Features of growing remontant raspberries and rules for caring for them
The sweet and aromatic raspberry berry is not only a delicacy, but also an excellent cure for colds. Therefore, gardeners love to breed this culture in their summer cottages. The remontant raspberry is especially appreciated, capable of producing a crop twice in one season. Growing remontant raspberries and caring for plants has some peculiarities. If you take into account the recommendations of experts, you can enjoy the fragrant berry throughout the summer.
Choosing a site for raspberries
Compared to ordinary raspberries, remontant varieties are more demanding on the illumination of the site and soil fertility, therefore, when planting this crop, the choice of location is of great importance. The raspberry tree should be planted in an area full of sunlight throughout the day.
Important!
In a shaded area, flowering and ripening of fruits occurs much later, and in some cases it is possible to completely remain without a crop.
Raspberries do not like drafts, so most often plantings are placed along a fence or ancillary buildings, which are natural protection from the wind. The southern side of the personal plot, protected from the north by buildings or a fence, is best suited for breeding this unpretentious culture.
It is not recommended to break a raspberry in those places where vegetables were previously grown, namely tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes. If for some reason it is necessary to use just such areas, it is necessary to feed the soil with phosphorus and potassium.
Light loamy soils with a slightly acidic balance are best suited for raspberries.
Soil preparation
Before planting remontant raspberries, you need to properly prepare the soil. This can be done one year before planting or just before planting the plants in the ground.
- Method 1
During the autumn digging of the soil, fertilizers are applied at the rate of 45 g of potassium, 65 g of superphosphate, 10-13 kg of humus per 1 square meter. m. In the spring, mustard, clover or legumes are planted on the site of the future raspberry plant, which are ground in August and buried in the ground. In early October, remontant raspberries are planted on this site.
- Method 2
For planting raspberries, they dig a trench 40-45 cm deep, the bottom of which is 10 cm filled with a nutrient mixture from compost or manure. Double superphosphate is evenly scattered over the manure, which is covered with a layer of fertile soil. In addition, wood ash is added to the soil at the rate of one liter can per one meter of the trench. Then the soil is tamped into the trench and the rooted plants are planted.
Planting raspberries
Remontant raspberries are planted in spring or autumn, although experts believe that planting is most effective from September 15 to October 10. At this time of year, the summer heat subsides, the soil slowly loses moisture, which allows the cuttings to take root and prepare for wintering.
Planting remontant raspberries is carried out in such a way that the roots of the seedling are not very close to the surface of the ground, and the root collar of the plant is located at the same depth as before transplanting.
With the trench method of organizing the raspberry plant, at least 70 cm should be left between the seedlings, and 1.5 m between the rows. When planting in separate holes, at least 1-2 meters should be left between the seedlings. For reproduction of remontant raspberries, you can use both root cuttings and young shoots.
Caring for remontant varieties of raspberries
Like any cultivated plant, remontant raspberries require proper and timely care, which consists in regular watering and loosening of the soil, pruning and feeding the plants.
- Pruning
Repaired raspberries are distinguished by the fact that they can produce crops on both one-year-old and two-year-old shoots. The first time the berries ripen at the beginning of July. The plant spends a lot of nutrients for the formation of fruits. Young spring shoots develop weaker, and the autumn harvest is much lower than the summer one, however, the berry obtained in October is doubly valued and will be a pleasant bonus for the gardener for his hard work.
If it is planned to harvest one crop, then in late autumn all the shoots are cut out at the root, without leaving hemp. The cut material is taken out of the personal plot or burned completely. This will rid the raspberry tree from pests hibernating on the shoots.
In the event that it is decided to get two crops per season, pruning is carried out twice. The first time after harvesting the summer harvest, two-year-old shoots are cut. They differ from annuals in a lignified trunk, wilted and gradually drying leaves.
The second pruning is done in late autumn, before covering the raspberry tree for the winter. This time, only the tops of the shoots from which the berries were collected are trimmed. In spring, selective pruning is done, removing frozen and damaged shoots.
