Planting fruit bushes

arkonite_babe

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coolpran

Farway wrote: »

I assume they are bare rooted? Not in pots?

Now is good to plant out, however if you have frosted ground, like I have for over a week, far better to leave them somewhere cool [so they do not start sprouting early] until the ground thaws out, otherwise you run risk of them drying out as all moisture is frozen and not available

If they are in pots, then just keep them cool & dampish, if bare roots, put roots in bucket of water and keep cool [in shed / porch maybe] until thaw arrives

I have got raspberry canes from Wilkinsons which have been inside the house for couple of weeks now. could not plant outside because of the snow/frost conditions. will not be planting this weekend due to another round of snow/frost.

right now they are in their supplied polythene bags (bare root??) and i havent watered them since i got them. they have not sprouted yet.

my question is - do i need to water them? how do i keep them moist? can i plant this weekend even if snow/frost is expected next week?

I live in Wembley (Middlesex), if that makes any difference.

susieb

I would move them to the garage, not inside the house, or when you put them out the heat difference will kill them. I woudl just water them through the top of the bag, just to keep the roots moist, they must not dry out.

Primrose

Coolpran - yes, I'd also move them to a cooler place as warm indoor temperatures could encourage them to start sprouting before they should be and if they're bare rooted they will die. . Whether they're bare rooted or packed in compost you should keep the roots moist. If the base of the canes near the roots is tightly sealed with sticky tape to keep the air out you can still dripple water though a small gaps if you pour it slowly Plant them out as soon as the current snow and frost has disappeared and if necessary, pile up a little extra earth around the base of the canes for extra frost protection..

coolpran

thanks for your advice primrose and susieb.
I will drip-water them today. they are kept in a storage cupboard where it hardly goes above 16-17 degrees. i will move them to the porch which is even colder for a day or two and plant them out later.

humphriess

I'm planning on buying some fruit bushes from lidl tomorrow. i live i a rented house. so was planning on planting them in pots. will this be ok? an earlier post mentioned the soil freezing quickly in pots, so am now a bit worried? if i can, what size pots should i use am very new to gardening. thanks in advance.

Primrose

humphriess - you will need some sturdy pots at least 142 inches deep and about 14" across as the root systems will go fairly deep. Don't forget that if you're going to be moving house, once they are filled with moist soil they will be very heavy to move. Another short-term option would be to use the heavy duty green plastic potato planter sacks which garden centres sell for growing potatoes in, as they have sturdy handles on them making them easy to move. They are deep enough to put fruit bushes in but if they're still in there over the winter you will really need to wrap a couple of layers of bubble wrap around the outside of the container to protect the compost from freezing.

HariboJunkie

Primrose wrote: »

humphriess - you will need some sturdy pots at least 142 inches deep and about 14" across .

142 inches!!! That's 3.6 metres. :eek:

I have blackcurrant, redcurrant, gooseberry, loganberry and blueberry allin medium sized pots as I have no room for them elsewhere. They all seem fine.

wearside_2

Primrose wrote: »

humphriess - you will need some sturdy pots at least 142 inches deep and about 14" across as the root systems will go fairly deep. Don't forget that if you're going to be moving house, once they are filled with moist soil they will be very heavy to move. Another short-term option would be to use the heavy duty green plastic potato planter sacks which garden centres sell for growing potatoes in, as they have sturdy handles on them making them easy to move. They are deep enough to put fruit bushes in but if they're still in there over the winter you will really need to wrap a couple of layers of bubble wrap around the outside of the container to protect the compost from freezing.

142 inches...Sounds like Jack and the Beanstalk to me:rotfl:

humphriess

Thanks for all your advice, have some heavy duty sacks here that i bougt for potatoes? maybe i could use them or i may check out how much some large plastic pots are tomorrow. Haribo Junki how big is a medium pot? Also just realised that the ones i bought from Aldi ( a rasberry and red currant) are packs of three - stupid question - do i plant them together or separately?
Thanks again