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Raspberry is a plant from the rose family, known to man since ancient times. This extremely tasty, fragrant berry is also a storehouse of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
In general, raspberries are not a particularly whimsical plant, but in order to get a good harvest of large and juicy berries, the gardener needs to take care of the raspberries.
The crucial stage is the spring care for raspberries. How to protect a plant from pests in spring, how to care for raspberries in spring and prepare it for the time of flowering and fruiting – is described in this article.
The beginning of spring work in the raspberry
The first actions of a caring gardener in a raspberry garden are cleaning last year’s leaves and branches. This stage is carried out immediately, as soon as the last snow melts. The importance of spring cleaning is due to the danger of infection of the plant – it is in the litter from last year’s foliage that the main enemies of raspberries hibernate. Since they crawl out of their wintering places from the very end of the winter cold, it is important not to miss the moment of spring cleaning.
All collected raspberry leaves and branches must be burned, since there is a high probability of their being affected by fungi, diseases, and viruses.
How to plant and transplant raspberries in spring
Raspberry care in spring includes planting. When performing these works, according to experienced gardeners, three factors are important:
- Choice of raspberries. Among the numerous (more than six hundred) raspberry varieties, it is important to choose the one that most fully corresponds to the climatic conditions where the raspberry is located.
- Choice of location. When choosing a place for the future raspberry, experienced gardeners are advised to take into account that this plant does not like direct sunlight and does not tolerate drafts. Moist loamy and sandy soils are favorable for raspberries.
- Soil preparation. Raspberry care involves the application of mineral and organic fertilizers, as well as the provision of irrigation.
When caring for raspberries in the spring, when planting seedlings, it is necessary to prepare holes (about 40 cm in diameter and depth). The fertile layer must be set aside and mixed with fertilizers. Experienced gardeners recommend this mixture:
- Compost or humus – 10 gr.
- Potassium sulfate – 50 gr.
- Wood ash – 400 gr.
- Granular superphosphate – 100 gr.
These proportions of required fertilizers are given per hole.
Experienced gardeners advise mixing the top layer of soil with fertilizers and pouring some into a hole, place a raspberry seedling there a little below the bud and sprinkle it with prepared soil. Then a hole is made around and filled with water. After absorbing moisture, the hole is filled with humus or sawdust, and the raspberry seedling is cut to 30 cm in height. If the rain has not passed, then after a few days the raspberry planting needs to be watered.
How to properly cut raspberries
One of the most important stages of spring care for raspberries is pruning plants.
Gardeners with extensive experience believe that the double pruning method is the most effective – it can significantly increase the yield of raspberries.
Double pruning of raspberries is carried out in two stages:
- Removal of weak, diseased shoots that have not survived the winter; on living stems, pruning is done to a healthy bud. This must be done before the soil warms up – in March-April.
- Pruning 20 cm from the top of the raspberry shoot, after the buds have blossomed.
According to the advice of experienced gardeners on caring for raspberries in the spring, up to fifteen new shoots are stimulated, which give a good harvest.
Raspberry garter
Raspberry care in the spring necessarily includes a garter of raspberry shoots. Depending on the characteristics of the raspberry and the method of planting, you can choose one of two options for raspberry garters.
- Artisanal – a stake is set in the middle of a raspberry bush and shoots are tied to it. The method is convenient for pit landing. Stakes can also be driven between bushes and shoots can be tied from different bushes and at different heights – this ensures a more even exposure of the sun’s rays.
- Tapestry – posts are installed along the edges of a row of raspberries, two rows of wire are pulled between them. One at a height of about 70 cm, the second at a height of a meter. Good for trench planting.
How to till the soil
Proper care for raspberries in the spring involves tillage.
Proper tillage involves loosening (up to 10 cm deep), after which abundant watering is desirable.
Experienced gardeners believe that such an element of spring raspberry care as soil mulching contributes significantly to increasing yields. The procedure consists in introducing a deep layer of humus, compost, rotted straw into the raspberries – the so-called mulch. Fifteen centimeters of mulch will provide the roots with nutrition and moisture.
How to feed the soil
Gardeners with extensive experience believe that caring for raspberries in the spring is impossible without top dressing the soil.
Every year in the spring, nitrogen fertilizers must be applied to the raspberry soil. The time of the first feeding of raspberries is early spring, immediately after the snow melts, before loosening, but after watering. For fertilizer, you can use ammonium nitrate plus a glass of wood ash (to prevent acidification) or potassium nitrate. A good option for spring care for raspberries can be complex top dressing:
- Potassium – 100 gr.
- Saltpeter – 100 g.
- Superphosphate – 200 g.
For 10 liters of water you need 100 gr. this mixture.
The next stage of spring feeding of raspberries is carried out in May – 500 gr. mullein dissolve in 10 liters. water.
Some experienced gardeners prefer to make do with organic fertilizers only. In addition to mullein, they use rabbit droppings (diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10), poultry (1:20). Well fertilizes the land of raspberries and herbal infusion of comfrey and nettle: for a week, 1 kg of fresh herbs is infused in a bucket of cold water with daily stirring. For feeding raspberries, 1 liter is bred. infusion in 10 liters of water and pour 2 liters of the mixture under each bush.
Protection against pests
The first step in raspberry pest control during spring raspberry care is spring cleaning. As soon as the last snow melts, and dead branches are cut off, last year’s foliage, branches must be collected and burned. It is there that the main enemies of raspberries hibernate and most of them can be destroyed in this way before they come out of hibernation.
The next stage of the struggle is spraying the raspberry vine. It must be done before the buds open.
The beetle dies if the soil and raspberry shoots are treated with a solution of nitrafen (200 ml per 10 liters of water).
Fufanon or actellik are detrimental to the raspberry gall midge, especially its larvae (dose – 15 ml per 8 liters of water).
For the stem fly, an obstacle to coming out of hibernation is a layer of mulch on the raspberry stem circles.
The treatment of raspberry vines with solutions of agravertin, actellik or fitoverm has been repeatedly tested and confirmed by experience.
Gardeners with experience recommend that this part of spring care – processing work – be carried out on a cloudy day and only before flowering.
To combat raspberry pests, there are quite effective folk remedies. If the raspberry is affected by gray rot, it will be protected by pine needles – it must be spread out between raspberry bushes. Fungal diseases of raspberry shoots are treated with garlic. Insecticides successfully replace infusions of onion, dandelion, yarrow.
These tips will allow you to prepare the raspberries well for the fruiting period and enjoy a bountiful harvest of raspberries until the autumn cold.
