How to get a bumper raspberry harvest. How to increase raspberry yields How to get high raspberry yields

Raspberries are one of the most popular berry crops among amateur gardeners. With skillful selection of its varieties, choice of planting location and good care, you can get up to 2 kg of high quality berries from each bush.
Growing raspberries in personal plots has its own characteristics, which include the size of the plot, crops growing nearby, and soil type. To increase the productivity of raspberry plantations, many gardeners use non-standard methods of growing this crop. Today we will introduce you to some of them, which can significantly increase the yield and make it easier to care for and pick berries.

Site preparation

First of all, experienced gardeners note, it is necessary to fill the soil before planting with organic and mineral fertilizers so that they “work” for the harvest for 8-10 years.
Krasnodar amateur gardener S. Gladkov plants raspberry plants in ridge-trenches 0.6 m deep and 1.2 m wide, having previously well prepared and filled the soil.
Soil preparation is as follows: as usual, when digging a trench, the top fertile layer of soil is placed on one side, the lower infertile layer on the other. Then the trench is filled layer by layer with soil and fertilizers. Place half of the top fertile layer at the bottom of the trench and for each meter add one bucket of humus, a quarter of a bucket of chicken manure, half a bucket of sand, one glass of urea and half a glass of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. All this is mixed well and compacted slightly. The remaining infertile layer is mixed with sand and humus and the top of the trench is covered with it, after which the plants prepared in advance are planted in it.
On one side of the trench, a 40 cm wide pedestrian path is arranged, which is covered with a 2-3 cm layer of sand and on top with a layer of gravel, pebbles, etc. At the same time, the path allows you to walk along it in any weather and harvest even after rain, without compacting the soil in the raspberry plantings.
V. Karetnikov, an experienced gardener from Orenburg, fences the ridges so that the raspberries do not “run around”. To do this, he uses slate or tin, 30 cm high, 15 cm buried in the soil, and 15 cm left on the surface.

Fashionable haircut

Candidate of Agricultural Sciences G. Aleksandrova (St. Petersburg) recommends experimenting with the length of shoots in early spring, which will allow for a portioned harvest and extension of the fruiting period of plants until the end of summer. For this purpose, only the tops of some plants are cut off, in others the shoot is shortened by one third or half of its length, and several stems are cut heavily, leaving 10-15 cm of shoot length.
With such pruning, the ripening of the crop begins first on weakly trimmed stems, somewhat later on stems shortened by one third, then on stems shortened by half, and only at the end of summer do the berries ripen on stems cut very tightly.
Double trimming
In recent years, amateur gardening has used the method of double pruning raspberry stems, proposed by gardener A.G. Sobolev from Kurgan.

“As soon as I found out about double pruning,” writes Nina Sergeevna Laburets from the Omsk region, “I immediately carried out the first pruning myself. My husband was horrified when he saw the mountain of cut stems. But there was no end to his surprise the next year, when after the second pruning the berry harvest was so ripe that they were tired of picking it. From 40 m2 we got 110 kg of amazing raspberries.”
This technology is as follows. Plants are planted in well-dressed soil on a ridge 0.8 m wide, fenced with a wall 20 cm high. A roll of earth or humus is poured along the wall, on its inner side. Planted plants appear to be in a depression, which is very convenient for watering. Plants in a row are planted every 1-1.5 m, thereby preventing thickening during their further formation. In the spring, the soil on the ridge is mulched with rotted manure in a layer of 15-20 cm. During the summer, watering is carried out several times so that the soil under the mulch layer is constantly moist. As mulch, which also serves as top dressing, you can use manure, humus, peat, compost, straw, sawdust, leaves, etc. Loosening and digging of the soil is excluded, since annual mulching and watering make it soft and breathable.
As the shoots grow (late May - first half of June), when they reach a height of 0.8-1.2 m, the tops of the shoots are cut off by 5-10 cm, stopping apical growth and causing the awakening of buds in the axils of the upper leaves. By August - September, up to 6 or more lateral growths 40-90 cm long appear on the pruned shoots. In this state, the shoots overwinter (it is better to bend them to the ground for the winter with boards or pin them with hooks).
In the spring of next year, when the leaves are fully blooming, the side shoots are pruned by 10-15 cm. This second pruning causes the development of additional fruit branches, both on the main shoot and on the side branches, and they all bear fruit abundantly. Due to the uneven formation of lateral fruit branches, fruiting on them is significantly extended - from July to September. Regular raspberry varieties acquire remontant properties.
With this growing technology, 4 fruiting stems and up to 8 replacement shoots are left in the bush. If the density remains high, fewer shoots can be left.
Double pruning is intended for all varieties, but has some inconveniences when laying shoots on the ground before winter.

