Raspberries, very long story

[Sue]

Hi three years ago when I started on my allotment, one of the first things I did was order some summer fruiting raspberry canes (stupid action 1 didn't find out when they'd arrive) they arrived, caught me on the hop and no bed dug. Instead of heeling them in (stupid action 2) I accepted my allotment neighbours offer of rotivating a strip for them (stupid action 3). The ground was made ready and the canes planted then it rained and rained and hey, stupid action 4 had put them in one of the wettest places on the allotment (stupid action 5).
Then, of course, the weeds grew back worse than ever and it was a real battle to keep them at bay even with mulching, horrible creeping grass etc. With their being in a near permanent moat most of the winter they were sorry specimens.
Now I've at last got round to doing something with this space and am turning it into a bean bed -after it's been properly dug and sifted for weeds. Excavating amongst the weeds I found the raspberry canes and dug them up. I then found the poor things had little buds coming from their roots.

So, I've planted them all, broke up the clumps, each with buds and roots and now have them in pots as the plan was to buy new raspberry canes and put them in a sensible place this autumn.

But and this is the point of my question at long last... is it worth nurturing these poor plants who've been so badly treated and plant them in the new bed after spending the summer in pots. Or do I give them a decent burial?
And, if it's worth hanging on to them, what size pot should they be in?

You can go to bed now....
Sue

[rosheen]

Raspberries are like weeds, my husband plonked them into a spare patch of grass and they have really taken off, they are not in rows, never been cut back, never mulched or fertilised so I would stick them into the ground now and let them do their stuff

[swaine]

id go with nutur in pots for the summer, by this time there root system will be perfect for planting again in late summer early autum, in all honesty, i grow all mine in pots for the first year,the price of the newer raspberries it makes sense to look after them, it is a little expensive for the compost,vermiculite, and the pots of course,
but i find they can be controlled better this way with watering etc,then plant when established, also you can check on root growth from the bottom of pot,dont ditch them,
stewart

[TonyF]

That's what I did when I moved mine last year and the little darlings are all sprouting like mad.

[Protea]

i would pot them up for the year as others have said - they're quite robust really!

i currently grow my rasps in containers (rented house so can't plant them), they're in 2ft long x 12inch deep plastic trough planters from the garden centre, 2 plants per trough.

I filled it with multi purpose compost with added grit (or perlite, it was a long time ago and i can't remember!) i them mulch the top of each pot in the autumn with cow muck. The trick is to make sure they're kept well watered as obviously they will dry out quite quickly.

[Sue]

Hi everyone
what a relief, thankyou - hate wasting plants so I will nuture them through the summer to plant in the autumn.
I can't put them in their new place as it's all just been cardboarded and mulched ready for autumn digging.
And Protea, thanks for the pot sizes, I've got two of those troughs going spare, I'll move some over.
Wouldn't it have been so much easier if I'd known what I was doing in the first place!
Still, live and learn
Sue

[deadwood]

As said raspberries are fairly robust, would have said that 2 plants per trough is a little sparce for what you want. If you look at them in barrels in garden centres when being sold there are dozens in one.

I have 2 large black pots from Wilkinsons, they are 40 cm, cost either £2.50 or £3 each. Reckon you could put 8-12 in each, depending on how many you have. Add a couple of drainage holes as the pots don't have any.

You will probably find that the raspberries take to it well and grow like crazy.

[Protea]

As said raspberries are fairly robust, would have said that 2 plants per trough is a little sparce for what you want. If you look at them in barrels in garden centres when being sold there are dozens in one.

I have 2 large black pots from Wilkinsons, they are 40 cm, cost either £2.50 or £3 each. Reckon you could put 8-12 in each, depending on how many you have. Add a couple of drainage holes as the pots don't have any.

You will probably find that the raspberries take to it well and grow like crazy.

bear in mind that my raspberries were planted in these pots long term, so i was allowing for future growth. If they're just in the pots temporarily you could probably squeeze more in, but i wouldn't pack them in too tightly, you do want the roots to grow so they're healthy for replanting.

