{"id":1822,"date":"2019-09-19T00:03:20","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T00:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1822"},"modified":"2019-09-19T00:04:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-19T00:04:48","slug":"raspberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/19\/raspberry\/","title":{"rendered":"Raspberry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rubus<\/em> species<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The raspberries are so\nclosely related to the Blackberry that there are hybrids between the two, but\nthere are significant differences. The biggest one is that their flavor is\nquite different, though it tastes every bit as good. They also have a different\ngrowth habit than Blackberries. They don\u2019t root at the tips, but instead spread\nby means of underground roots and suckers, which can eventually form dense\ncolonies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raspberries are an outstanding crop for cool climates, produce over a long period and start to produce the year after planting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About\nRaspberry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease of growing: Easy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours of winter chill:\n1000-1800<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size: 4-6ft high x x4-6ft\nwide <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zone: 3-9 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blooming period: Late spring<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruiting period: June –\nOctober<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life expectancy: 10 years <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing age: 2-3 years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yield: Standard lb (2\nbushels)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days to harvest: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing: 2-5ft apart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growth\nhabit: Every year raspberry sends up new\nsuckers, from the base of old canes and on creeping roots. These canes are\nbiennial and spend their first year growing and their second year fruiting.\nThey then die and can be removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate:\nRaspberries are very hardy (to -20\u00b0F) and can be grown in most parts of\nthe country. It\u2019s said that they don\u2019t like very hot\nweather, but all three types (red, black and yellow) do fine in my garden (we\nonly get a few really hot hours daily though).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pH\n6.0-7.0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raspberries\nprefer a soil that is moisture retentive, slightly acid and well drained, but\nwill grow on almost any soil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site;\nRaspberries grow naturally in forest clearings and can creep around the forest\nfloor to get the most light. This means they will tolerate quite a bit of\nshade, though they need full sun for best production (6 hours of sun is\nminimum). If your soil isn\u2019t very well drained you might consider planting on a\nhillside, or on a mound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all\nclimates they should be given shelter from strong winds and in cold climates\nthey should be kept away from frost pockets. Everbearing varieties should be\nplaced where they will be protected from early fall frosts which could damage\nthe later crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparation: As forest dwellers they appreciate soils that are high in organic\nmatter, so amend the planting bed with lots (4\u201d) of compost or aged manure\n(this is particularly important if the soil is sandy). It is also a good idea\nto add some fertilizer mix (10lb\/100sq ft).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important that any\nplants you obtain be free of viruses. If you buy them from a reputable place\nthis is almost guaranteed, but if someone gives you them this is not so\ncertain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When: In mild climates\nraspberry plants can be planted any time they are dormant from late autumn to\nearly spring. In colder climates they are usually planted in spring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How: The plants should be put in the ground so the crown\nis the same depth it was in the nursery bed (or 1 inch deeper). The roots\nshould be at least 3\u201d deep. After planting you\nshould cut the cane down to a strong bud about 12 inches up the cane. This will\nencourage it to send up vigorous new growth and prevent it from flowering in\nits first year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing:\nYou can plant your raspberries in rows\nfor easier support and maintenance, spacing them 18\u201d apart, in rows 5-6 ft\napart. You can also spot plant them as individuals all around the garden or in\na forest garden, so eventually grow into separate colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support:\nIt may be necessary to support the taller varieties, so they don\u2019t fall over\nand to ensure they receive good sun and air circulation. Support usually consists of a line of 6ft tall T posts with a\nseries of wires. This can get quite involved with several systems being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch: After\neverything is planted use a 3\u201d mulch of compost to add nutrients, suppress\nweeds and keep the ground moist. You should add 2-3\u201d of mulch every spring to\nreplace that which has disappeared into the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance:\nIf you do a lot of training the plants need quite a bit of attention (training\nis most useful for small gardens). You can also just leave them to grow wild,\nsuch as in a forest garden and this of course is a lot less work. The plants\nactually do better if allowed to grow in this way, as it is how they grow\nnaturally. By slowly moving around there is less chance of disease or