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Japanese raspberry is a relatively new fruit shrub for gardeners. The variety has both strengths and weaknesses, in order to appreciate it, you need to study the characteristics of an unusual raspberry.
Description of the Japanese raspberry
Japanese, or purple-fruited raspberry is a small shrub up to 2 m in height with thin cane-type stems. The photo of the Japanese raspberry shows that the shoots of the plant are long, strongly curly and covered with small fleecy bristles, the leaves are dark green and pinnate, with slight pubescence on the underside.
Japanese raspberry blooms in May with small red-pink flowers. The fruits are formed at the end of summer and ripen unevenly; ripe and developing berries can coexist in one brush.
Pros and cons of the Japanese raspberry variety
Recently, planting Japanese raspberries in summer cottages has become very fashionable. But before buying seedlings, you need to learn about the characteristics of the variety and understand that it has both advantages and disadvantages.
According to gardeners, Japanese raspberries have many strengths and demonstrate:
- high unpretentiousness and ability to grow in almost any conditions;
- good resistance to all common garden pests and fungi;
- frost resistance, even without shelter, raspberries calmly endure winters throughout Our Country;
- fast growth and rapid recovery after pruning – you can use the shrub to form hedges and artistic compositions.
At the same time, Japanese raspberries are characterized by several serious shortcomings.
- Raspberry purple – a very aggressive horticultural crop. It grows quickly, actively releases basal shoots and does not get along well with neighboring plantings. If left unchecked, raspberries can easily become a dangerous weed that will be very difficult to deal with.
- The yield of Japanese raspberries is low, and the berries are inferior in size to traditional varieties of the crop. Sometimes the challenges that a fast-growing and aggressive purple raspberry creates just don’t pay off because the benefits of the shrub are low.
Nevertheless, many gardeners are keenly interested in Japanese raspberries. This variety is able to give the garden originality and improve its decorative effect.
The use of Japanese raspberries
Purple-fruited raspberries are distinguished by good preservation of berries – dense fruits perfectly tolerate transportation and retain their shape. Therefore, raspberries are not only eaten fresh, but also actively used for conservation, they make wine from it, add it to fillings for pies and cakes, and use it together with ice cream and as part of cocktails.
Japanese raspberries contain many important vitamins and organic acids. Therefore, they are also used in traditional medicine, for the treatment of colds and inflammatory ailments, to eliminate digestive problems. For example, hot tea with Japanese raspberries is an excellent antiviral agent and quickly reduces the temperature, and homemade tincture on the fruits of the plant is suitable for treating the gastrointestinal tract and blood vessels.
You can use fresh Japanese raspberries for cosmetic purposes. When added to facial masks, berry pulp has a moisturizing and rejuvenating effect, nourishes and softens the skin. Japanese raspberries contain small seeds, so they are well suited for making gentle homemade scrubs.
Planting and caring for Japanese raspberries
Growing and caring for Japanese raspberries is usually not difficult – the shrub is considered one of the easiest to breed in a summer cottage. However, to get good yields from a plant, you need to know the basic rules of growing.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
Japanese raspberries have standard requirements for a berry bush in terms of soil and light levels. It is best to plant the plant on slightly acidic or neutral fertile soil. The site should be well lit by the sun and be protected from strong winds, it is also desirable that in the winter months a large amount of snow accumulate at the raspberry planting site, it will serve as a natural insulation for the shrub.
Japanese raspberry seedlings can be planted in both spring and autumn. About a month before planting, you need to prepare the soil – carefully dig the site, remove the remains of other crops and weed out all the weeds. The soil is loosened and complex fertilizers are applied, and the earth can also be mixed with rotted manure.
Rules of landing
Planting raspberries in the prepared area is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- for a seedling, they dig a hole, which should be approximately twice the size of its root system;
- if fertilizers were applied to the soil during the preparation of the site, then the raspberries are planted immediately, if not, then organic top dressing mixed with the ground is first added to the hole;
- the seedling is carefully lowered into the hole and its roots are straightened, directing them down;
- the young bush is covered with soil to the ground level and the soil is properly tamped, making sure that the root collar is flush with the soil surface.
After planting, the seedling must be properly watered and the ground around the trunk should be mulched with peat, chopped straw or sawdust.