Raspberry - in different apartments

The separate cultivation of raspberries on two equal plots, a method proposed by A.G. Sobolev, is also of great interest. In the first area, only young, healthy, strong shoots are left, and in the second, only fruit-bearing stems that produce a harvest, and all growing shoots are destroyed. The next year, berries are obtained from the first plot, and in the second, after cutting, annual shoots are again formed from the fruiting stems. This technique can be recommended both for the bush method of placement (increasing the number of stems in the bush), and for single-strip and strip placement of plants.
And another advantage of the separate growing method is the ability to effectively fight pests. They simply disappear. The plots are located as far apart from each other as possible. When grown separately, double pruning seems to fade into the background, becoming only an auxiliary means, but remains an integral method of agricultural technology.

Worth a try

B. Burdakov from the Saratov region practices raspberry cultivation on a horizontal trellis. In this case, all fruiting stems in the row are bent almost at right angles to the line of the row, approximately 60 cm from the soil level, using a specially horizontal trellis. This arrangement of fruiting stems leads to the formation of vertically directed fruit branches on them, which facilitates harvesting. Young shoots at this time grow vertically upward, along the row, separately from the fruiting stems, without shading or thickening them.
The use of such methods for growing raspberries helps to obtain a high yield of beautiful berries.

Illustrations:

1) “Ribbons” of raspberries on a horizontal trellis during flowering

2) Method of double pruning raspberries:
A – year of growth (a – pinching and normalization of shoots in June; b – branching after pinching); B – year of fruiting (a – shortening and removal of branches and shoots in April-May; b – fruiting)

No matter what expensive and super-fruitful variety of raspberry you purchase, without proper care for it, you may not expect the result promised by the sellers. The benefits of garden raspberries are known, they are planted a lot and with pleasure, but sometimes it happens like this: your neighbor’s raspberries are rich in harvest, large, sweet, the bushes are powerful, bright green, but you have the same seedlings, taken from your neighbor, do not bring the expected harvest . The whole reason is improper care of raspberries. The berry is not capricious and requires little attention, but a number of certain procedures must be carried out in spring, summer and autumn. Fertilizing, pruning, replanting, killing pests, mulching or loosening, ordinary work, but done on time, will significantly increase the yield of raspberries, and at the end of summer you will get the berries that the planted variety should produce.

Choosing a raspberry variety

Whatever one may say, laying a high raspberry harvest begins with choosing a variety. And it is better to choose it not on the plot of friends or neighbors (although you can still find a good option), but based on descriptions of varietal characteristics and reviews of other gardeners. “Your variety” must meet your requirements. The taste qualities of the berries, their size, color, resistance to shedding, to baking, the beginning and duration of fruiting, the shape of the bush, the height and power of the shoots, the tendency to be affected by diseases - absolutely everything matters! And believe me, finding what you want is real!

The variety has been determined - it is necessary to purchase planting material. You will most likely have to buy it (if the option with neighbors is not chosen). When purchasing, you need to turn to truly reliable sources, and not take the word of the first seller you meet on the market. In this case, it is not necessary to take a large number of seedlings, but to purchase plants for planting at least one row, and then, if the chosen one confirms the preferred qualities, plant a full-fledged raspberry tree (following the rules of agricultural technology, you can get root shoots in considerable quantities in the second year).

