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Among all varieties of raspberries, some plants prefer exclusively remontant raspberries. Growing this berry has its pros and cons. But pruning remontant raspberries is particularly simple, despite the fact that remontant raspberries can be harvested twice a year.
Differences in pruning remontant raspberries
There are several varieties of remontant raspberry, but all of them have three phases – growth, branching, and fruiting, take place over the course of one year. It is from this that the special features that distinguish the pruning of this particular variety emerge. So, after fruiting in all plants, the part above the ground must be completely cut off. New stems will begin to appear in the spring. Some of them will be very weak.
Based on this, it is important to thin them out once or twice, and maybe even three times. This is necessary so that other stems can gain strength and grow. After the next fruiting, pruning of all those grown during the season will again be required.
And so it turns out that remontant raspberries do not have a two-year cycle, during which growth and fruiting occurs, as in other species, but only one-year. And this gives the gardener new advantages. So dangerous diseases and pests cannot accumulate. For them, winter will not become a stage of freezing and freezing. This makes maintenance easier and much more comfortable to work with.
Our latitudes differ in not too long summer. It is always a little bit lacking for the maximum realization of the fruiting potential. It often happens that only having managed to collect the very first berries, there are still many flowers and ovaries left on the branches, the first cold weather is coming.
Pruning can be done in another way. So some gardeners carry out this procedure, as in the cultivation of conventional varieties. The stem, although already bearing fruit, still does not dry out. Raspberries will overwinter, and again they will branch, again they will give berries. During fruiting, new stems and berries will have time to grow.
The remontant variety gives two harvests per season. Although they cannot produce more than ordinary varieties, the period for collecting and consuming fresh raspberries will become longer. And the coming autumn will bring additional harvest from these stems.
With this method, it is important to remove two-year-old stems almost immediately after harvesting in the middle of summer. You also need to carefully normalize the newly growing stems.
Gardeners should remember that you should not double-prun raspberries if you have a remontant variety. The reason is that in the Middle lane one part of the crop does not have time to ripen at all. If, at the same time, pruning is carried out, the gardener will spend extra time to form side shoots. Because of this, it may be delayed.
The very first crop has time to ripen on shoots that have overwintered. The second crop grows on annuals. To speed up the process, you need to cut off last year’s victories. After the harvest is carried out, as well as pruning, you need to feed the bush. In September, remontant raspberries will be pruned on fresh shoots.
Trimming time
Gardeners often ask themselves different questions. For example, how to prune remontant raspberries in the fall. It doesn’t matter if this procedure is carried out in autumn or spring, no one doubts the importance of observing the timing of pruning. The very terms depend on the pruning option: for growing for two crops and for growing for 1 crop.
If you need berries immediately in summer and autumn, for which a remontant variety is excellent, pruning should be done in late autumn and early spring. Remember that remontant raspberry pruning in this case is not carried out on the entire shoot, but on where the berries were.
In this case, one part of the shoot will remain, with which a wonderful summer crop will form. And the autumn harvest will be reached on grown annual fresh shoots.
Another variation is growing raspberries for one harvest. With this option, the remontant variety is pruned in November. Right to the soil level, old shoots are cut off and those that have already managed to bear fruit. Why? Otherwise, just those that remain will give rise to new shoots, which will create a two-year cycle for raspberries. And this means that all the work done will go down the drain. Freshly cut branches should be burned. The rhizome itself remains to survive the coming winter, where there will also be dormant buds. They will grow in early spring.
Trimming technique
Raspberries of this variety bear fruit on shoots two years ago, just like the varieties familiar to gardeners. But also on shoots of the same age, having the form of increments. But in order for the first crop to ripen, and also for shoots to form further to replace and grow the second crop, the plant spends too much effort. Therefore, trimming remontant raspberries has its own technique.
In the first year of growth, very young shoots begin to grow on seedlings. Already in July they will be covered with flowers, and with berries – already in August. Next year, those same annual shoots cannot be left, they should all be cut to 3 cm stumps. Such pruning is carried out in October and November, at a time when all the berries have already been collected from the bushes.
For remontant raspberries, autumn is the time of pruning, which will positively affect not only the future harvest. This procedure will protect the berry bushes from viruses and parasites, which, as a rule, hibernate on the shoots. Even if there are no snowdrifts in winter, hemp can be insulated, in this case raspberries will not freeze slightly.
In the spring, according to the plan, the gardeners sanitize all the bushes. For the first healthy bud, only those shoots that have managed to freeze and dry out during the winter need to be cut. Most of all, the last month of spring is suitable for this procedure. Why? Yes, just then swelling kidneys will already be visible, thanks to which it will be easier to determine healthy and not healthy ones. As an additional measure, you can pinch individual tops of the shoots. This will make the fruiting of the remontant variety longer. So it will start later.
By paying enough attention to pruning and caring for remontant raspberries, the gardener will get excellent results in the form of a harvest of fresh beautiful berries. After all, what could be better than fresh berries?
Video “Pruning for the winter. Rules for the care of raspberries
The video shows the rules and tips for pruning raspberries. What mistakes should not be made, how best to prepare the bush for wintering.
