Soft fruit

[mistymornings]

Good morning everyone!

I have had my allotment for abut 2 weeks and am beginning to get on top of the weeds. My allotment neighbour did "help" by dousing them in Roundup , I think he saw me digging and thought it would be a slow process.

Anyway I would like to plant some raspberies and possibly blueberries although I would have to create an acidic bed for those. I would just like to know peoples' thoughts on good varieties/ bushes/ different sorts of fruits to plant.

I am in the SW with a very windy open plot, clay soil.

Thanks

[Capsid]

I'd be tempted to see if you can scrounge any raspberry cuttings from your allotment neighbours. It's pruning time and you can sticking some cuttings in compost in a pot and cover with a poly bag. Those varieties will also be ones that grow on your allotment.

For blueberries, I'd get three varieties that fruit at different times so that you don't have a glut. I grow mine in containers with ericaceous compost but they will need a lot of watering with rain water not tap water.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I grow Glen Ample summer (that's a laugh) fruiting raspberries, They produce nice big berries, have spine free stems which makes pruning out the old canes and picking fruit a pleasant experience. I have 15 blueberry plants - mixed varieties(which allows cross pollination) which were planted 5 years ago this year. I didn't plant into ericaceous (spelling?) compost and it wasn't until last year I had a decent crop. This year looks like I will have an even better return

[akashicdevi]

Back at the beginning of the year, I found a website called scotsplantsdirect that did a mix of 5 blueberry plants for just under £15. It was about the cheapest I could find. There's two mixes of plants to choose from- but they include staggered harvesting times and a mix of sweet and sharp fruit, and there's good description of the plants. They're still doing that deal.

I was really happy with the plants when they arrived- good strong, nice root ball- I have them in large tubs on the patio in ericaceous compost, and they're doing really well. They should start cropping properly next year, but there's a handful this year. I'm gonna keep them in the pots. I got ones large enough to house them for their lifespan. (£2.59 each on the same website so only one delivery charge) But need frequent watering in pots.

Agree with everyone about raspberry canes. You might find someone offering some on gumtree or freecycle. Raspberry patches often need thinning out and there'd be some looking for a new home.
Will be doing that myself soon. My raspberry canes were hacked down and round-upped by a neighbour recently, so i feel your pain about "helpful" neighbours.

[mistymornings]

Thanks everyone- I arrived at my plot this morning to find someone had given me a couple of canes!
Happy times, I will look around to build my stock.