raspberry canes dead

[gillianbrux]

Hi - I bought and planted 6 Raspberry Polka Easy Grow and 6 Raspberry Glen Cova in early October last year. They now all look dead, the small shoots that had started just rub off. They are in a bed with spring onions and winter cabbages that are all doing ok. I can't believe that all 12 plants were duff - any ideas why they have died? Thanks, gillian

[Kristen]

They should produce suckers, from the roots, which will then carry the fruit. Polka is an Autumn fruiting variety, so the new canes that come up soon will carry fruit in late Summer. Glen Cova is summer fruiting - the new canes that come up this year will carry fruit next year.

Cut down any cane that has borne fruit soon after it finishes fruiting (whilst you can still see the "core" of the fruit attached to the stork so you can work out which canes fruited )

[mothhawk]

Hi, gillian, and welcome to the vine. I think you should give them a bit more time yet. I bought some autumn fruiting rasps about 2 years ago and as you did, planted them in the autumn. I didn't see any growth until mid-May the following year, when I had about given up on them. Since then they haven't looked back and this year are 8" tall already.

Autumn fruiters throw up new canes each year in spring and the old canes are cut down to the ground. Summer fruiting varieties throw up next year's fruiting canes in the summer.

[Richard Eldritch]

If they're next to cabbages, that suggests that the soil is alkali, Ras[berrys need an acidic soil to grow as they need the acid to take up Iron.

[Kristen]

Raspberries prefer acid soil, but mine is alkaline and they are growing fine here - not as tall as I have seen them (but I don't "spoil" them as such), but I get decent crop off them

[gillianbrux]

Thanks!

Thanks to all for replies. Pleased to note that 3 (out of 12) have put up shoots already, so I am hanging on for the rest to do the same - fingers crossed!

Re the cabbages, well seems they are not doing so well after all. The ones that haven't been eaten by slugs and pigeons are growing ok but no sign of a heart developing yet, so maybe I should try something else there. This is all new to me so it's a bit of trial and error this year! Thanks again, g