Raspberry help

floyd

My Autumn Bliss raspberry canes have arrived earlier than expected so I haven't finished reading up on what I have to do! I had planned on growing each in a single 15 inch container as our soil is awful but I don't know where to start to pot them up :eek: so I need some expert help

I already have multipurpose compost, vermiculite, bamboo arches and fish blood and bone so can anyone give me an idea of what sort of mix would work to give them the best start and anything else to add or do that might help as I can get to a very good plant nursery to buy anything else fairly readily.

I have read that container grown plants tend to crop less well but I suppose plants in poor soil would probably crop poorly also so some fruit is better than no fruit

RAS

What is essential is that you get them into the ground this weekend. This is only a temporary measure until you sort out what you want to do longer term. It is sometimes known as "heeling in". That protects the roots from drying out and frost.

Dig a hole deep enough to cover the roots up to the old soil level (it is Ok if the canes are not upright) put them in and pile the soil on top. That will give you a month to work out what you want to do.

Personally, I would plant them and enrich the soil first with any old leaves you can get, home grown compost and old manure. They are forest plants, so quite used to poor soil and a good mulch on top.

chambo

Yer, get them in ASAP

Rotor

I concur ; they are not fussy plants so they will be better in the soil however poor it is
However if you still want to put them in a pot then you should use a soil based compost such as John innes no. 2 or 3 ( this is true of nearly all plants that are going to be in the pot for more than one season - ericaceous excepted)
This holds water and nutrients better than peat based ones and is significantly heavier so are less likely to blow over
Get them in asap assuming there is no serious frost

floyd

Thanks for all the advice folks, decided that into the garden soil was probably a better plan and OH is going down to FIL's allotment to get me some rotted manure from the mountainous pile they have from the local police horses.

I have decided to grow dwarf beans and a few lettuce in pots instead so I will probably be a more frequent visitor to this part of the site as I get the gardening bug

Primrose

I think you're sensible to put your raspberry canes in soil, rather than in pots. I planted some Autumn Bliss last February in some very poor soil in which a large shrub had been growing so the soil was pretty tired out. However, I dug in a little manure and over the year, also forked in a lot of my kitchen waste (veg peelings etc) which have rotted down in situ and got a small crop of fruit first year round. .