What can i do with these?

[Jason Cartwright]

Hi,

I was given this.



It was advertised as a Raspberry plant (but it looks like many plants)that has been cut right back so it can transported.
When i pick it up, on Tuesday, It looked nothing more than twigs in a planter. How it is is how i took it out the planter. It came with the lining.
I took it out the planter and brought it home and put it on table, outside.
It has, quickly, grown some new shoots.
I was wondering what i should/could do with it because when the lady said 'Raspberry plant' i thought that it be a single plant in a pot not plants in a 2ft planter that may have Lillys in with it.

Can they be seperated somehow? So i can put 1 in my trough.

Thanks

J

[FB.]

They look like raspberries.

That's how they grow.

You start with one cane (you seem to have several canes) and each year it sends up more and more new shoots from underground, and the shoots which fruited the previous season are cut to the ground in winter.
Any shoots which didn't fruit are left for the following season.

You might be able to carefully separate them, but as it's late in the season I wouldn't risk damaging them too much. It looks like you may be able to break up the rootball into four or six pieces.
At this time of year, with the hot weather, the roots must not be bare for more than about 10-15 minutes; raspberries are very sensitive to drying out.
So if you plan to split them, get everything ready in advance and do it as quickly but as carefully as possible.

[Jason Cartwright]

Thanks FB. I'd like to break it up into idviduals but i don't excatly know how to without, just, grabing a stem and bashing the soil away around by the roots until they seperate but if they are as sensitive as you say they are i don't want to be doing that.
I was thinking of getting a planter of simular size that it came out of and putting it in that till authum/winter but i'd like to put at least 1 in my trough as soon as.

[zazen999]

I'd bung them in somewhere for now, and once it's dormant, dig it up, split it [without bashing away at the roots, just use a hand fork to separate them and pull them apart] and replant.

[FB.]

Thanks FB. I'd like to break it up into idviduals but i don't excatly know how to without, just, grabing a stem and bashing the soil away around by the roots until they seperate but if they are as sensitive as you say they are i don't want to be doing that.
I was thinking of getting a planter of simular size that it came out of and putting it in that till authum/winter but i'd like to put at least 1 in my trough as soon as.

As you say: I wouldn't go bashing them about too much or they'll dry out.

It looks as if there is one big cluster at the top of the second picture, with three smaller plants or clusters - one on each side in the middle and one on the bottom right.
The top cluster might be separable into two clumps too.

I'd get a trowel and see whether the clumps can be gently cut apart (or see whether you can push your fingers into the clump of soil in the same way as a trowel), but taking care not to cut or break too many large roots. Loss of some fibrous roots is inevitable but they'll recover from that.


I expect that some of the green shoots will end up with badly damaged roots and die, but I think that you should be able to have half to two thirds survive, which will rapidly grow next year.

As I said before, though: don't let the roots spend too long in the hot, dry air. Roots of many plants can also be a bit upset by strong light (strong light inhibits root-producing hormones, while lack of light encourages rooting hormones - some plants to be used for cuttings are covered with a black sack for some weeks before teh cuttings are taken, in order to make the shoots think that they've been buried and therefore the shoots start the slow conversion process to roots).