue-cultured plants. Transplants are larger and more vigorous than suckers. Transplants usually cost more than suckers. The extra cost charged for these year-old plants is usually not worthwhile for commercial growers.
Dormant suckers are the traditional red raspberry transplant.
Black raspberries rarely produce suckers. Purple raspberry suckers are sometimes used but, like black raspberries, they are most commonly propagated by rooting primocane tips, i.e., by tip-layering, during late summer and fall. Transplants with relatively large root systems are acceptable, but those with few or no roots and no part of the parent root are less likely to survive. This is usually done in late August by burying the tips of the current season's cane two to four inches in the soil. The buried tips develop roots and form new plants before dormancy the same year.