In order for the raspberry harvest next year to be rich and tasty, it is important now, after the end of fruiting, to take care of this. It is necessary to show attention to the shrub depending on its varietal characteristics, cultivation area, age and disease incidence. In addition, it is important to take into account the fact that the care of summer raspberries and remontant varieties is very different. Plants are only outwardly very similar, otherwise they develop differently and bear fruit with a large difference in time, which means that you cannot take care of them in the same way.
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It is not difficult to distinguish one species from another: fruiting occurs in July - summer raspberries, berries ripen in August-September - a remontant plant.
Summer raspberry care
In order for the berry bushes to have time to accumulate valuable nutrients for the winter and lay the buds for the next season, it is necessary to prune, fertilize and treat the bushes from pests.
Pruning
You need to prune berry bushes after harvesting, and not wait for autumn, because the plant has to spend a lot of energy preparing for winter and it is unreasonable to feed unnecessary shoots.
Pruning instructions:
- Remove frail, damaged and diseased shoots.
- Cut off those on which there were berries this year, they will no longer bear fruit and will still dry out.
- Get rid of the small growth, it will not survive the winter, and it is not yet capable of producing a crop.
Top dressing
If last year you fertilized raspberries with organic fertilizing, then, following the law of alternation, this year, fertilize with mineral ones. It is recommended to dig 50 g of superphosphate and 40 g of potassium sulfate under each bush. Nitrogen, which contributes to the growth of green mass, is not needed for raspberries at this time of the year.
Do not forget about watering even after harvesting, the bushes need moisture. You can stop watering only immediately before frost or in rainy weather.
Treatment against pests and diseases
To prevent insect pests from choosing berry bushes as a "house" for wintering, plants need to be sprayed with special agents against parasites and diseases.
For this procedure, you can choose a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid. It should be sprayed in August, twice with an interval of two weeks. Also, after watering and loosening, it is advisable to mulch the plant roots with peat or cut grass.
Caring for remontant raspberries
This type of berry is capable of bearing fruit both on last year's shoots and on young stems. Sometimes the fruiting of remontant raspberries lasts more than one month.
Pruning
For the winter, near the bushes, it is necessary to cut off the entire aerial part, without leaving even a hemp. They do this without delaying, so as not to allow pests to climb under the branches for the winter, immediately after the last harvest.
Top dressing
Repaired raspberries are not fertilized in the fall with organic fertilizing, it will not have time to process them before the first frost. Therefore, it is possible to feed berry bushes at this time of the year only with nitrogen-free mineral preparations. They are sold marked "Autumn". It is enough to dig 50 g of any complex under each bush.
Watering
Water this berry at least once a week, the soil should be moist at a depth of about 40 cm. The last watering is carried out two weeks before frost, then the soil is loosened and mulched with peat, straw, sawdust or hay.
Treatment against diseases and pests
Since all shoots are removed from remontant raspberries, it is not the bushes themselves that have to be processed, but the ground under them. Various parasites can hibernate in the upper soil layer. Therefore, loosen the ground and treat it with Fufanon-Nova, Alatar or Inta-Vir before mulching. Strictly follow the directions for these medications.
After such care, raspberries will delight you with an abundance of berries every year. The main thing is to take care of the bushes all season without weakening your vigilance.
Do you know how to start preparing raspberries for next season?
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