Raspberry is one of the most beloved berry crops by domestic gardeners. Its undoubted advantages include primarily unpretentiousness and the ability to grow very quickly. Raspberries can be propagated in several different ways. Care for it consists mainly in periodic watering, feeding and pruning.
Methods of raspberry propagation
In one place, this berry culture can grow up to 8-10 years. After that, its productivity is significantly reduced and the summer residents have a question about how to propagate raspberries. Buying planting material when breaking down a new plantation is completely optional. It is usually just taken from old bushes. Well, of course, only not if they want to try to grow a new variety. Raspberries can be propagated in the following ways:
- Green shoots. This is the most popular technique.
- Root cuttings. This method is usually used if there is not enough green planting material.
- The seeds. This is how raspberries breed in nature. However, it is extremely rare to plant this crop in seeds at dachas, since the varietal properties of plants are not preserved using this technique.
- By dividing the bush. Not too common method.
- Cuttings. This is quite an effective method, technologically uncomplicated, but quite troublesome.
These are the existing raspberry growing methods . Next, we will talk more about each of them.
Propagation by processes
This method can be used already in the second year after planting a raspberry plantation. The shoots begin to germinate next to the bushes in the spring. Once they reach a height of 15-20 cm, they can be transplanted to a new place. It is better to do it in cloudy weather, late in the evening.
The processes are dug out along with the roots. Previously, grooves are made at a selected location at a distance of 0.9-1.5 m from each other, depending on the raspberry variety. Well-rotted manure is poured into them. The processes are planted in rows, sprinkling them with soil. The soil under the plants should be watered and thoroughly mulched.
Using root cuttings
The question of how to propagate raspberries in this way is completely uncomplicated. In the fall, after harvesting, a healthy root is cut from under the uterine bush. Its thickness should not be less than that of a pencil.
Then the root is cut into individual cuttings with a length of about 10-15 cm. Store them in a cellar in dry sand. In the spring they make a landing using the same technology as for the green shoots. Place the cuttings in a groove in a horizontal position.
This method, among other things, is an excellent answer to the question of how to propagate repair raspberries. Green shoots in these varieties are usually few. The fact is that repair raspberries give all their strength to berries and very little remains for them to form new separate shoots.
Seed propagation
This method is rational to use if several varieties of raspberries grow on the plantation. It may very well be that the bushes grown from pollinated seeds will yield even better crops than the parent ones. Seed is planted as follows:
- Juice is squeezed from the berries.
- The mashed pulp is poured with warm water and mixed.
- Collect the seeds that have risen to the surface.
- Planting material is washed, dried and sown in boxes to a depth of 2-5 mm.
Soil for seeds should be prepared by mixing garden soil with a small amount of peat and sand. After two real leaves appear on the plants, they are planted in pots and put in a warm place. 15-20 centimeter plants are transferred to the plantation.
How to propagate raspberries with cuttings
By the methods described above, bushes are usually propagated in spring or summer. Raspberry is an unpretentious plant, it is taken very well. The only thing is not to transplant it in the heat. In the summer, the shoots are planted, as already mentioned, in cloudy weather.
However, May – August is just the height of summer work, and gardening owners may simply not have enough time to plant raspberries. It is usually enough in September - October. Therefore, the question of how to propagate raspberries in the fall is probably of interest to many gardeners. In fact, this is entirely possible. In September, raspberries are usually planted with cuttings.
To do this, a healthy green shoot is simply cut off from the bush and divided into pieces about 7-10 cm long. Then the petioles are lowered into the root solution for several hours. Then they are added dropwise at an angle of 45 g. in a greenhouse in a moistened mixture of sand and peat. Rooted plants are transferred to a permanent place.
As you can see, the question of how to propagate raspberries with cuttings is simple. The main thing is to provide a good microclimate in the greenhouse. The air in it should be sufficiently moist and warm.
Varieties
Recently, breeders have bred many new varieties of this berry culture. Description of raspberry varieties is given on almost every specialized website on the Internet. There are so many types of it that an inexperienced summer resident is just as confused when choosing. What sort is worth planting in the garden? At the moment, the highest yielding large-fruited Pride of Russia and the Beauty of Russia are considered the best. The planting of these particular varieties is worth considering. The weight of the Pride of Russia berries can reach, for example, 12 g. For comparison: in the best varieties bred before this, it does not exceed 3-4 g.
How to care for raspberries
Thus, we have figured out how to propagate raspberries correctly. Of course, immediately after planting a new plantation, you need to start looking after the plants. Young bushes are watered so that the soil beneath them always remains moist.
Adult raspberries are watered several times a season so that the soil is wet at least 30 cm deep. In no case should a strong drying out of the soil under the raspberries during its flowering and fruiting be allowed. In August - September, watering can be stopped.
How to fertilize
Raspberry care consists in the proper feeding. This berry culture is very fond of fertile, loose nutrient soils. The lack of any substances immediately affects both the yield and the appearance of the plants. If yellow leaves are seen on the bushes, nitrogen fertilizers should be applied to the soil. With a lack of potassium, the plates acquire a brown tint. Purple leaves on thin shoots are a sign of lack of phosphorus in the soil.
In spring and autumn, under raspberries, it is worth making rotted manure. Three of his kilograms per square meter will be enough. At the end of April, you can also make a complex mineral fertilizer.
Raspberry pruning
At the moment, in the gardens of domestic gardeners, you can find only two main varieties of raspberries: the usual two-year and repair. The first is cut off in the fall, removing all the prolific shoots. The next year, berries are formed on last year's green shoots.
Repair raspberries can produce two crops a year - in summer and early autumn. In this case, the berries are formed on both biennial and annual shoots. However, many summer residents prefer to harvest only one crop from such varieties - in September. The fact is that fruiting in the beginning of summer greatly weakens plants. As a result, the autumn harvest is not too plentiful. Therefore, such raspberries are usually cut completely in the fall, leaving only small cuttings on the surface. In this case, the next year the berries are formed only in September - on annual shoots. Thus, at the beginning of summer, it will be possible to harvest from bushes of ordinary varieties, and at the end - from repair.
Raspberry care in terms of pruning should be carried out including in the spring. In April-May, it is worth trimming the tops of each bush by about 15 cm. This will increase the yield. Also, before raspberry buds open, raspberries should remove all shoots frozen in winter.
There are several answers to the question of how to propagate raspberries. The easiest way to do this is the shoots. The remaining methods should be used only if there is not enough green planting material for any reason. Well, of course, the raspberries that have been planted need to be carefully looked after, and then she will thank the owners of the dacha with annual plentiful harvests.