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Almost all gardeners grow raspberries. But they don’t always get rich harvests of tasty, aromatic berries. The plant is very sensitive to soil fertility, but since raspberries grow in one place for several years, the soil becomes depleted.
Beginning gardeners are especially concerned about how feeding raspberries and in what time frame. The article will discuss different types of fertilizers, rules and doses of application at different periods of vegetative development.
Types of fertilizers
There are many fertilizers that raspberries love. They contain different substances and microelements, therefore, the effect on the plant will be different. The main purpose of using fertilizers is to saturate the soil with nutrients and increase its productivity.
Fertilizers can be mineral and organic, and there are also folk recipes. Most often, gardeners use from a large range of mineral fertilizers:
- phosphorus-containing;
- nitrogen-containing;
- microfertilizers;
- potash;
- complex.
Among organic (organic) fertilizers, preference is given to:
- bird droppings;
- green manure;
- manure;
- slurry;
- wood ash;
- compost;
- bone meal;
- straw.
Some gardeners feed raspberries:
- sapropel;
- limestone.
Combined or complex fertilizers for raspberries contain a set of microelements that are applied to the soil, simultaneously enriching the soil and feeding the plants.
Such fertilizers are sold in specialized stores. You can purchase ready-made formulations or combine them yourself using different formulations:
- Option one: superphosphate 60 g + potassium salt 40 g + ammonium nitrate 30 g. This complex fertilizer is applied dry in the spring before watering.
- Second option: manure 1500 g + nitrogen 3 g + potassium 3 g + phosphorus 2 g. This is the norm per square meter.
To help gardeners, there is a photo showing fertilizer measurements.
When to fertilize
It is not at all difficult for experienced gardeners to determine by the appearance of raspberries which fertilizers or chemical elements the plant lacks, and which, on the contrary, are in excess. Beginners, of course, lack such skills. We’ll try to find out what you need to pay attention to so as not to make a mistake when choosing an option for feeding raspberries. After all, the main task of a gardener is to grow healthy plants.
So, let's look at the ailments of raspberries, their appearance when there are deficiencies or excesses of microelements.
| Appearance | What do you need |
|---|---|
| Thinned, weakened shoots with small leaves. | phosphorus |
| The foliage turns yellow, but the veins remain green. | iron |
| The shoots grow too slowly and the leaves turn yellow in summer. | magnesium |
| The leaves that grow in spring do not increase in size. | nitrogen |
| The leaves turned brown, as if they were burnt around the edges. | potassium |
| The foliage acquired an unnatural dark green color. Replacement shoots grow rapidly and irrepressibly. The yield decreases, the berries fall off before ripening. | excess nitrogen |
As can be seen from the table, the condition of the plants must be monitored in order to provide timely assistance and feed them with the necessary fertilizers. Important! A lack of microelements, as well as their excess, negatively affects the growth of raspberries and its yield.
Therefore, the application of any fertilizing should be dosed.
Foliar feeding
So how to fertilize raspberries? As a rule, the plant is fed at the root with liquid or dry fertilizers. But, according to experts, raspberries lack such nutrition. What's the matter? When nutrients are added to the soil, plants, due to botanical characteristics, do not have time to immediately absorb them. There are many reasons, but most often unfavorable conditions in the form of heavy rains, leaching and weathering interfere with the absorption of microelements.
Gardeners with extensive experience in growing raspberries advise foliar feeding, especially during the fruiting period. After all, plants are able to absorb nutrients not only through their roots, but also through their leaf blades.
What kind of feeding is this, what is its peculiarity? For this procedure, dissolve the fertilizer, pour it into a sprayer and spray the raspberries from top to bottom. It is not recommended to exceed the dosage. For foliar feeding of raspberry bushes, you can use one of the following substances, diluted in 10 liters of water:
- superphosphate – 250 g;
- copper sulfate - from 3 to 5 g;
- boric acid - from 10 to 15 g.
Some gardeners infuse wood ash and spray the resulting solution onto the plantings. Foliar feeding not only saturates raspberries with nutrients, but also saves them from some pests.
There are ready-made formulations for foliar feeding of raspberries. One of them is Crystalon special. It contains microelements necessary for the growth and development of the plant.Dilute strictly according to the instructions: 30 grams of product per ten-liter bucket.
Half a month before the first raspberry harvest, you can carry out foliar feeding with a preparation such as Brown Crystal. Norm: 20 grams per 10 liters of water.
