The secret to growing raspberries is simple – green all year round
When talking about summer fruits, we cannot help but mention raspberries. The sweet and sour flavor it brings is extremely suitable for the hot summer weather. Currently, there are many places where raspberries are grown as economic crops. This plant is easy to grow and bears fruit quickly, so it is very popular. So how to grow raspberries so that they have lots of fruit? Let’s find out right below!
What is a raspberry plant? What is its effect?
At first glance, raspberries look both like strawberries and strawberries, even the taste is quite different. Both bring a sweet and sour taste that is extremely suitable for summer and is extremely delicious. The only thing is that raspberries are not as sour as strawberries, but there are speckled seeds in the segments, creating a pleasant feeling when eaten. In the summer, there is nothing more exciting than picking raspberries that you grow yourself.
What effects do raspberries have?
Although raspberries are extremely popular in European countries, their origin is from Southeast Asian and North American countries. They are just plants that grow wild in the mountains. Only later did people choose the plants with the best flavor to breed and cultivate. Since then they have become a very popular crop among Europeans. The raspberry plant is herbaceous and climbing and somewhat resembles a rose. That’s why their bodies also have many sharp thorns. The leaves are green, have small veins and resemble cauldron legs. The flowers grow in clusters, so the fruits also grow in clusters with many fruits gathered in one place. Normally raspberries will be pink red, but they can also be yellow or black.
Each color will bring a different flavor to the raspberries. Of the three colors, red fruit is more popular, because it has a sweet and sour taste. The yellow or purple-black fruit is crunchy, sweet and not nearly as sour. This is a long-lived tree variety with few pests and diseases when planted, so it grows strongly and quickly. Wherever the climate is cool, it can be planted all year round, but in other places, it is better to plant in the fall or spring. Planting at this time will yield a harvest in the summer. A place with plenty of light and a temperature maintained between 20 and 32 degrees is the ideal condition for plants to grow. At that time, its height can reach up to 2 meters and can spread about 1 meter. From 1 seedling, after 1 year of good care, it will produce a luxuriant garden of raspberries.
How to identify raspberries
Raspberries have a high price and are usually not available in season, so growing this plant at home will help you have it available when you need it and save money. So why hesitate to plant this plant right away in your garden when autumn has arrived? Next summer you will be spoiled with ripe raspberries to enjoy!
Instructions on how to properly plant and care for raspberries
Conditions for plants to grow well
– As mentioned, raspberries love the sun. Where there is a lot of sunlight, the tree grows well and flowers and bears a lot of fruit. That’s why when planting, you proactively choose corners with lots of sunlight. The more sunlight you have in the growing and flowering stages, the brighter and sweeter the fruit will be.
– Because it is a climbing herbaceous plant, it is not suitable for windy places. You should choose a place with little wind, avoid strong winds so as not to affect the tree and fruit. It’s best to be near a fence or wall.
– Every type of plant needs fertile soil and so do raspberries. In addition, when planting in the garden in low-lying areas, pay attention to stagnant water so as not to cause flooding and affect the plant. Note: Soil used to grow tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, roses or peppers should not be used to grow raspberries, because they can leave behind pathogens and damage the plants.
Choose healthy plant varieties
– There are also two types of raspberries, one type is only available in summer and the other type is available in both summer and fall. The type of raspberry that is only available in summer, also known as seasonal raspberry, is the Latham type, the fruit is round and dark red. The Meeker variety is much sweeter and the color is darker. The Brandywine type has large, dark-colored fruit, the Willamette type is crispy and slightly sour, while the black hawk is juicy, black and sweet. There are many types of two-season raspberries such as Amity, medium-sized, dark red and crunchy, very fragrant. The Fall Gold variety is extremely sweet in yellow.
– Each color will bring different flavors to raspberries. If red and yellow are sweet and have a slight sour taste, dark colors are much sweeter and it is almost difficult to feel the sour taste. Furthermore, growing dark-colored raspberry varieties is a bit more difficult because they are susceptible to pests and diseases and the plants are also weak.
