Guide to caring for raspberries after harvest in July
Proper care of raspberries in the summer is the key to obtaining a harvest of sweet and large berries next year. Erroneous actions of the gardener during this period lead to poor fruiting and crushing of berries in the next season. We will tell you about caring for raspberries in July after harvesting in this article.
What care does raspberries need after harvest?
Raspberries belong to the Rosaceae family. The plant is a shrub with erect shoots with small thorns. The color of ripe berries depends by variety and varies from pink to almost black. Lateral branches on the shoots grow in the second year after planting. Berries appear on them.
After the harvest in July, the raspberries begin to be prepared for the next season. This procedure should be approached responsibly. This determines how abundant and tasty the harvest will be next summer.
How to care for raspberries in July:
- Fertilizer application. After fruiting, the plants are exhausted and need additional nutrition.
- Trimming fruit-bearing shoots. They have already fulfilled their function and will no longer bear fruit, so there is no point in feeling sorry for them.
- Thinning young shoots. Raspberries actively form young shoots, and if they are not thinned out, this will lead to thickening of the plantings, diseases and a decrease in yield.
- Preventative treatment against various pests and diseases.
- Watering. As necessary, depending on weather conditions, soil and location of the raspberry tree.
Do not forget about regular weeding and loosening the soil around the bushes.
Post-harvest care steps
Let's tell you in more detail about what to do with raspberries after fruiting.
Trimming
After the harvest is harvested, all two-year woody stems are removed. Next summer they will not bloom, the fruits will not form. You can postpone pruning until spring, but in this case the old growth will deprive the bush of the nutrients it needs for a successful winter.
During July pruning, all stems that have produced fruit this season are removed. They are trimmed with sharp pruning shears to the base, leaving no stumps. This will allow the plant to direct all its energy to the growth and development of young shoots that will bear fruit next season.
Normalization
In addition to old shoots, numerous young shoots at the base of the bush are cut out (normalized). Save no more than 5-6 strong stems for the next season (up to 14-16 pieces per linear meter).
Be sure to remove all broken, dried, weak and diseased branches. Spider mites, the causative agent of purple spot, and larvae of shoot and stem gall midges can survive on them.
Excess shoots are trimmed at the base flush with the ground. All shoots that appear at a distance from the main bush are also removed. Otherwise, they will take nutrition and moisture from the mother plant.
If weak growth is not removed, it will freeze in the winter and then begin to rot, spreading mold and reducing the plant’s immunity. All cut stems are burned to destroy pathogenic microorganisms and pests.
Important! Raspberries naturally have a powerful, constantly growing root system.If its growth is not limited, the shrub will spread throughout the garden without wasting energy on flowering and fruiting.
The recommended width of the raspberry tree is no more than 1 m. All shoots that appear outside this perimeter are cut out. This will prevent the development of diseases and provide light, moisture and nutrition.
Getting rid of old bushes
The raspberry bush constantly branches and grows higher and higher above the soil surface year after year. As a result, the growth of young shoots weakens. This usually happens after 6-12 years (sooner for large-fruited varieties). Therefore, it is recommended to periodically remove (cut) old bushes with a sharp shovel and burn them.
Top dressing
After pruning, normalizing and removing old plants, fertilizers are applied. The type of fertilizing and dosage depend on the soil. If the soil is poor, it is good to add potassium sulfate (1 teaspoon per 1 m²), having previously dissolved it in water. The substance will accelerate the aging of wood before the onset of cold weather.
Once every 2-3 years, wood ash and compost are added to the digging. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers for feeding raspberries do not use at the end of summer, as they provoke active growth of shoots that will not have time to mature before the cold weather.
Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied into the furrows at a distance of at least 0.3 m from the bushes (40 g of potassium salt and 60 g of superphosphate for each). The top is mulched with a 2-3 cm layer of peat. Plants fed in this way improve the formation of flower buds, which increases productivity.
