In July, when the summer raspberries ripen, it is not too late to “work magic” on your garden to get a super harvest of fruit. 5 simple but very important farming techniques will help you with this.
It is possible to get a good harvest of raspberries only with proper care for them. It is a fastidious plant that requires care throughout the season, especially during the summer months. To make sure that your efforts are not in vain, you must take into account the characteristics of the plant, the rules for its care and the time of the procedures.
It seems that there is nothing new to say about growing raspberries. This culture in our country will not surprise anyone. It grows almost in every yard, on every cottage. It grows and grows, but not everyone is happy with the harvest.
And all this because there is a misconception about the unpretentiousness of raspberries. So they often allocate space for raspberry gardens, which is not the best, in the shade and even with poor soil that has never seen fertilizer. Hence the “harvest” – a few small fruits, irregular shape and mediocre taste.
Planting raspberries – the tricks every gardener should know
Watering raspberries abundantly
In a dry summer, raspberry shoots and fruits dry out without watering. The root system of even an adult bush can die from drying out, as it is superficial and lies at a depth of 10-30 cm. To ensure sufficient soil moisture: 1 linear meter of raspberry planting will require at least 30 liters of water.
So that this volume has time to be completely absorbed into the ground to the depth needed by the roots and not spread over the area, water in the morning or evening in 2-3 doses.
The ripening period of raspberries is extended in time, so after a week or a week and a half watering can be repeated.
Proper nutrition of raspberries
Now raspberries need potassium first of all, then phosphorus (nitrogen is needed to a lesser extent during the fruiting period).
Optimal foliar nutrition (from the leaves) with mineral fertilizers with macro- and microelements.
A simple potassium fertilizer is also suitable – potassium sulfate or stove ash infusion:
· Fill 10 liters of water one third with ash;
· Fill with hot water to the brim and leave for two days;
· Strain the resulting infusion and pour over the raspberries at the root.
The raspberry varieties you MUST have in your garden
Mulching the soil
In hot weather, raspberry roots quickly overheat and dry out, which immediately affects the harvest. Moisten the soil well before mulching!
Mulching with a 10-15cm layer of mature compost, peat, grass, rotted sawdust and sawdust will help avoid the problem.
Weeding and pruning raspberries
Weeds take water and nutrients from raspberries and also serve as a haven for pests and can carry disease.
It is necessary to normalize the number of shoots of the plant. When growing raspberries as a bush, remove all shoots, leaving 10-12 shoots that bear fruit from the current year.
Protective treatments against enemies and diseases of raspberries
In mid-summer, gray rot can significantly spoil the raspberry crop. But the use of aggressive “chemistry” during the fruiting period is unacceptable.
