Watering autumn raspberries

[littlemoney]

I have a pourous hose I am thinking of laying around my autumn raspbery canes. Is now a good time to start watering to encourage cane growth and hopefully more raspberries. Currently they are about 8" to 16" tall.

If not now when should I start please.

I have been told they don't like to be too wet or too dry is this correct?

[nickdub]

I have a pourous hose I am thinking of laying around my autumn raspbery canes. Is now a good time to start watering to encourage cane growth and hopefully more raspberries. Currently they are about 8" to 16" tall.

If not now when should I start please.

I have been told they don't like to be too wet or too dry is this correct?

The water round the roots needs to be available but not stagnant. That is, they like soil which is moist but drains well - a mulch of high humus content like grass mowings is a good bet.

As for when and for that matter how much, I'd let the plants be my guide, as these things really depend on soil conditions and weather. Usually one bit of a plot is a little higher or gets a bit more sun than the rest - keep a careful eye on the raspberry planted there, and if it appears to be flagging even slightly, then start a bit of watering. Best to do too little than too much, until you get a feel for how its going.

[4Shoes]

I'm in the same boat.

Put the last grass cutting round bottom, but soil is very dry.

[nickdub]

I'm in the same boat.

Put the last grass cutting round bottom, but soil is very dry.

If the soil surface is dry, its best to spray with around with a hose for say about 30 mins before putting down the mulch.

[planetologist]

I wouldn't bother. In 10 years in my present garden, I don't think I've ever watered my autumn raspberries, or possibly once, when it didn't rain for 10 weeks in the spring of 2011. And I haven't noticed them doing better in wet years than in dry years.

[veggiechicken]

I've never watered them either. In fact the only time I water anything outdoors is when they're newly planted............and contrary to popular belief, Sunshiny South Wales doesn't get a lot of rain!!

[nickdub]

depends a lot on where you live - raspberries thrive best in areas of high summer rainfall - if your'e not in one of those, then watering will improve the crop to some extent.

[SarrissUK]

We don't get a huge amount of rain on the east coast either, and I've only ever watered my raspberries when they've been drooping on very, very hot summer days. Their roots go quite deep.

[nickdub]

If you're happy with the crop you are getting then there's no problem - if you want to increase it, then watering is one option to try.

[littlemoney]

I'm learning something new all the time as I thought rasperberries were shallow rooting plants so needed watering. Despite feeding the canes are have not been as tall as I would like so I was wondering about watering. Essex clay goes quickly from very wet to very dry.

[nickdub]

I'm learning something new all the time as I thought rasperberries were shallow rooting plants so needed watering. Despite feeding the canes are have not been as tall as I would like so I was wondering about watering. Essex clay goes quickly from very wet to very dry.

If in doubt I'd start watering as soon as you feel the top-soil is drying out - raspberries put on a lot of soft growth and start their berries at much the same time, so they need a load of water for a while - once the fruit is mostly finished swelling, then you can more or less stop watering if you want to - so its only for a few months - a permanent soaker-hose laid down over the area where the roots are cuts down on the time required to get the job done. The only catch is that once you start, it needs to be done regularly, say 2 or 3 tines a week.

[littlemoney]

Thank you everyone for the advice. The last noticable rain was about 2 weeks ago and as there has been number of hot and sunny days since here in Essex I have put the soaker hose down for the raspberries as parts of the garden are going dry and hard.

It was too hot to garden in the middle of the day today but it will probably pour with rain later this week as I have also planted my tomato plants in the garden. A day of gentle rain would be appreciated.

[It never rains..it pours]

My raspberries summer/autumn double cropping/autumn have apppreciated a watering on clay but improved with compost, sharp sand, etc. Seems to me root depth is dependant on how well drained site is in winter and ofcourse winter rainfall amounts as they hate soaked feet. Also watering in my case was to make the fertilizer available that put on late to minimise leaching.

[BUFFS]

I would give them a really good soak, so that the water drains down deep, then when the plant wants water it will send roots down to the water, and with deeper roots (even if they are shallow) they will be lees prone to drying out, I put a load of newspapers and kitchen waste 12ins down and put me rasps on top, but this is Scotland where you would get laughed at for watering as we are normally just waiting for the rains to stop..