With a lack of magnesium, the leaves turn yellow from the center to the edges and fall off prematurely, and with a lack of boron in the spring, buds and lateral branches do not develop. Magnesium fertilizers are applied in the form of magnesium sulfate (25-35 g/m²) along with other fertilizers.Borax (borax) is applied in the spring (1.5-2 g/m²).
Watering
In July, raspberries are watered only if the weather is dry. In this case, the top layer of soil is moistened to 0.3-0.4 m with water.
In autumn (before frosts) rare watering is also carried out. This will protect the bushes from drying out in winter, prepare them for cold weather, and allow the plant to lay down root buds.
Using mulch in the summer can reduce the number of waterings.
Protection from diseases and pests
Protecting raspberries from pests begins with simple agrotechnical measures: pruning, removing and burning plant residues, timely digging up the top layer of soil near the bushes.
Attention! Weevils, gall midges, and beetle larvae overwinter in damaged or dead parts of the bush and in the soil. Removing fallen leaves, dried and diseased shoots will not only improve the appearance of the raspberry tree, but will also protect it from diseases and pests.
Timely cleaning and thinning of bushes allows you to minimize the use of chemicals to combat pests and pathogens.
In the second half of summer or autumn, the rows in the garden are dug up or bayoneted. This is an effective measure against raspberry beetle, weevil, raspberry stem fly, gall midge, raspberry and spider mites.
Burning plant residues helps in the fight against weevils and gall midges, as well as pathogens of purple spot, septoria, anthracnose, and rust.
Sprinkling the soil with a thick layer of mulch prevents diseases from developing and prevents the proliferation of pests (weevils, raspberry stem flies, gall midges).
After harvesting, treatment with 5% Bordeaux mixture is applied. Use the drug carefully treat all bushes from bottom to top.The procedure is carried out in clear weather, the shoots must be dry. Among the insecticides used, for example, “Allegro” or “Aktaru”. These are complex preparations aimed at combating a number of pests.
Features of caring for remontant raspberries
When growing remontant raspberries pruning and others listed above stages of care carried out in the fall, after the second harvest. All fruit-bearing shoots (they are brown in color) and weak basal shoots are cut out, and the tops of annual green shoots are shortened by 15-25 cm.
Intensive growth and fruiting of remontant raspberries require careful attention for fertilizing – without additional nutrition, the harvest will be meager. The crop is especially sensitive to a lack of nitrogen (it is applied in early spring) and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers (added when digging in the fall or during flowering).
Another feature of care for remontant raspberries due to the superficial location of its root system. Therefore, plants often suffer from lack of moisture and overheating of the soil in summer. The first problem can be solved by regular watering, and the second by mulching the soil in the raspberry patch.
Autumn care
Autumn care of plantings involves removing plant debris and mulch. They are removed and burned along with the pests that have settled there. The soil surface is carefully dug up to a depth of 8-10 cm.
If necessary, apply potassium-phosphorus fertilizers. In regions with harsh winters, raspberry shoots are covered to protect them from freezing.
Advice from experienced gardeners
If you are planning to expand your raspberry garden, experienced gardeners recommend preparing planting holes and trenches in the second half of summer. The new place is prepared no later than 6 weeks before the landing day. The selected area is dug up to the depth of a shovel, removing weed roots along the way, and 0.2-0.4 kg of superphosphate, 2-3 buckets of rotted manure and 100–200 g of potassium sulfate are added per 1 m² of area.
If you properly fertilize the soil before planting the plants, they will not need phosphorus and potassium supplements for another 4-5 years. If the soil is peaty, add 4 buckets of sand for every 1 m² of land.
Planting begins at the end of September - beginning of October. Then the seedlings will have time to take root before the cold weather arrives and will begin to grow actively in the spring.
Conclusion
In order to please your loved ones every summer with a harvest of tasty and healthy berries, you need to pay enough attention to raspberries immediately after fruiting.
Timely removal of fruit-bearing, weak and diseased shoots, as well as normalization of bushes, will allow the plant to direct all its forces to the growth and development of branches on which berries will grow in the next season.