Raspberry cane advice needed.

[organic]

Hey folks, thought I'd post this apart from the Lidl thread that's on the go as it's a bit more general.

I got a couple of Rasberry "Malling Promise" t'other day but someone's pointed out that one of them doesn't appear to have anything like buds on it.

Now I don't even know if it's meant to, but thought I'd ask for input here and see if I need to take one/both back to swap for another before I pot them up.

I'm not entirely sure how to link pictures from my Wordpress blog over to the forum so for now, here's a link to the post I've made over there.
Budget supermarket… unbudgeted purchase. On my Organic Allotment

Any advice would be appreciated.

In the picture you should be able to see a couple of green shoots either side of the centre cane, and on the left hand one you can porbably make out a small white bump (about 1/4 of the way up on the right side of the cane).

I don't know how they are meant to look, and to be honest I just grabbed a couple as they all looked pretty much alike in the shop.

Anyone?

[sarraceniac]

Still early. Plant them quickly and wait.

[WrexTheDragon]

Not a good idea to buy them with big buds or shoots on at this time of the year. It means that they have been kept in too warm a condition and the shock of moving them out can cause stress and they can die.

They will benefit if you leave the roots in a bowl of water overnight before planting. This will help the plants rehydrate.

Then plant in pots with a good compost or plant directly in the ground. If planted in the ground I would use some mulch around the base as it can still get cold at night.

[chris]

Organic - mine look like dead canes at the moment too, only my blackcurrant and goosberry bushes are just about showing signs of life. My rasberries, other currants, and other berries aren't awake yet

Quick question - on my way home today I intend on shovelling a load of horse poo up as spotted 4 out for a ride this morning (read: made me late for work) - but along the way they did their usual business. Can I use unrotted manure as a mulch? I've some bags of well rotted stuff, but was going to save this for digging in.

[WrexTheDragon]

Quick question - on my way home today I intend on shovelling a load of horse poo up as spotted 4 out for a ride this morning (read: made me late for work) - but along the way they did their usual business. Can I use unrotted manure as a mulch? I've some bags of well rotted stuff, but was going to save this for digging in.

Use the well rotten manure now as a mulch, then the fresh stuff can be dug into the soil later.

[chris]

Ok thanks, thought that it may be similar to roses

[sarraceniac]

Until it rots down it is full of nitrates like ammonia. That will leach into the soil, so not a good move. Do as Wrex suggests.