Preparing a site for raspberries

Then the trench is filled layer by layer with soil and fertilizers. Place half of the top fertile layer at the bottom of the trench and for each meter add one bucket of humus, a quarter of a bucket of chicken manure, half a bucket of sand, one glass of urea and half a glass of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. All this is mixed well and compacted slightly. The remaining infertile layer is mixed with sand and humus and the top of the trench is covered with it, after which the plants prepared in advance are planted in it. On one side of the trench, a 40 cm wide pedestrian path is arranged, which is covered with a 2-3 cm layer of sand and on top with a layer of gravel, pebbles, etc. At the same time, the path allows you to walk along it in any weather and harvest even after rain, without compacting the soil in the raspberry plantings.

Pruning raspberries to increase yield

Many novice gardeners often ask the question “should I prune raspberries?” To answer this question, you need to understand what care such as pruning means. For raspberries, this procedure is an important stage of care. It needs to be pruned in order to increase yield. To get an excellent result, you need to know when it is best to do it.

It is best to do pruning after fruiting has finished at the end of summer. The timing of this procedure can be moved to the beginning of autumn. By this time, the shoots of the plant will no longer bear fruit and will gradually begin to die off. They should be removed to the very root. The closer the cutting level is to the ground, the better. Experts do not recommend leaving stumps. To understand how to prune raspberries correctly, you need to know one rule - do everything clearly and on time. Pruning is a whole complex of measures aimed primarily at increasing productivity, and only then at creating optimal conditions for the bush.

Experienced gardeners understand this procedure as carrying out the following manipulations:

cutting out dead shoots;
trunk cutting;
cutting off frail, deformed and damaged branches;
shortening shoots;
removal of root shoots;
bending branches to the ground or tying them.

Moreover, each stage described above must be carried out in its own time. Typically, part of the action is carried out in the fall, after harvesting, and the other part in the spring to prepare the bush for the growing season.

Proper feeding of raspberries

Although raspberries are an unpretentious crop, they will always be grateful for feeding and will respond with a noticeable increase in yield. If by the time the raspberries are planted, the soil in the selected area has already been fertilized with old humus or compost (the recommended rate is 10 kg per 1 square meter), then the plant will have enough nutrients for several years. If the soil under raspberries is poor, then in the spring and summer it is necessary to feed the bushes with organic matter or complex fertilizers. This:

chicken droppings, rotted manure (in autumn);
peat (in any period);
ash (spring);
nitrogen fertilizers (spring);
complex fertilizers (spring and early summer).

Fertilizer recipes for raspberries

Complex mineral: for 10 liters of water - ammonium nitrate - 30 g, potassium salt - 40 g, superphosphate - 60 g;

Complex “raspberry”: add 6 g of potassium + 6 g of nitrogen + 4 g of phosphorus to 3 kg of manure; use at the rate of 1.5 kg of ready-made fertilizer per 1 square meter.

You need to know that excess fertilizers or their application at the wrong time leads to a decrease in yield, and sometimes even to the death of the bush.

Raspberry care

However, no matter how correctly the place for raspberries is chosen, no matter how well they are pruned, without proper care of the raspberry tree there can be no talk of any increase in the yield, especially in the case of remontant varieties.

Raspberries need to be watered regularly both during the growth period, and at the time of flowering, and during the formation of berries, but not by flooding, but by maintaining the bed in a slightly damp state to a depth of 30 - 40 cm. When the bushes go into winter, carry out moisture-recharging watering.

It will not be superfluous to loosen the row spacing in the raspberry field, as well as remove weeds from the rows. It has been noticed that where raspberries grow among grass, there is no good harvest and timely development of new growth.

Protecting raspberries from pests and diseases

There is no plant as beloved by pests and diseases as raspberries. It is estimated that every year they destroy 30-40% of the berries, and where they are not controlled, the crop is often completely destroyed or the berries are so damaged that they are completely unfit for consumption. Therefore, it is very important to purchase healthy planting material so as not to introduce infection to your site. And it’s not enough to plant raspberries correctly, grow them, prune them, water them, fertilize them; you need to be able to protect them from many enemies. In other years, their invasion is massive.