Crystallon is used in the absence of wind and rain. During work, care must be taken to protect exposed parts of the body.
Features of spring feeding
Spring feeding occurs at the end of April, the first days of May. After the raspberries have opened after wintering, pruning and weeding are carried out weed, surface loosening of the soil. Then you can start feeding. There are many ways to fertilize, let’s figure out how to fertilize raspberries, what products are best to use?
Organic
- Slurry. Add 0.5 kg of manure to a ten-liter bucket of water. Mix thoroughly and pour under the plants. At least 5 liters per square meter of bed.
- Dry humus will also work. Up to 6 kg is distributed per square, sprinkled with soil on top.
- Chicken droppings. An infusion is prepared 2 weeks before feeding. The solution is prepared as follows: 1 part infusion + 20 parts water.
- Raspberries respond well to wood ash. It can be added either dry or as an infusion. Wood ash not only feeds plants with potassium, but also reduces soil acidity.
Mineral fertilizers
- For mineral fertilizers in the spring, you need to use ammonium sulfate, adding 15 grams per square.
- You need to be careful with nitrogen fertilizers: no more than 15 grams per square. Otherwise, rapid growth of greenery will begin.Urea also contains nitrogen and is, according to gardeners, the best option for spring feeding of raspberries. Fertilizer is scattered under the bushes; one tablespoon is enough per square meter. Some gardeners spread urea in a strip along the bed before the snow melts. Fertilizing raspberries ends with mulching.
- Another option for using urea. Add a shovel of fresh manure and urea in a matchbox to 10 liters of water. Mix the composition and water the raspberries under the bush.
- For complex feeding, use 1 part of ammonium nitrate and potassium fertilizers and 2 parts of superphosphate. A ten-liter watering can requires 100 grams of the mixture.
Gardening tips on video:
What do raspberries need in summer?
Beginning gardeners are often interested in how to feed raspberries in the summer. By the beginning of the fruiting period, raspberries have already partially used up the nutrients received during spring feeding. In June, she needs a complex fertilizer, which includes nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. You can use ready-made fertilizers or make your own. To do this you will need for 10 liters of water:
- urea – 40-50 g;
- superphosphate 200-250g;
- potassium sulfate – 60-70 g.
This composition is poured under the raspberry roots. The fertilizer can be used for foliar feeding. Then boric acid (10-15 g) and magnesium sulfate (150 g) are added to the solution.
Raspberries are fed with exactly the same fertilizer after harvesting.If you do not want to reuse mineral fertilizers, pour ash infusion over the raspberries: 2.5 cups per ten-liter bucket of hot water.
Foliar feeding with Crystal will not hurt.
Feeding raspberries in the fall
What fertilizers should be applied to raspberries in the fall?
We offer the most popular formulations:
- Mix 300 g of ash and sugar, 300 g of manure, 3 student crayons. Place in a barrel, add hay and grass. Top up with water. It takes about two weeks to infuse. For each ten-liter bucket, pour 0.5 liters of infusion and pour 3 liters under each plant.
- Superphosphate (50 g) + wood ash (glass) is poured into 10 liters of water. This is the composition for one square.
- 3 g of zinc sulfate + 5 g of manganese sulfate per ten-liter bucket (standard per square).
Foliar feeding of raspberries, for example, with Kristalon, will not hurt.
Folk remedies
Raspberries have been grown in Russia for a long time. Our ancestors did not have the opportunity to use ready-made mineral fertilizers to feed raspberries. They came up with a lot of means thanks to which raspberries produced a rich harvest.
Here are several options for folk feeding:
- Take equal amounts of nettle and comfrey. Add 10 liters of water. Leave in the sun for two weeks. Pour 1 liter of infusion into a watering can and fill the bucket to the brim. Two liters are enough for one raspberry bush.
- Add manure (3 kg), ash (1 cup), nettle (1 kg) to the container. Pour in 20 liters of water. Leave in the sun for 7 days.When diluting, the ratio is 1:10. Half a liter of fertilizer is enough for one raspberry bush.
Let's sum it up
Raspberries love to grow in fertile soil. With a lack of nutrition, the plant begins to suffer, which negatively affects the yield and taste of the berries. The choice of fertilizer type depends on the gardener. The main thing is to adhere to rationing and feed raspberries in a timely manner. Good luck, gardeners.
