Growing Organic Raspberries
Raising RASPBERRY Facts
Growing organic raspberries have a dual usage; berries for eating and leaves for tea. Raspberry leaves can be dried and used for herbal and medicinal teas. Growing organic raspberries contain significant amounts of antioxidants which have been proven to improve your overall vascular health. There are two main types to be aware of when growing raspberries: the June-bearing and the Ever-bearing varieties. June-bearing raspberries are picked in the late spring typically for around 4 to 6 weeks and produce heavily during this time. Ever-bearing raspberries don't produce as many berries, some varieties will bear fruit throughout the spring and summer, while other varieties will produce once in the spring and once in the fall.
When to Plant rasperries
Raspberry canes grow for 2 seasons. The first year a new green cane, the primocane, grows; it develops bark, then goes dormant for the winter. The cane is called a floricane in its second year; it produces fruit, then dies. The roots, however, continue to send up new primocanes annually. Raspberry slips are usually planted in the early spring after the ground thaws in the North. In the South, you can plant raspberry slips in the fall or early spring.
Best Locations to Plant Raspberries
Raspberries like full sun. We tried planting them in partial shade a few years ago, and they simply never grew well. Areas with cold winters are preferable for June-bearing raspberries. New varieties are being developed, though, that grow well in Southern climates. Choose soil that drains well, has high organic content, and is slightly elevated if possible. To test drainage, dig a 12 inch deep by 12 inch square hole and fill it with water. If the water's drained from the hole in under 3 hours, your soil drainage is adequate. Don't plant too close to trees, and don't plant your berries where raspberries have been planted recently.
Soil Prep for Raspberries
Raspberries prefer slightly acidic soil below 7.0 pH level. Optimally, it should be around 6.0, and never below 5.5. Compost and composted manure will supply most, if not all, the nutrients needed by raspberries. Once you've selected the area you're going to plant your berry slips in, prepare the ground by deep-mixing several inches of compost or composted manure into the soil at least 12 inches deep into a 24 inch wide row. Space your rows 48 to 72 inches apart from edge to edge. This will make the plant 6 to 8 feet apart. Remember, you want your berries to have good nutrients for years to come, so you can hardly overdo the compost. You can also side-dress existing canes with composted manure to bolster production.
Choosing the Best Varieties for your Area
Raspberries are in the "rubus" family, and are known as brambles. There are three berry color varieties you can grow - red, black, or a combination of red and black known as purple raspberries. As always, it's a wise action to call your county extension if you're unfamiliar with raspberry diseases in your area. They'll be able to advise you on varieties that are resistant to diseases in your local area.
Containerized Raspberries
If you have limited space or live in a rental house where the landlord won't allow you to garden, you can grow raspberries in containers. You'll want to use a good sterile potting mix to avoid soil pathogens if you're going to grow raspberries in containers. Add plenty of composted manure to the mix, and put it into a 3 to 7 gallon container with several drain holes in the bottom. A five gallon bucket is about the right size for one plant. Plant the root slip 3/4 of an inch under the soil surface. Add composted manure annually as needed.
Planting Raspberries in Your Garden
In the early spring, after you've purchased a variety (or two) you like that is resistant to common diseases in your area from a reputable nursery, you're ready to plant! Soak your plant roots in a compost tea (a cup or two of compost in a 5 gallon bucket of water should work) for around 6 hours prior to planting. In your pre-marked rows (prepped per the instructions above), insert your shovel as deep as it will go into the soil, and with a rocking-back-and-forth motion, open up the soil and insert the raspberry plant to where the dirt covers the roots. You should be able to tell where the root ends and the cane starts.
Make sure you spread the roots laterally to give the plant roots a good start. Put one plant every 24 to 36 inches apart in your rows. The distance between the rows should be around 6 to 8 feet. It is a good practice to "trellis" your raspberries to keep them from falling over as the canes can grow up to 8 feet tall. The way we do it is to use 4 x 4 inch posts with 36 inch 2 x 4's nailed horizontally at 2 feet from the ground and 4 feet from the ground (you can also add a third horizontal bar at 6 feet off the ground if you need to). Then string wire between the horizontal 2 x 4's to keep the canes standing vertically. During the mid to late summer, as the primocanes are growing rapidly, you'll need to make sure, every couple of days, that the canes stay inside the wires as it becomes difficult to try to shove them back under them if they get too tall. In case you loved this post and you would love to receive much more information regarding benefits of Rain Soul assure visit our page.
Getting the Most from Your Raspberries
The more bees you have in your patch, the more berries you'll harvest. Keep the area between the rows weed free by rototilling regularly or mulching. Another option is to plant a cover crop. As mentioned previously, a trellis system or other supports is key to keeping your plants vertical - and production high. It is a good practice, in the spring before the leaves begin growing, to prune the tops of your floricanes to 5 or 6 feet in height. One trick for getting more fruit is to cut off the primocanes at about 30 to 36 inches. This will force them to put out branches, giving you more fruit production that is easy to reach as well.
After your fruit has been harvested, cut off all the dying floricanes at ground level to give the primocanes as much room as possible to grow. In the spring, thin out the new floricanes so that just the thickest and strongest canes remain. These will produce more fruit than leaving all the canes in the ground. If you need to, you can sidedress your canes with composted manure in the spring. Usually, if you've mixed in plenty of composted manure prior to the initial planting, you shouldn't need to add much.
This past gardening season we tested a liquid organic leaf spray fertilizer called Organic Garden Miracle. We sprayed most of our garden plants with OGM. The sprayed veggies were more robust than the un-sprayed plants, and the flavor was superior as well - sweeter and juicier. We're excited this year to continue the experiment as we were impressed with the size and flavor of the garden crops we sprayed.
Mulching & Weeding
Lawn clippings and barley straw are two of the best mulches for growing raspberries. I like to spread a few inches of mulch between the rows and around the plants to keep the soil moist and the weeds under control. It also provides organic matter for your soil over the summer as it begins to decompose. Too much straw may become a haven for mice or other rodents, so don't get too deep with your mulch. If you choose not to mulch, rototill or hand-pull the weeds between the rows and hand-pull the weeds around the plants.