Spraying raspberry shoots before the buds begin to open:

Spraying with a fungicide - Bordeaux mixture - has a destructive effect on all pests.
To get rid of the raspberry beetle in early spring (shortly after the snow melts), raspberry shoots and the soil underneath are generously sprayed with a solution of nitrafen (200 ml of the drug per bucket of water). Excellent results are obtained by treating the bushes twice with solutions of agravertine and fitoverm.
A solution of fufanon (15 ml per bucket of water) or actellik (in the same dosage) will help to cope with raspberry gall midge larvae.
To make it difficult for overwintered stem flies to emerge from their shelters in early spring, the tree trunk circles are covered with a thick layer of mulching material. In the first ten days of May, raspberry shoots are treated with solutions of agravertine, actellik or fitoverm.

When picking raspberries, many gardeners lament the insignificant harvest. However, there is no need to be upset - the plants were able to give exactly as much as external factors allowed them and as much as was inherent in the potential of their variety. It is absolutely possible to influence the number of berries. The yield of the harvest is, in most cases, the result of our labor.

Variety

“Your variety” must meet your requirements. The taste qualities of the berries, their size, color, resistance to shedding, to baking, the beginning and duration of fruiting, the shape of the bush, the height and power of the shoots, the tendency to be affected by diseases - absolutely everything matters! And believe me, finding what you want is real!

Place

Like any other crop, raspberries have their own claims to the soil, sun and neighbors. Therefore, when deciding on a planting location, you must definitely choose the best, the one that will fully satisfy the needs of raspberries.

The ideal site for a raspberry garden is an equal place, protected from the winds, not suffering from shading, with soil of medium or light texture, a groundwater level not higher than 1.5 m, a highly nutritious topsoil and a good supply of moisture. In any other option, raspberries will suffer: excess moisture can cause rotting of its roots, lack of small berries and a small number of shoots, strong wind in combination with low temperatures - stems dying, placement in lowlands - buds freezing, planting on hillocks - lack of moisture . All this affects productivity!

Landing method

The planting method also plays an equally important role in the quantity and quality of the raspberry harvest. If you take and dig young plants into unprepared soil, they are unlikely to reward you with a large number of berries. But if you lay a powerful organic cushion under the raspberry tree, the crop will reward with good development, disease resistance, and an abundance of fruits. Therefore, the best way to plant raspberries is in trenches, when a layer of organic matter is laid in ditches prepared for planting, which provides the bush with nutrition for a single year.

But in addition to filling the beds with fertilizers, it is also necessary to ensure the spatial freedom of the plants. Based on the fact that the raspberry bushes will grow in the second year, and they will need sufficient area for nutrition, arrangement of vegetative mass and maintenance, the row spacing in the raspberry garden must be left with perspective - about 1.2 m, and if the variety is tall (and many modern high-yielding varieties reach a height of more than 2.5 m) or more.

Formation

This agricultural technique is no less important than all the previous ones. How many flower clusters will be formed on it for the future harvest depends on how the raspberries are pruned (and whether they are pruned at all).

Today, the most effective method of pruning annual raspberries is the method of A.G. Sobolev. It is focused on crops grown in compliance with a full range of agricultural techniques, and is as follows.

First stage. In June - July, when raspberries bear fruit on overwintered shoots, new young shoots, intended for fruiting next year, intensively rise from its roots. As soon as they reach a height of 80 - 120 cm, their tops are shortened by 10 - 15 cm. Within a month, side branches will appear from the leaf axils of the cut shoots, and by mid-autumn they will reach a length of 30 - 40 cm. In this state, the raspberries go into winter.

Stage two. In the spring, without waiting for the foliage to appear, it is necessary to prune the raspberries again, this time shortening the second-order shoots (the same side branches whose growth was provoked last year) by 5 cm. This will give impetus to the formation of side branches on them.

Thus, by the time of fruiting, the formed raspberry will have branches of both the first and second order, and visually resemble a tree. As soon as the bush yields its harvest, without waiting for autumn, the fruit-bearing shoots must be cut out at the root. This will release nutrients for new growth and improve its ventilation and illumination. For new shoots, the technique of double pruning is again applied.

This method has proven itself as a way to double the raspberry yield. And all because the raspberry tree formed in this way lays berry branches not just on the mother (main) shoots, but also on the lateral branches formed on them.

What about remontant varieties? You can do two things with remontant varieties.

Option #1. In the fall or early spring, cut out the fruit-bearing bush completely to improve the quality of next year's autumn harvest, while the summer harvest will be missed.

