Caring for raspberries in the summer depends on many factors: variety, age of the shrub, variety, susceptibility to disease, planting site. All this must be taken into account by the gardener in order to get a tasty and bountiful harvest next season.
I recommend reading:10 varieties of low-rise tomatoes with high yields
What care is required for raspberries after harvest
Raspberry is a shrub with erect shoots and small thorns. Lateral branches grow back in the second year after planting. It is on them that the berries are formed.
After harvesting, gardeners are already starting to prepare plants for the next season. This must be handled responsibly.
Care after picking berries consists in carrying out the following activities:
- Top dressing. After fruiting, the bushes are depleted, so they need additional nutrition.
- Pruning. The procedure is carried out on the fruit bearing shoots, since they have already fulfilled their function.
- Thinning of young branches. Raspberries develop young growth very quickly. Such pruning is necessary so that the plantings do not thicken, which leads to a decrease in yield and the development of various diseases.
- Prevention of harmful insects and diseases.
- Watering.
You also need to remember about regular soil loosening and weeding.
Pruning
At the end of the harvest, all two-year-old lignified shoots are cut off. They will no longer bloom next year. You can trim it next spring, but in this case, unnecessary shoots will take away the nutrients from the plant that will be required for normal wintering.
Also, when carrying out summer pruning, you need to cut off all branches that have yielded crops in the current season. They are removed with a sharp secateurs. You need to cut off at the very surface of the soil so that hemp does not remain. In this case, the plant will be able to redirect all its energy to the development of new shoots that will harvest next year.
Top dressing
After pruning, they proceed to fertilizing. What top dressing you use depends on the soil. If the land is poor, then it is necessary to add potassium sulfate (1 tbsp. spoon on a bush - dry or diluted in 10 liters of water). This substance will help accelerate the maturation of wood before the onset of cold weather.
Once every 2 years, it is necessary to dig up the soil around the bushes and add compost and wood ash. Nitrogen fertilizers do not need to be used at the end of summer, as this causes intensive vegetation of the shoots. Young shoots will not have time to ripen before the arrival of frost.
Furrows should be made 30 cm from the bushes. Potassium salt (40 g per bush) and superphosphate (60 g per bush) are added there. A 3 cm layer of peat is poured on top. This improves the setting of flower buds, thereby increasing yields.
If the plants have a magnesium deficiency, then the leaves will begin to turn yellow, and with a lack of boron, lateral shoots and buds will not develop.
Magnesium fertilizers are applied in the form of magnesium sulfate. For 1 sq. m you need 35 g of substance. Boron top dressing is applied in the spring - 2 g per 1 sq. m.
Watering and mulching
If the autumn is very dry, then the raspberries must be moisturized. In the absence of rain, the bushes are watered every 5-7 days. Each square meter requires 10-20 liters of water. Repaired raspberries are watered throughout the growing season. Humidification is stopped only when cold weather sets in.
Some gardeners, before wintering, when the air temperature is still above +5 degrees, advise pouring water over the raspberry bushes. For each plant, 50 liters are consumed. The fact is that moistened soil freezes more slowly, so the roots in it tolerate winter better.
Then the raspberry tree must be mulched with the help of fallen leaves, mown grass, needles or straw. The mulch layer should be at least 10 cm. You must first loosen the ground to a depth of 10 cm.
Treatment against pests and diseases
Pests often hibernate on raspberry shoots. They also retain bacteria and fungal spores. Therefore, after pruning and feeding, it is necessary to carry out prevention with the help of insecticides and fungicides. They spray not only raspberries, but also the ground around the bushes.
The following drugs are used for pests:
- "Actellik": 1 ampoule is diluted into 2 liters of water;
- "Inta-Vir": take 1 tablet for a bucket of water;
- "Fufanon": for a bucket of water - 10 ml of the product.
To prevent the development of diseases, it is necessary to spray the plantings with Bordeaux liquid at a concentration of 1%. Also effective means are "Fitoflavin", "Pharmayod" and other biological preparations. You need to breed them in accordance with the instructions.
Fungicides are used at the end of autumn, when the area has already been put in order and all plant debris has been removed.
Shelter for the winter
Although raspberries are a fairly frost-resistant crop, it is still advisable to cover the plant for the winter. Experienced gardeners tie the shoots together and press them down with the help of special metal staples. The distance from the soil to the shoots should be about 30 cm.
In areas where winters with little snow and cold winds prevail, it is advisable to additionally cover the plants with spruce branches or straw.
Do you know how to care for a raspberry tree after harvest?
Original articleand many other materials, you can find on ourwebsite.
Read also: Technology for growing juicy dill without umbrellas