soil\nproblems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netting: This is\noften necessary to prevent birds eating most of the fruit. The netting has to\nbe pretty thorough to be effective, as they will try to find a way in through\nany openings. Sometimes birds are so bad\nthat the plants are grown inside a permanent cage. It\u2019s\nsaid that birds don\u2019t go for the yellow fruit as much as the red or black,\nbecause it doesn\u2019t look ripe. You can also try scaring the birds with shiny\naluminum pie tins, old cd\u2019s or inflatable predator balloons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertilizing: The plants can be very productive and it may be necessary to add\nextra nutrients to replace those harvested in fruit. The commonest way to do\nthis is with a thick mulch of compost or aged manure. If this isn\u2019t enough you\nmight top dress with a fertilizer mix (10lb of for 100 sq ft of bed) in spring.\nWood ashes and kelp meal are also very beneficial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watering:\nRaspberries need a moist soil at all times for best production. Drip irrigation\nworks best as it\u2019s not good to get the leaves or fruit wet It can encourage\ndisease).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning:\nPlants produce fruit on previous seasons growth and individual canes live for\nonly 2 years. These are usually removed after fruiting. If the plants are\ngrowing very well you might also remove any inferior new canes in spring, to\nleave the strongest to mature (8-10 good canes per plant is a good rule of\nthumb). You also remove any stray unwanted canes that appear in the paths or\nother unexpected places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollination: Raspberries are self \u2013fertile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinning:\nIn this case I am not referring to the plants, but rather the overcrowded\ncolonies of plants, which often spread into pathways and invade neighboring\nplants.. Raspberries spread vegetatively to form dense colonies that benefit\nfrom thinning (which consists of removing whole clumps of plants). You can\ntransplant the plants you remove to new sites (or give them away). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagation: The simplest way to propagate raspberries is to dig up the creeping\nroots and established suckers, with as much soil as possible and transplant\nthem. The remaining plants will often benefit from the thinning. They can also\nbe propagated by cuttings or seed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphids<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raspberry\nbeetles: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raspberry\nmoth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disease:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mosaic virus: Viruses sometimes become a problem with these long lived perennials.\nThey show themselves in the form of blotched and mottled leaves and stunted\ncanes. Badly infected plants should be removed as soon as you are sure of your\ndiagnosis (make sure it really is a virus and not a nutrient deficiency). This\ndisease is the reason it\u2019s recommended that you start with certified virus free\nplants, rather than plants from a neighbor (though these can be good too).\nThese should be good for at least 10 years before virus problems become a big\nproblem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fungus diseases: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spur\nblight (Didymella applanata<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cane\nblight<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cane\nspot (Elsinoe veneta<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gray\nmold (Botrytis<\/em> )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems:\nWet soil can lead to root damage and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deficiencies: Plants sometimes suffer from phosphorus, potassium or magnesium\ndeficiency. Good compost will cure all of these though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To check is a\nberry is ripe just taste it. . The fruit doesn\u2019t all ripen at the same time, so\nyou will have to pick every couple of days in season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest by\npicking the fruit (the calyx should stay on the plant) and put it into a\nshallow container (this should be shallow so the fragile fruit doesn\u2019t get\nsquashed by the weight of fruit on top). Be careful to avoid damaging the\ngrowing canes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage: The\nripe berries are very perishable and only last a few days in the fridge. If you\naren\u2019t going to use them promptly it\u2019s best to freeze them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unusual growing ideas: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a good idea to plant\nseveral different varieties (early, mid, late and everbearing) to get a longer\nharvest season, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everbearing raspberries\ndiffer in that they produce fruit on the top of current season canes\n(primocanes) as well as on two year old canes and can\ngive 2 crops a year. The first crop in early summer and a larger one in\nearly fall. These are a useful complement to the other varieties as they help\nto extend the picking season. These are pruned by\nsimply cutting all canes to the ground in late\nwinter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rubus species The raspberries are so closely related to the Blackberry that there are hybrids between the two, but there are significant differences. The biggest one is that their flavor … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fruit-bushes","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Raspberry.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1822"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1825,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1822\/revisions\/1825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}