[Farmer_Gyles]

my ex girlfriend bought me raspberries from a garden centre last year - i just planted the clump in the ground and left it - it didn't do much, one long shoot and that was it

i bought some new raspberries from woolies the other day - a pack of 4 canes - went out today and planted out the new raspberries - decided to move the old ones as well, only to find there was a label buried with the clump of roots - the label said 5 canes - i had no idea, thought it was one clump when i got it!

anyway, separated the canes, 3 with buds, 2 seemed completely dead, so did some more digging and replanted the 3 budding canes - now got 7 canes of 2 varieties and hopefully will get lots of raspberries this year and beyond!

[jeannine]

One of my friends has to put chicken wire around her raspberries to stop her dog eating them! Maybe tall containers would help?

[Eternal Sunshine]

I've been clearing a so far untouched area of our allotment over the last week & found what I think are rasberry canes. I vaguely remember the woman with the plot next door telling me when we 1st got the plot that she'd stuck some rasberry canes there in the past, but it was so overgrown there last year I can't say I saw them.

Anyway, I've dug them up & replanted 8 of them in a row where our front fence will be, so I hope they are rasberries otherwise everyone will be laughing at me planting random twigs.

[mrs bean]

Hi everyone i'm new to this so I hope i'm doing this right. I just wondered has anybody bought fruit trees from the Ideal World shopping channel? They seem to be a bargain but i'm not to sure about the quality.Any advice about where to get good quality at good prices would be great.

[areia]

just wondering i bought some raspberry canes last year had a few berries now i want to move them to the bottom of the garden which is pretty clay'ey ive just put a load of top soil on and dug it in as i wanted to make that end a berry area black berry red and black currents, but the little buggers have started sprouting all over the place will be able to dig them all up do i cut the new shoots and dig them in too, not sure really what to do, all i know is i deffinatly need to move them

[percy charlie]

Hi everyone i'm new to this so I hope i'm doing this right. I just wondered has anybody bought fruit trees from the Ideal World shopping channel? They seem to be a bargain but i'm not to sure about the quality.Any advice about where to get good quality at good prices would be great.

Hi, dont know what kind of fruit trees your looking at, but most online or shopping channels provide maiden trees this means there only one year old, bearly established and not always virus certified. If they are patio trees (dwarf pot growing kinds they can fruit as early as 2 or 3 years but the fruit buds should be picked off before the fruit grows to allow the tree to gain strength in the roots and develop otherwise your tree may not bare any fruit for a year or 2 after if you let it fruit as it depletes its reserves, the next year you can leave some on no more than 50 percent if tree reached good size or 25 - 30 percent if tree still a little small. for patio trees always use john innes no3 compost some well rotten manure for at least 60 percent of the soil contents of the pot.
full sized garden trees take around 5 years to bear fruit, but not allowing the fruit to develop first year of fruiting and not total fruit production year after should still be applied.
Sulphate of potash and bonemeal are good foods and the best to use for feeding your tree.
As to where to buy local garden centres are best for trees as you can see what your getting and they can tell you the age of the tree. If you want an online service try Blackmoor Nurseries, Suppliers Of Top Quality Fruit Trees and Soft Fruit Bushes Mail Order, The UKs Leading Speacialist Fruit Nursery. you may or maynot get a maiden tree but they have an excellent back up service, if not stated will tell you if you email there contact us or phone them the tree age email normally replied to same day. they have been very helpful to me, ive ordered from them and they came recommended to me from an experianced gardener.
Sorry for the lengthy advice but hope it helps, the tree will reward you in the end its just a slow process.
Best wishes.

[Andiprunepicker]

What the others have said about raspberries is true, seem very hardy. I had some on my patio in containers and where some dirt and debris (dead leaves and such) had collected, found a number of canes had bent down and were taking root in those little piles. I don't need to buy anymore as they reproduce themselves quite well.