What to do if the taste of the berry harvest is disappointing: why are raspberries unsweetened and how to fix it
There are many factors that affect the taste of raspberries. These include regional data, varietal characteristics, nuances of agricultural technology, and landing site (degree of illumination, soil composition).
Ideally, raspberries should have a taste that balances between sweetness and slight sourness.
Features of the variety
Every raspberry variety has its own unique set of characteristics, by which one can judge whether it is suitable for cultivation in a particular region (Ural, South, Moscow region), on this or that soil, in this or that place in the garden. If you make the wrong choice berry varieties on the bushes they will be small and sour.
For example, raspberry. The crop is mainly grown as an ornamental plant, as the plants bloom with beautiful flowers. But raspberry berries also look quite appetizing; they are quite large (up to 1 cm in diameter).
However, the fruits have a mild taste, more towards acidity than sweetness. In this case, many gardeners simply plant other varieties, not so decoratively attractive, but distinguished by the sweetness of the berries.
Agricultural technology
To achieve the best result, you must follow the simple algorithm of actions given below.
Top dressing
Raspberries will be sour due to insufficiency feeding. In addition, the plants will develop slowly, the leaves may change in shape and even change your color.
To add sweetness to the berries, experienced gardeners feed raspberries with infusions of wood ash or herbs.
Recipe for a classic ash-herbal infusion
Ingredients:
- leaves and grass collected after weeding the garden;
- wood ash (1/3 bucket);
- hot water (1 bucket).
Leaves, grass and ash are poured with hot water and insist for 2 days, after which they filter and use this infusion to either feed the roots or spray the plants with it.
Read more How to fertilize raspberry ash in summer: instructions
Why are berries sour?
Here are the most common causes of acidity in raspberries.
Nitrogen deficiency
With a nitrogen deficiency, the bushes, along with their bark system, may develop incorrectly. Slowing metabolism leads to loss of nucleic acid synthesis.
Excess nitrogen negatively affects the crop, since it can reduce its resistance, lead to diseases, and ultimately it will produce sour, tasteless berries.
It is recommended to fertilize raspberries with nitrogenous fertilizers every season, adding them to the soil according to 5 - 7 g on 1m2.. Autumn pruning raspberry bushes compensates for the lack of nitrogenous fertilizers.
Phosphorus deficiency
The winter hardiness of a crop and its productivity depend on the adequacy of its phosphorus intake, since this element is directly related to its root system and primarily affects it. Phosphorus deficiency is indicated by measuring the color of the leaves (they first turn dark green and then burgundy-violet).
To replenish the lack of phosphorus, prepare a simple solution, stirring 60 g superphosphate based on for 10 liters of water. This volume of such solution is sufficient for watering 2 m2 raspberry
Potassium deficiency
This chemical element affects the crop’s resistance to subzero temperatures, droughts, and diseases, since it helps normalize the movement of sugars.
Potassium deficiency can be judged by the condition of old foliage, which becomes brown between the veins, and the edges of the leaves soon simply die off.
You can compensate for potassium deficiency with wood ash. It is diluted in water (1 tbsp per bucket of water) and the plants are watered. For one full-fledged bush, approximately 5 liters of water from this solution are consumed. Ash can also be used in dry form.
Magnesium deficiency
This element is necessary for photosynthesis. If there is a shortage of it, the leaves begin to gradually dry out and curl, and a burgundy border appears along their edges.
When the first signs of magnesium deficiency appear in plants, the foliage is sprayed with a 1% solution of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate.
Violations of the rules of agricultural technology for growing raspberries
The berry will be small, sour, and tasteless if, during the cultivation of the crop, the watering regime was not followed, there was no control over the acidity of the soil, and the plants did not have enough light.
Raspberries should be surrounded by “full sun”, since in shaded areas it will slowly absorb fertilizer. Even its own excess growth will prevent adult shoots from receiving sunlight, so it must be thinned out periodically.
Affects the taste of the berries and the acidity of the soil. Ideally, it should have indicators 6,0 — 6,8. If they are lower, then acidity can be normalized by adding wood ash to the soil in spring and June, using 100 - 150 g on 1m2. If the soil is too acidic, the plants will not absorb the fertilizer.
In order for raspberries to yield a large, sweet berry, they must be water, spending 2 buckets of water for every square meter of raspberry fields. The first watering is carried out in the spring, during the period when buds appear on the shoots. Then it is watered every month, until August, when it begins to bear fruit. Although, if dry weather sets in in August, you can water it in August.
Important! It will help retain moisture in the soil mulching.
Conclusion
Thus, to summarize, we can say that the right choice raspberry variety, compliance with the rules of agricultural technology for growing crops, good illumination of the planting site and normal soil acidity are the main conditions for obtaining a harvest of large and sweet berries.