Item Tag: Rubus

Raspberry Red Seeds, 30 Seeds, Rubus idaeus, Organicly Grown, Fruit, Bush, Perennial, May be grown in a pot To keep the price affordable the package is shipped non-machinable with stamps, no tracking. Best to give the seeds a cold treatment prior to planting. Cold stratify raspberry seedsCold Stratify Seeds: Step by Step ProcessPlace a 1/4 cup of sand (or more) in a mixing bowlAdd your desired seed amount to the sandPlace sand/seed mixture in a ziploc bag and sealLabel the variety and date clearly on the bagPlace in the refrigerator for 1 month before planting Raspberries are vigorous growers and will produce runners that fill up a bed. Choose a spot in full-sun/”full sun” (where the plant will get at least six hours of direct sunlight per day) and well-drained soil; dig in some compost to give them a jump-start. You can buy raspberries bare-root in the spring or as container-grown plants for spring, summer, or autumn planting. Regardless, plant the canes (branches) 20 inches apart and rows 5 feet apart. The canes will fill in all the available spaces, and all you need to do is dig up those that venture out into the path. Raspberry plants are hardy in USDA Zones 3-9, so once they’re established, you don’t have to worry about replanting them each year. Pruning raspberries depends on the type of raspberries you’re growing. Summer-bearing plants are easy; when an individual cane bears fruit, you can cut it back to the ground after you’ve harvested all the fruit from it; individual canes only produce fruit once. Be sure to leave all the new canes that have yet to bear fruit, because they’ll produce berries next year.Because fall-bearing raspberries will give you a second crop the following summer, you can wait to prune them back until the next autumn. But here’s a trick used by many raspberry growers: Instead of getting two crops, prune back all of the canes to the ground in late winter or early spring. The resulting growth will produce one big late crop (and it’s usually larger than the two smaller crops combined), and you’ll have an abundance of raspberries when everyone else’s canes are bare.How to Grow Raspberries Raspberries grow 4-6 feet high; it isn’t necessary to trellis them as long as you have room for the canes to arch slightly as the fruit ripens. A small bed is fine for a freestanding raspberry patch. If you want to grow a row or two or you prefer a tidier look in the garden, install a wire fence with two or three vertical wires attached to T-bar posts at the ends of the rows so the canes grow up supported by wires on either side. Harvest raspberries by gently tugging at the berries. They don’t have a long shelf life, so eat raspberries fresh off the vine, store in the refrigerator up to three days, or freeze as soon as you’re able.You might see a misshapen raspberry here and there; a berry that is drawn up on one side or another. That’s the result of poor pollination, which could be caused by a cold, wet spring. You might consider keeping mason bees, which emerge earlier than honeybees and do a great job at pollinating all sorts of plants, even in cool weather.Powdery mildew is a common disease for raspberries; be sure to clean up all fallen fruits and leaves to keep the mildew at a minimum. This will also help control raspberry rust, which is a disease that produces rusty dots on the leaves.Raspberries are one of the easiest, most rewarding, and most productive fruits you can grow at home. Once you know how to grow and care for raspberries, you’ll be providing the neighborhood with fresh summer fruit all season long.