– If growing at home, you should alternately plant different types of raspberries so that you can always have delicious fruit when you need it. Usually, you can plant one autumn variety in early summer, and one autumn variety at the end of summer, which will help you have fruit for a long time. You can refer to two varieties Algonquin and Autumn Bliss
Prepare planting tools
Growing raspberries doesn’t require fancy planting tools, you just need a bag of cement, a pot, a tray, or an empty piece of land in your garden. If using trays for planting, pay attention to punching holes in the bottom for good drainage. Note that wherever you plant, you need to ensure plenty of light for the plant to grow and maintain a temperature range of 20 to 32 degrees Celsius is best. When the tree enters the mature stage, it can reach a height of up to 2m and a canopy width of up to 1m. Therefore, when planting seedlings in small pots, you can change the planting location depending on the growth and size of the plant, as long as it is spacious and airy enough for the plant to grow and bear fruit. The soil needs a lot of humus, enough moisture but must be well-drained. You can buy ready-made soil at agricultural stores and you can also mix cow manure, decomposed organic fertilizer with soil, coconut fiber, sawdust, etc. to increase nutrients. 2 to 3 weeks before planting, lime should be applied to eliminate pathogens in the soil.
How to grow plants for high yield
– Because the raspberry tree itself is very weak within 1 year and can easily die if not taken care of well, that’s why you should buy 1 year old seedlings to plant to reduce the possibility of the tree dying. If the purpose of planting is to beautify the house, green the garden and produce fruit quickly, then buy a large tree and plant it easily. If you want to grow from seed, you must choose clean soil with little nutrients from mid-winter and plant so that the plants have time to grow in the sun. Sow the seeds into the soil about 1 finger deep and then cover with a thin layer of damp sand. Sowing in winter should only be done indoors in pots, only take them outside when the outside temperature is at least 15 degrees or higher. It takes about 6 weeks or less for the seeds to germinate, depending on the weather.
– Early spring is the best time to plant raspberries. At this time, you bring them to the garden and plant as usual. With good care, you will have fruit to harvest in late summer and early fall.
– If you want to produce lots of fruit and sweet fruit, you must make sure the trees are far enough apart so that each tree receives plenty of sunlight. Minimum distance is 50cm.
– It is not always good to dig deep planting holes. The planting hole just needs to be deep enough to cover all the roots, and not too high to touch the lowest leaves. According to many people’s experience, you only need to dig a hole about 10cm deep to plant raspberries.
– Gently remove the plant from the pot or bag, then place it in the prepared hole. Use shredded soil to cover all the roots and press the soil firmly to fix the plant. Be careful not to let the roots shoot up to the ground or dig the hole too deep, leading to burying the leaves in the ground.
– Use dry grass, straw or mulch or wood mulch to cover the base of the tree to prevent moisture loss and weed growth.
How to care for trees to produce more fruit and fewer pests
– The characteristic of raspberry plants is that they need a lot of sunlight but don’t really need a lot of water, no matter how hot it is. Only really water your plants when it’s extremely hot. Otherwise, watering twice a week is enough.
– If you want the tree to grow quickly, produce many fruits, and have good quality, you must prune the branches. Trim at least once a year. After harvesting the summer fruits, any branches that are discolored or dry and show signs of weakness should be cut off, keeping only strong branches so that the tree does not become exhausted. After harvesting the fall crop, not only weak branches but also small branches are also pruned to keep the tree strong for next year. During the winter, you can only keep a maximum of 4 to 6 strong branches
. – At the end of winter, you can use decomposed organic fertilizer to fertilize the plants with the purpose of helping the plants stay healthy and have better resilience just in time for spring. Along with that, you should use dry grass, straw, and wood mulch to cover the roots to avoid weeds growing too much when it rains.
– When you see the fruit clearly visible on the branch and turning red, yellow or purple, it is time to harvest. At this time, the fruit is easy to pull off the branch. Just taste it to know if the fruit is sweet enough or not and you can harvest it.
