Some advice required for planting new Raspberry canes

catman

Hi, I just bought a new Rasberry plant today from the garden centre and just had a couple of questions I was hoping to get a bit of help with before i go and plant them out.

First and most important is can I plant them now or is it too cold? I could leave them in the pot for a few weeks more until the coldest weather has past.

The second question I have is about splitting the canes when I do plant it. The plant has 5 canes all pruned back to about a foot from the soil. I was wondering should they be planted as they are in the pot or can these canes be seperated to create 5 new plants that will each produce new canes next year. If so what is the best method for doing this.

slowcompost · Rank attained: Hazel Tree Joined: 01 Jan 2010 Posts: 17

no dont split them just plant them in well drained sunny/partial shaded area and theyll send underground runners which will increase your stock. its not too cold now just as long as the soil isnt frozen solid. they are really strong plants. in a few years you'll have more plants than you know what to do with. hope this helps

catman · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:43 am Post subject:

Thanks slowcompost, I had read a few websites giving instructions on planting and splitting raspberry bushes and they were all saying that even cutting a branch off and sticking it in the ground would develop a new bush given the nature of the plant so I had my mind set on split them this weekend. I might think twice now!!!!!

medieval knievel · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:10 pm Post subject:

don't plant them next to a veg patch - as mentioned above, they'll send out underground runners and will start appearing in places you might not want them...

catman · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:18 pm Post subject:

Thats exactly where I had planned for them, in the veg patch. Its a relatively small back garden in an estate and I have a small veg patch for a bit of lettuce, rocket, spring onions, chives and other salad greens and I was planning on putting a few raspberry and blackberrys up the back wall of it. I tried tomatoes last year but they just never ripened. Even if i keep on top of it and cut back all but a few new canes every year will they still extend runners out into my veg patch? I dont want to go into raspberry farming or having an abundance to freeze, I would be happy with just a few canes. I just love fresh berries and this is the only place I have space for them. I planted some strawberries last summer and got a great harvest from them so would love the same from the raspberries and blackberries.