Option #2. In the summer, at the first yield of berries, cut off the two-year-old shoots that bear fruit, leaving the opportunity to produce new shoots in the fall.

In order to increase the yield of remontant raspberries, it is important to remember one more pruning technique - thinning. Remontant varieties are very sensitive to thickening and respond to it not only with small berries, but also with a noticeable decrease in its quantity. Therefore, a very important point in increasing the number and size of such raspberries is thinning the raspberry tree. Only 4 fruit-bearing shoots can be left per bush of a remontant variety.

Care

This raspberry responds very well to fertilizers. Loves ash, compost, rotted manure, needs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However, if it is planted using the trench method, it does not need to be fed for the first 2 - 3 years; otherwise, feeding must be done in the spring, at the time of the growth of new shoots and the formation of the ovary, and in the fall.

A good option for spring feeding is chicken manure diluted 1 to 10 with water and slurry diluted in 3 to 4 parts of water. For autumn treatment, you can add up to 5 buckets of manure per square meter, but every other year.

In cold areas, for the winter, it is recommended to tie raspberries in bunches and bend them to the ground, covering them with a good layer of snow during the snowy period. And in the spring, to speed up the ripening of the crop by two weeks, cover with black film or mulch generously with ash.

Thus, the high raspberry harvest is her gratitude for our attention.

Choosing a raspberry variety

Preparing a site for raspberries

Pruning raspberries to increase yield

Experienced gardeners understand this procedure as carrying out the following manipulations:

cutting out dead shoots;
trunk cutting;
cutting off frail, deformed and damaged branches;
shortening shoots;
removal of root shoots;
bending branches to the ground or tying them.

Proper feeding of raspberries

chicken droppings, rotted manure (in autumn);
peat (in any period);
ash (spring);
nitrogen fertilizers (spring);
complex fertilizers (spring and early summer).

Fertilizer recipes for raspberries

Complex mineral: for 10 liters of water - ammonium nitrate - 30 g, potassium salt - 40 g, superphosphate - 60 g;

Complex “raspberry”: add 6 g of potassium + 6 g of nitrogen + 4 g of phosphorus to 3 kg of manure; use at the rate of 1.5 kg of ready-made fertilizer per 1 square meter.

You need to know that excess fertilizers or their application at the wrong time leads to a decrease in yield, and sometimes even to the death of the bush.

Raspberry care

Protecting raspberries from pests and diseases

Spraying raspberry shoots before the buds begin to open:

Spraying with a fungicide - Bordeaux mixture - has a destructive effect on all pests.
To get rid of the raspberry beetle in early spring (shortly after the snow melts), raspberry shoots and the soil underneath are generously sprayed with a solution of nitrafen (200 ml of the drug per bucket of water). Excellent results are obtained by treating the bushes twice with solutions of agravertine and fitoverm.
A solution of fufanon (15 ml per bucket of water) or actellik (in the same dosage) will help to cope with raspberry gall midge larvae.
To make it difficult for overwintered stem flies to emerge from their shelters in early spring, the tree trunk circles are covered with a thick layer of mulching material. In the first ten days of May, raspberry shoots are treated with solutions of agravertine, actellik or fitoverm.

Growing raspberries is a common activity for many gardeners. This is a perennial plant, reaching a height of two or more meters, for planting of which not the best areas in shaded areas are allocated on a personal plot. It’s just how you grow raspberries that determines its yield, taste and quality.

Choosing a landing site

Raspberries, which are not particularly difficult to grow and care for, can surprise you with their tasty and aromatic berries. It is worth devoting a little time and effort to it, which will pay off handsomely. To plant raspberries, select a flat area with good lighting and moisture permeability, protected from northern winds.

Raspberry is a moisture-loving plant; its productivity largely depends on sufficient and timely watering during flowering and before harvesting.

Video about growing raspberries

If there is a lack of moisture during the formation of berries, the yield is reduced by 3 times.

Growing in shady places, along fences, under trees is not the best option. It is better to set aside a well-lit corner of the garden plot for the raspberry plant, especially the one where the largest amount of snow accumulates in winter.

