Raspberry cane disaster!

Miss_Qwerty

Hi

I have a very small little vegetable patch in my garden which I only started last year so i'm relatively new to all this. In this veggy plot is also a raspberry cane in a pot. Anyway, Last year was the first year I had it, and after it fruited I cut it down, and hoped it would grow back again this year.

Low and behold it did, only to be savagely attacked by a small child with a tennis ball (not deliberately of course, although the squashing of a little sweetcorn shoot did not help matters either).

The buds are still on the cane. but the green leaves at the top have all completely broken off so it now looks like a stick with a few buds on. Now I don't know much about plants, other than they generally need the green parts to survive, so i'm wondering whether the raspberry is a gonner, or is it pretty robust and will just grow some more leaves?

Thanks all

Kay_Peel

Raspberry is a little thug and it will take more than a break in the cane to destroy it. It will be alright.

However ......

How big is the pot that you are growing it in? Is it bigger than a bucket? I ask those questions because you should have some suckers emerging a short distance away from the main shoot this year. These are the new canes and there is a danger that the plant will be restricted and not flower or fruit. So you need a BIG pot if your raspberry is going to thrive. To be honest, they do better in the ground but if you haven't got the space then a huge pot will do the job.

Good luck.

tanith

Miss Qwerty I have raspberries and I have been whacking down errant runners for weeks and no matter how much I whack them they will shoot up again... I think yours will be fine.. but I also agree it may not fruit in a pot..

Miss_Qwerty

Thank you both, that's put my mind at rest! The pot's about 12 litres so i'm hoping that'll be big enough in the short term. It did fruit last year (albeit only 2 berries although I had only just brought it a few months before) and I do have a new cane poking through so will have to see what happens.

It is quite a tight squeeze in my garden at the moment so i'd rather keep it in the pot if I possibly can. I've got carrots, spinach, sweetcorn and pumpkins all growing. I know, I havn't exactly chosen the best plants for a small garden but I might as grow stuff i'll eat, and the sweetcorn was delicious last year!

Kay_Peel

Yes, a 12 litre pot is very small for it. Probably too small, to be honest. You don't need something very deep (raspberry roots are shallow) but you need something wider, so that the roots and the new canes have some room. You'll get a decent crop if you get a bigger pot.

But you must be doing something right if your plant is putting up suckers :beer: