- Different varieties for planting
- Be careful when planting offshoots
- The right planting time
- location and soil
- Preparation of perennials and planting
- attachment
- Important measures to complete the planting process
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Along with currants and strawberries, raspberries (Rubus idaeus) are the fruit-bearers that hobby gardeners most often plant in their gardens at home. The fruits owe this on the one hand to the very good taste and on the other hand to their yield despite relatively simple care. Important prerequisites for good harvest results are planting at the right time, the right location, the soil conditions and the correct handling of the young plants.
Different varieties for planting
Lovers of fresh raspberries should have two varieties next to each other in the garden in order to be able to harvest over a longer period of time. These are the summer raspberries, also known as early raspberries, which only bear fruit once a year, and the autumn raspberries, also known as late raspberries. In the case of summer raspberries, the fruits grow on the canes of the previous year. They can be harvested from June. Autumn raspberries bear fruit not only on so-called one-year-old wood, but also on this year's canes.
The best-known varieties of summer raspberries include:
- Rubaca
- Glen Ample
- Tulameen
- Wei Rula
and with the autumn raspberries:
- Autumn Bliss
- Autumn First
- Himbo top
- polka
Be careful when planting offshoots
Anyone who takes the trouble to create a new bed with raspberries should buy new young plants of the correct variety. This is the only way to ensure that they are guaranteed disease-free. Again and again, hobby gardeners are offered plants by neighbors or friends.
These are usually offshoots from their gardens, which may be infected by fungi or viruses. This in turn would mean that you would bring a lot of diseases into your laboriously newly created bed. In other words: Well-intentioned neighborly help with new plants is in many cases a disservice.
The right planting time
For most raspberry varieties, the right time to plant young perennials is early autumn. Therefore, you should schedule October as the time for this work in good time. Since the sun isn't shining as strongly now, the young plants are better protected from drying out than they were in spring or summer.
The root cuttings or cuttings will have enough time to form new roots when planted in the fall on well-prepared soil. If you still miss this best planting time, you can plant summer raspberries as well as autumn raspberries in early spring if necessary. However, the time until the first flowering is then no longer sufficient to be able to harvest much or anything at all in the same year. Therefore, autumn is always recommended as the time for planting.
location and soil
In addition to the right planting time, the hobby gardener must pay attention to the right location. A partially shaded to sunny spot in the garden is best. It would also be best to choose a wind-protected spot. However, raspberry varieties that bear fruit in autumn only need locations in full sun.
Since both summer raspberries and autumn raspberries prefer deep, humus-rich, loose and moist soil, areas with waterlogging should never be selected as a location. If you plant new raspberries, you should also not choose a spot where raspberries have already been, otherwise the soil will quickly tire.
The soil for planting young raspberry bushes should be rich in humus, deep and loose. A pH value between 5 and 6.5 with good ventilation is recommended. It is ideal if the soil is thoroughly prepared by loosening it thoroughly before planting the summer or autumn raspberries. In loamy soils in particular, it is advisable to work in a mixture of cattle compost and garden compost in a ratio of 1:1.
All raspberry varieties are susceptible to root and cane diseases, a consequence of waterlogging, which often results from soil compaction. If the soil, which tends to waterlogging, is too loamy, the incorporation of sand can be helpful. As an alternative, it has proven useful to create a raised bed about 20 cm high for planting the perennials.
Experts on nutrient-rich soils advise preparing the intended soil for future summer raspberries or autumn raspberries before planting the cuttings. So-called green manure can be sown at the planned location as early as August, e.g. B. with mustard seed or bee pasture.
This is dug under before the raspberries are planted in October. The result is a deeply loosened soil that remains weed-free and at the same time is supplied with new nutrients.
Preparation of perennials and planting
Before planting, the root cuttings are prepared for future healthy growth. This includes cutting back young shoots to almost 30 cm, shortening healthy roots by 1 cm and cutting off dead roots completely. The root balls are then immersed in water for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Alternatively, field broth or field box broth can be used instead of water, which prevents root diseases. During the subsequent planting process, the young plants that are still bare-rooted must not dry out. After the preparatory measures, the root cuttings should be planted in such a way that the buds on the root balls are covered with soil by a good 5 cm.
The best distance between the individual cuttings is 40 to 50 cm, so that the plants later get enough light and are well ventilated. If several rows of summer raspberries and autumn raspberries are to be planted, a distance of 1.2 to 1.5 m between the rows is recommended. This leaves approx. 50 cm wide paths to walk on the raspberry plantation without compacting the soil with the result of Root disease (see above) is to be feared.
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Summer raspberries and fall raspberries, like blackberries, are scramblers, which means they need a climbing aid. It is advisable to build a small scaffolding to support the tendrils that will later bear fruit. As a rule, a simple trellis of wooden posts is sufficient, between which three ropes or wires are stretched at a height of approx. 50, 100 and 150 cm.
The new tendrils can be attached to this to allow space-saving growth and later easy harvesting. So that the fresh cuttings can take root in peace and be able to supply themselves with fresh nutrients undisturbed, you should set up the trellis right away when planting, but in any case from a growth height of 15 cm at the latest.
Professionals for planting soft fruit on espaliers recommend not simply tying up the later tendrils on the connecting wires. It would be better to also stretch a coarse-meshed net over the trellis. If you pull the freshly grown rods outwards through the mesh, they get significantly more light. Accordingly, many more flowers and thus fruits can be formed.
Important measures to complete the planting process
As soon as the fresh cuttings of summer raspberries and autumn raspberries are in the soil, care should be taken to protect it from overwatering and drying out. It proves helpful to mulch the entire area with dried autumn leaves or lawn clippings after planting the young raspberries.
Since summer raspberries and autumn raspberries are not particularly hardy, care should be taken with a light winter protection when planting in autumn. The young cuttings can then grow better. In the past, it has always proven useful to spread a layer of mature compost or pine branches over the bed to protect it.
Many hobby gardeners do not take into account that raspberries like to grow rampant. On the one hand, this creates problems for other plants in the immediate vicinity in the garden. On the other hand, the raspberries focus primarily on water search and root development. They therefore need too much water and neglect the care of rods and fruit.
In order to prevent this and tame the root runners, it makes sense to border the approximately one meter wide rows of beds with a root barrier. The easiest way is to lay an approx. 25 cm wide pond liner. A slightly more solid alternative is an edging made of turf curbs, which are usually medium-sized concrete curbs.