- Watering
Raspberries do not like waterlogging, but at the same time they do not tolerate drought. With a lack of moisture, the berries will begin to shrink, dry and crumble. Watering frequency depends on weather conditions. In a dry summer, water the plants regularly and abundantly so that the soil is 40-50 cm wet.
It is very important to water the raspberries during flowering and fruiting. After picking the berries, it is also recommended to water the raspberry thoroughly.
- Loosening the soil
Loosening of the soil in the raspberry tree should be carried out regularly, from 4 to 6 times a year. This will help provide oxygen to the roots, allowing moisture to stay in the soil longer. The first time the planting is loosened in early spring, before the buds awaken.
Important!
When loosening between rows, you can deepen by 10-15 cm, in rows - no more than 8 cm.
The last loosening is carried out in late autumn. To get rid of some pests, at this time the earth between the rows can even be dug up with a turnover.
- Mulching
Experienced gardeners very often resort to mulching the soil between the plants. This event allows you to limit the appearance of weeds, helps to retain moisture in the ground, protects the roots of plants from hypothermia and overheating.
Any natural material is suitable for mulching: sawdust, hay, straw, peat, humus. Less commonly, synthetic mulch or special fibers are used in raspberries. After the mulch material has rotted, it is buried in the ground, providing the plants with organic fertilizer. Each season the mulch layer is renewed.
- Top dressing
The cultivation of remontant raspberries requires regular and timely feeding, since the plant requires a lot of nutrients during growth and fruiting. In early summer, organic fertilizers can be applied to the soil. For this, cow dung mixed with water in a ratio of 1:10, or chicken manure - 1:20 are suitable. For 1 sq. m plantings will be enough 4-5 liters of solution. It is necessary to feed remontant raspberries with organic fertilizer 2-3 times per season.
Important!
It is better to carry out top dressing in warm weather, combining fertilization with watering.
Raspberries will not do without additional fertilizing with mineral fertilizers. Potassium deficiency can be seen by the appearance of small leaves with brown edges, and the lack of phosphorus is evidenced by the weakening and dying off of the shoots.
When applying potash fertilizers, chlorine should be avoided. You can enrich the soil with phosphorus using nitroammofoska, scattered in an amount of 50-100 g per 1 sq. m.
The nitrogen deficiency can be replenished only in the spring.If you feed your plants with fertilizers containing nitrogen in the fall, the growing season can be delayed and interfere with the preparation for winter.
- How to normalize shoots
All summer it is necessary to control the number of emerging shoots, leaving 1 sq. m only 5-6 of the strongest. If you do not remove excess growth, the raspberry tree will overgrow. Plants will lack nutrients and sunlight, resulting in small berries and poor crops.
Cut green growth with sharp pruning shears as close to the ground as possible.
Advice
Young shoots can be used for reproduction. To do this, the sprout must be dug out together with a small underground part of the rhizome.
- Garter
Raspberry stems can be up to two meters long. So that they do not bend under the weight of the berries and do not break, they must be tied up in time. When planting in trenches, double-sided trellises are used for this. It is very convenient to take care of plants and harvest, if you tie one-year shoots to one trellis, and two-year ones to the other. When planting in bushes, stakes are driven into the ground to maintain the trunks in an upright position.
Tips for growing raspberries
After planting seedlings, it is very important to ensure that during watering the soil around the root collar is not washed away and the roots are not exposed - this can lead to the death of the plant.
The roots of remontant raspberries continue to grow even at low temperatures, therefore, when planting in autumn, it is necessary to cover the ground with a thick layer of mulching material. This will protect the roots of the plant from freezing and provide additional time for their survival.
You should not grow raspberries in the same place for more than 5 years, since the soil is severely depleted and it becomes almost impossible to obtain a bountiful harvest.
In the middle lane, repeated fruiting occurs in October, when the air temperature drops significantly, and light frosts are possible at night. To extend the ripening period of the berry, the raspberry is covered with a film.
Caring for remontant raspberries is not particularly difficult. Even a novice gardener can cope with such work, and the reward for the work will be the summer and autumn harvest of large fragrant berries. The main thing is to adhere to the advice of specialists and purchase planting material in well-proven nurseries.
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