Raspberries: Planting, Growing, Care

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

In the wild, raspberries have been known to mankind since ancient times. This aromatic and sweet berry is loved for its unusual taste, nutritional and healing properties. American and English gardeners began cultivating raspberries in the XVIII century. In Russia, Yuri Dolgoruky was the first to start growing shrubs. By the way, hundreds of years ago it was raspberry that was the forerunner of modern tea, its leaves and twigs were brewed and used to treat colds and respiratory diseases

Nowadays, raspberries have not lost their relevance, they are still used to prevent influenza, sciatica, joint pain and neuralgia. Contained in berries, salicylic acid helps to reduce body temperature and has a pronounced diaphoretic effect. In addition, raspberries have antitoxic and blood-restorative properties; they are often used for atherosclerosis, anemia, hypertension, kidney disease and problems with the gastrointestinal tract.

Growing conditions

Growing raspberries is not easy, as it may seem at first glance, but every gardener, even a beginner, can do it. It is important to choose a good site for planting a culture that meets all the requirements, to plant the plant correctly and take regular care of it.

It is best to grow raspberries on the outskirts of the garden, since the culture forms a large number of root suckers, which over time occupy all the free space, growing over long distances. That is why many gardeners do not want to grow a plant on their site, considering it not a berry crop, but rather a weed.

The soil for raspberries is preferable loamy or sandy loam, with a rich mineral composition and medium moisture. It is desirable that the soil be loose and permeable, in no case clogged with rhizomes of weeds. Areas without prior treatment are not suitable for growing crops.

Raspberries produce good yields in areas that are well lit and sheltered from strong winds. In the lowlands, it is better not to plant a shrub, since there it will suffer from excess moisture and spring frosts, this will lead to rotting or freezing of the roots, and as a result of the death of the plant.

Landing

Raspberry seedlings are planted in early spring or autumn, green cuttings are planted in summer. Planting holes or culture trenches are prepared in advance, usually 3-4 weeks in advance. If planting is carried out in the spring, then in 1, 5-2 weeks. Raspberries are grown both in a trellis method and in separate bushes. In the first case, the plants are planted in trenches, in the second - in holes.

Digging holes for seedlings measuring 40 * 50 * 50 cm. The soil taken out of the hole is mixed with mineral fertilizers and rotted compost. Part of the resulting substrate is poured into the hole, forming a slide. The roots of the seedling are moistened in a mullein solution, dipped into a hole, sprinkled with the remaining soil, watered abundantly and mulched with peat. The root collar is not buried, it should be several centimeters above the soil level, but too high a planting for the culture is not desirable.

When planting trellis, dig trenches 50 cm wide and 45 cm deep. The distance between the trenches should be at least 1 m, and between the plants - 40-50 cm. The trench is 1/3 filled with soil substrate, the seedlings are lowered, covered with soil, watered and mulched.

Care

Raspberry is a moisture-loving crop; the plant needs watering especially sharply during the period of berry formation. Lack of watering can lead to a small yield of poor quality, the berries will be small and not so juicy. An excess of moisture is not desirable.

Do not forget about regular weeding, loosening and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, these procedures also affect the normal growth and development of the crop, and the future harvest. Raspberries also need pruning, broken, thickening branches and root shoots should be removed, and fruit-bearing shoots should be shortened. After planting, the fruiting shoots are shortened by 20 cm. Starting from the second year, the shoots are cut to a strong bud (by about 8-10 cm).

In the presence of a large number of berries, the plants are tied up. Many gardeners advise using the fan method, which consists in driving two sticks on different sides and tying to them at different heights part of the shoots of one bush, and part of the shoots of the neighboring one. For the winter, some varieties of raspberries are bent down for the winter so that frost and snow do not damage the shoots. To do this, the bushes are tilted towards each other and tied with canvas ropes.