Raspberries are an amazing plant that can be planted at almost any time (except, of course, in winter). But the best time for this is autumn, since it is then that the ratio of temperature and humidity indicators for planting bushes is the best. In addition, it must be planted at least 20 days before the expected first frost.

When planting raspberries in the spring, soil preparation must be done in the fall, and when planting in the fall, at least a month before starting work.

If planting raspberries in the fall did not work out, then this can be done in the spring. It is very important not to miss deadlines. Plants must be planted before they wake up and begin to bud. When planting is delayed for some reason, then in the area where new seedlings are buried, it is necessary to delay the melting of snow by covering it with a thick layer of sawdust.

When planting raspberries in the spring, soil preparation must be done in the fall, and when planting in the fall, at least a month before the start of work. In any case, it is necessary to treat the area with herbicides, apply organic and mineral fertilizers and carefully dig up the soil. The digging depth is 30 centimeters. The soil must be weeded before planting, as raspberries do not like weeds.

For planting, seedlings are selected that have a fairly developed root system with several full-fledged shoots. A trench is dug 30 cm deep and 60 cm wide, and the recommended amount of fertilizer is added there if they were forgotten during digging. positioned so that all the roots are distributed evenly along the bottom. After this, the hole is filled with earth and compacted around the plant. The depth of sprinkling of rhizome buds is 3 cm.

After planting, the raspberries are watered. Do not forget that after watering the soil around the bush will settle, so additional loose soil is poured into the formed hole. After planting the plants, the soil near the bushes is mulched. Rotted manure mixed with soil, peat, pine needles or a layer of compost are used as mulch. This prevents the growth of weeds, retains moisture in the soil, increasing its fertility. If there is no mulch, then the soil is hoeed twice before summer so that it is constantly loose and weed-free.

Rotted manure mixed with soil, peat, pine needles or a layer of compost are used as mulch.

How to grow raspberries from seeds correctly

Growing raspberries from seeds begins at the stage of collecting them. To obtain good seed material, fully ripe, or even overripe, raspberries are selected. The collected berries are squeezed through a fine sieve to remove the juice, the remaining pulp is poured with water and mixed well. Poor quality seeds will float to the top and spill out along with the water. Full seeds will settle to the bottom. By repeating the procedure several times, you can achieve clean, good seeds, which now need to be dried. To dry seeds, you must choose a well-ventilated place protected from the sun. Be sure to be careful not to dry them out.

If raspberry seeds are sown in the spring, then they must be stored in a refrigerator in a damp bag. When sowing seeds in autumn, seeds are planted to a depth of 2 cm, sprinkled not with soil, but with a mixture of humus and sand. When sowing in spring, it is better to grow raspberries at home in a seedling box in which the planting mixture is prepared from garden soil, sand and peat in equal parts. Sowing depth is no more than 5 mm. In the future, the technology for growing raspberries from seeds is usual: watering every five days and fertilizing with a urea solution every 10 days.

Video about growing and caring for raspberries

In early spring, on a fruit-bearing plantation (preferably before the soil thaws), the plantings are inspected, damaged stems are removed and weak stems are cut out, and the bushes are thinned out. At the end of April, the first fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers and loosening of the soil is carried out, after which the area is immediately mulched with wet peat. As soon as the soil thaws, plantings are established on the second-year plantation of young raspberries. At the edges of the rows, columns one and a half meters high are buried to a depth of 0.5 m and 2 rows of wire are stretched at a height of up to one and a half meters, to which the stems are tied in early spring, and the emerging annual shoots when they reach the appropriate height.

At the end of summer, annual shoots stop growing and begin to ripen

Sometimes raspberries need to be treated with drugs against pathogens and pests. It is advisable to carry out processing according to a minimal scheme, observing the time and frequency of spraying. During the formation of the ovary, a second feeding of raspberries with mineral fertilizers is carried out with simultaneous watering. At the end of summer, annual shoots stop growing and begin to ripen; it is advisable to pinch their tops in August. After harvesting, the fruit-bearing shoots are removed by cutting them off close to the ground. At the same time, the final normalization of the shoots in the bush occurs. The soil in the raspberry patch is loosened and autumn fertilizing is carried out.