Raspberry pruning in spring

The main problem of raspberry is that it gives abundant shoots (1). It would seem that the more shoots – the higher the yield, but in practice the opposite is true – thickened raspberries become a hotbed of diseases and pests, the abundance of shoots often lacks food and water, as a result, there are fewer and fewer berries.

Why prune raspberries in spring

Here – as in a famous song: there are 5 reasons for this:

• fewer pests – some of them, for example, stem gall midge, live inside the stems and if the affected shoots are cut and burned, the larvae will also die;
• fewer diseases – if clearly diseased shoots are removed, the number of pathogens will decrease;
• better nutrition – the raspberry will not have to spend a lot of energy and nutrients on the growth of unnecessary shoots – everything will go to the formation of the crop;
• better water supply – the more shoots, the more leaves, and they work like pumps – they pump water from the soil, which immediately evaporates;
• better illumination – in heavily dense plantings, raspberries suffer from a lack of light, because the shoots obscure each other.

When to prune raspberries in spring

If in the fall pruning can be done in any month – even in September, even in November, then in the spring you can’t pull it off – you need to manage it before the start of sap flow. That is, the maximum is at the beginning of April. But it is better not to delay until April, but to do pruning in early March. After all, as soon as the sun begins to warm, pathogens and pests will immediately wake up. In no time to blink an eye, they have already begun to settle on healthy shoots.

– Pruning is best done in clear weather. It’s impossible during rain – water will get into the hollow stems, and this can cause rotting of the shoots, advises agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova. – And the air temperature should not be lower than -5 ° С.

How to prune raspberries in spring

Raspberries produce a crop on the shoots of the second year (2). That is, in the first season, shoots appear, it gains mass, hibernates, starts growing in the spring, and the first thing that one-year-olds do is build up lateral branches. And already on them, the so-called second-order shoots, there will be berries. After that, the shoots often dry up, but they can remain for 3 years, though there will be few berries on them. Therefore, it is important to ensure that there is always a balance of annual and biennial shoots in the raspberry – they should be equally divided.

What exactly needs to be cut:

• shoots that yielded last year;
• thin and weakened shoots – you need to leave only the most powerful shoots;
• diseased shoots – if they are twisted, with thickenings, they must be cut and burned, because all these are signs of damage by diseases and pests;
• extra run.

We will dwell on the last point in more detail, because the most difficult thing is to understand: what kind of shoots are superfluous here?

– In order for raspberries to develop well and give large yields, per 1 sq. m plot should be 10 – 12 shoots – if the plants are planted in a continuous array, – explains agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova. – If raspberries are planted in rows, then the norm is 30 – 40 shoots per linear meter. All the rest are superfluous, even if they are strong and healthy.

It is necessary to cut flush with the soil, but even better a little lower – you can do this with a pruner without any problems. And, of course, you have to wait until the snow melts.

But that’s not all. For the remaining annual shoots, it is imperative to cut the tops – by about 10 cm. This is necessary so that the bushes branch better, because the more side branches, the more berries they will have.

Rules for caring for raspberries after pruning

After pruning, raspberries begin to actively increase their green mass – they form many side shoots and grow shoots (3). This means she needs nutrients. Therefore, it is important to fertilize on time. They do this in April, as soon as the snow melts – under the bushes you need to evenly scatter 3 tbsp. spoons of urea per 1 sq. m and close it into the soil with a rake. It may seem like it’s not enough, but don’t worry, it’s enough.

The second top dressing will have to be done in the fall, at the end of October – to bring under the bushes half a bucket of humus or compost per 1 sq. m. By the way, this is also a good mulch that will insulate the roots in the winter.

Two dressings for raspberries are enough.

What to do if raspberries do not grow

Most often, raspberries do not grow well precisely because they are very thickened. Therefore, it is important to prune every year. Recall: it is better in autumn – from the beginning of September to winter. We didn’t have time – then in early spring.

Well, do not forget to water and feed it – although it needs little nutrition, it is still necessary, given that the soils in our areas are often infertile.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the spring pruning of raspberries with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Levoshin V.K. Homestead garden // Saratov, Saratov book publishing house, 1959 – 350 p.
2. Lavrik P.I., Rybitsky N.A., Gavrilov I.S. Gardener’s desk book // L.: Lenizdat, 1972 – 568 p.
3. Emelyanov F.A., Kruglova A.P., Kulikov V.A., Sazhin N.S., Gryazev N.D., Kinkovskaya N.I., Berkut O.D., Molchanov A.I., Khramov P .BUT. Fruit and berry garden and vineyard // Saratov, Saratov book publishing house, 1955 – 472 p.