Watering and top dressing
Japanese raspberries have moderate requirements for moisture levels. If a prolonged drought does not occur in the region, then it is not necessary to additionally water the shrub, it will manage with natural precipitation. During dry periods, raspberries can be moistened as the soil dries out, but you should not get carried away too much – the plant does not treat waterlogged areas well.
As for fertilizers, Japanese raspberries are fed once a year in the spring. About 1 g of urea is added under the bush, which promotes the active growth of the plant, 30 g of superphosphate diluted with water, and about 50 g of potassium.
Trimming
In the description of the Japanese raspberry variety, it is emphasized that the shrub is prone to very rapid and active growth. Therefore, pruning the plant is necessary annually without fail.
Usually pruning is carried out immediately after harvest. During it, all two-year-old shoots are removed, as well as diseased, broken and weakened branches. Shoots that thicken the bush also need to be cut, they interfere with the healthy growth of raspberries and take away nutrients from the shrub.
To improve fruiting, it is recommended to shorten annual shoots by about 20-30 cm annually. This stimulates the development of side shoots, on which buds are formed for the next fruiting, and the yield is doubled. In addition, the short branches of raspberries are easier to care for, and the berries from them are easier to pick.
Preparation for winter
Japanese raspberry has high frost resistance and calmly tolerates cold down to -30 ° C. Therefore, it is required to warm the shrub only in the northern regions with extremely low winter temperatures. In other cases, natural snow cover will provide sufficient cover.
For additional insulation of raspberries, the branches of the bush are tied in bunches, bent to the ground and fixed, and then covered with spruce branches or special material. If winter is expected to be snowy, then the bush can simply be covered with snow – this will protect the shoots and roots of the shrub from freezing.
Harvesting
Fruits on Japanese raspberries ripen in late August or early September. Numerous edible polydrupes of a slightly oblong shape appear on the shoots of the shrub – they reach up to 1 cm in length. At first, raspberries are filled with a red tint, but upon reaching full ripeness they become dark cherry, purple.
For convenient harvesting, it is recommended to cut the fruit-bearing branches of the shrub to a length of no more than 1,5-2 m and fix it on the trellis. Raspberries ripen gradually and unevenly – fully ripe and unripe berries can hang on the same brush. Therefore, harvesting is most often carried out several times during the autumn.
Reproduction
As a rule, there are no problems with the propagation and transplantation of Japanese raspberries. The shrub successfully reproduces by all existing methods.
- It is most convenient to propagate raspberries with green cuttings, they are cut from an adult plant in the spring, 3-4 internodes are left on each. Cuttings do not have to be grown in a home container, they can be rooted immediately in damp sand in a temporary bed or even planted in a permanent place. Rooting shoots takes about a month – during this time, raspberries must be watered abundantly. After the cuttings give new green leaves, watering will need to be reduced and additional moisture should be added to the garden no more than once every 10 days.
- Another convenient and easy way to propagate purple raspberries is to use layering. Young shoots located closest to the ground surface are tilted and fixed in a small trench with a wire, and then sprinkled with earth. The tip of the shoot should remain above the ground. Layers are watered properly, and in the fall they can be separated from the main bush and transplanted to a permanent place.
Root shoots are often taken as propagation material for Japanese raspberries – the shrub releases it in huge quantities, and such shoots are ideal for rooting. The gardener has to make efforts not to propagate the growth, but to tame its violent and extensive growth.
Diseases and pests
The shrub is rarely affected by diseases, because it is highly resistant to fungal diseases. The danger for raspberries is only purple spotting. If the plant is weakened, this fungus can infect its stems and cause brown or purple spots to appear at the attachment points of the leaves. As it develops, purple spotting provokes the drying out of the shrub and impairs its fruiting.
Purple spotting can be cured with 1% Bordeaux liquid – spraying is carried out in the spring and after harvesting.
Of the pests for Japanese raspberries, gall midges, spider mites and common aphids are dangerous. To prevent infection of the shrub or eliminate insects that have appeared, raspberries are treated annually with Actellik and Karbofos solutions.
Conclusion
Japanese raspberry is an extremely convenient plant for growing, it requires almost no special care, has high frost resistance and is not susceptible to fungal diseases. But when breeding shrubs on the site, it is necessary to pay attention to regular pruning, otherwise the raspberries will grow too abundantly.
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