planting raspberry canes this weekend

[bikermike]

They are in pots at the moment. Still look dormant.

supposed to be 2/3C on Sat and 5C on Sunday. Will it be OK to plant them in such temps?

[nickdub]

depends on whether the ground is frozen or not. Stick a fork in it and lever it up - if it comes out as a frozen chunk, then its too cold.

[bikermike]

Making Sunday sound better than Saturday, so it can have a whole day of above-zero.

Ground in question is currently covered by a bit of old vinyl flooring with a metal chest (say 2' x 4' area) on top on bricks on that. Is that likely to improve or worsen my odds?

[nickdub]

Better chance as its covered, but round here at least the temps have been below freezing by day with a low of about -7 overnight. Probably take at least a week for my ground to be workable again.

If you're stuck, bring some compost in a bag in to the house to defrost, then pot the rasps up temporarily.

[4Shoes]

Sure if you put them in at 45 deg into the wind, they will be upright by the time you return. If its cold and windy, why not give it a miss to next weekend?

[bikermike]

I want to do it this weekend as it means I can finish off a couple of jobs (usual story of everything fitting into everything else), and because it's too cold to sew seeds in my greenhouse.

Also, if spring is delayed, it always seems that everything tries to make up for lost time, so as soon as it gets a teeny bit warm, everything will go into overdrive. I can't get out the weekend after, so I'm worried I'll not get them in whilst still dormant.

[It never rains..it pours]

All I know is the ones I grew on in pots and planted later, out yielded & survived the ones I directly planted on 11/02 last year into cold wet clay. And the potted ones were the worst looking cases at the start. This year planted them straight into individual buckets and intended to leave there to make a decent root ball, while soil conditions improved. However this weather has dried our clay well and along with the compost, horse manure, sharp sand and seaweed has made a very decent soil for planting so may re think that plan. Your weather warms up faster when spring arrives than us so maybe planting now better as long as not frozen

[bikermike]

I'll have a look at the soil.

to be honest, we have been almost completely missed by the weather - it's only about -1 now and it's supposed to be +1 from 11pm tonight.

We've had maybe 1/2" of snow.

worst so far is our wheelie bin blowing over...

[Scarlet]

Personally I think it's too cold and they won't take. I'd pot them up or heel them in the GH and wait until the temps have risen a bit.

[burnie]

I'll have to wait till the permafrost thaws a bit, can you use Polar Bear poo in the garden compost heap......................?

[bikermike]

OK - I think what I'll do is leave them in their pots in the greenhouse unless the soil looks very unfrozen.

It is weird, we have had so little snow that I am almost in the position of those retired brigadeers who write to the papers wondering why the country is coming to a halt for a bit of snow... (I'm not because I'm capable of reading the news, but it really is a non-event here)

[bikermike]

I'll have to wait till the permafrost thaws a bit, can you use Polar Bear poo in the garden compost heap......................?

I assume it's in the woods, no?

[Aberdeenplotter]

psssst,no trees where polar bears live

[bikermike]

does that mean they don't.... in the woods?

What does this mean for the religious orientation of the Pope?

[Mark_Riga]

As long as the soil is not frozen you should be OK planting raspberries. Particularly, as they are in pots already, you just need to dig a hole the size of the pot and drop them in carefully. Should be possible with minimal disturbance. They are probably in more danger from frost in the pots than in the ground.