Raspberries in tubs

[Dianaalice]

Hi
I've got 8 raspberry bushes in pots,(couldn't get them in last year but have prepared the area for them now) Can I plant them in the ground this coming week with the daytime temp being around 6deg and maybe 1-2 deg at night. Also if I do plant them up what is the best way to get them off to a good start? ie mulching etc.

thanks for any advice.

[lookbettertomorow]

Hello Diana,
I wouldn't worry too much about the temperature, it's too wet soil that is a no no. Worst thing you can do is maul them into wet stuff and trample all over the place. As long as soil not too sticky they will be fine. Rasps are actually invasive so hardy things, apart from the ones I planted in my daughter's chicken run, surrounded by er, chicken wire, thought they would be fine but they never made it, SAS chickens abseiled into them and they are no longer invasive.
Are they Summer or Autumn fruiting? if still bushes they need to be pruned. If Autumn fruiting, very easy, cut the lot right down, no hurry up till Feb be ok.
Summer fruiting produce two different canes. Floral & Prima, both will look brown right now. The floral have borne fruit this year and need to be pruned right down to base, these will probably still have signs of shriveled up bits of fruit spurs/clusters/brown leaves on them so easy to identify. The Prima canes become next years Floral canes and will bare fruit, these don't want pruning. These will only have leaves on them which will be turning yellow now and about to fall.
During next year new Prima canes will emerge from the base and remain green all summer, very easy to identify. By mid summer the fruiting canes, Floral canes, will be turning brown.
Hope I didn't go on too much.

[Jungle Jane]

Yes plant them out & give them a feed of sulphur of potash in the spring to give them a good start. You could mulch with a thin layer of grass cuttings or chop & drop old plant material on top of the soil,the worms will work it in. I do this all around my borders,in the spring it's ready to plant with added nutrients from my chopped stuff. It looks a bit messy but its rotted away by spring.

[Dianaalice]

Thanks for the replies. I have 4 of each : very early, Glen Moy - mid, Tulameen and late, Autumn Bliss.
Thanks for the advice about the pruning although they arn't bushes as such they all have a few canes so it might be easy to see what I am doing.

I've got a few bags of compost and bags of bought manure that I got at the beginning of the year so I think they will get planted into that and then feed then as you said in the spring.