Contents
Raspberries, like other garden crops, require careful and constant care. Only with sufficient watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil and removing weeds can you count on good yields. Also, for the proper development of the bushes, it is necessary to carry out timely pruning. Below we will tell you what raspberry pruning is, why you need to carry out such manipulations and get acquainted with different types of pruning.
Why this is necessary
As a rule, raspberry embryos appear on the shoots of the second year of life. Although there are special remontant varieties that begin to yield in the first year. Both types of raspberries require updating shoots. After the second year of growth, fruitful shoots begin to hurt, lose their former strength and ability to set berries.
In addition, without proper pruning, up to 20 shoots may appear on a bush in spring, which create unnecessary planting density. The abundance of extra stems leads to a decrease in berries and yield, as the plant spends energy on the development of barren growth. In such thickets, pests and plant diseases spread much more easily. Often, such shoots from uncircumcised bushes grow sluggish, before wintering they do not gain strength and freeze slightly. It is absolutely obvious that knowing how to prune raspberries is necessary and useful information that allows you to form healthy and productive bushes.
Detailed instructions
Removal of shoots and shortening of shoots is carried out 3 times a year – in spring, autumn and summer. In addition, each pruning carries a specific purpose. In the spring, this procedure is planned for March-April, depending on the climate. First of all, inspect all the bushes and remove frozen and unhealthy stems. Now, from all that is left, choose the strongest shoots, and cut the rest at the very base. If the raspberries have frozen tops, then they are cut to 1 healthy kidney.
After that, you need to carefully monitor the growth of young stems. The number of shoots should not exceed 40 pieces per 1 linear meter of planting. After the young shoots grow up to 30 centimeters, all unnecessary will need to be removed. It is these young branches that will become the basis for the ovaries for the next year. In the summer, when the raspberry crop is harvested, immediately get rid of the fruiting shoots. They will no longer produce a crop, so they are cut out at the very base.
A special place in the proper care of raspberries is the removal of shoots. New shoots should not be allowed to appear further than 20 centimeters from the center of the bush. Therefore, all overgrowth that has moved aside must be immediately removed. As soon as they come out of the ground. Pruning raspberries in the fall involves the removal of fruiting stems (in the event that you did not do it in the summer), diseased, broken and dried branches. All that is left must be carefully bent and pinned to the ground so that the shoots are covered with snow and they do not freeze. With frost-resistant varieties, such manipulation is not necessary.
Video “Instruction for dummies”
annual bushes
Annual raspberries are called remontant. They have their own characteristics for care and pruning. After harvesting, around September-October, it is necessary to completely cut off all the shoots, leaving no stumps. In the spring, you will see that many new shoots will appear from the rhizome. At the same time, many shoots will be clearly weaker than the rest.
You will need to get rid of them. If you do not thin out the young bush in the spring, then in the summer thickets will form in the raspberries, where pests and diseases will start to appear. It will also adversely affect the yield. After the next collection of berries, everything is cut out again at the root. Such constant updating carries a lot of positive aspects. In general, it can be noted that caring for annual raspberries is many times easier than caring for ordinary raspberries.
double pruning
Proper double pruning of raspberries shows excellent results in different varieties. At the same time, gardeners need to understand that this method requires a special attitude to caring for the crop as a whole. You will have to think about this even at the stage of planting seedlings. It is necessary without sparing to fertilize the furrows with mineral and organic fertilizers. Further, it is also important to monitor the appearance of weeds, pests, loosening the soil. Only with a high level of care can further results be expected.
This pruning method was founded by the famous gardener A. G. Sobolev. He recommends that the first pruning be done in the last days of May or early June. Until this time, young shoots reach sizes of 70-100 centimeters.
At the shoot, pinch off the very tip at a distance of 10-15 centimeters from the top. This manipulation stimulates the growth of lateral stems. By the end of summer, these new shoots can grow up to 50 centimeters. Remember that the first pruning of raspberries according to Sobolev should be carried out on strictly agreed dates, otherwise the side stems will not have time to get stronger before the onset of autumn cold weather.
In autumn, the bushes are thinned out. Sobolev himself removed the shoots, left 4 shoots on the bush and made sure that the free space between the bushes was about 2 meters. Do not forget about other care measures. A second round of double pruning is planned for next spring. When the bushes are covered with green foliage, you need to remove the tops of 5-10 centimeters of all surviving shoots. If you carry out such pruning correctly, then dormant buds will begin to wake up on the bushes, new fruitful shoots will begin to grow, and there will be many more ovaries.
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You will learn how to properly care for your garden plot and, in particular, how to properly care for raspberry bushes.
