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Growing raspberries raises many controversial issues. Careless gardeners consider this plant so unpretentious that they allow it to develop literally like weed. Caring owners, on the contrary, are concerned about issues of care, in particular, spring feeding. Do raspberries need fertilizer in spring? What to feed raspberries in spring? What types of fertilizers should be used and in what quantity? It all depends on the conditions in which the raspberry bushes grow, on their age and type of soil. Naturally, the more fertile the soil, the better harvest you can reap.
Raspberries, indeed, are not among the plants that are too whimsical and demanding to care for. But you can count on a good harvest only in one case: with good feeding of the plantation.
By the way, the last feeding of the bushes is an investment in the future harvest.
Before and after landing
To get more berries in the first year after planting, you need to fertilize before planting the bushes. Beginning gardeners wonder: what time is best? plant raspberry bushes, autumn or spring? In principle, both options have the right to life. The optimal timing for planting depends on the region.
Autumn planting of bushes is preferable for southern regions with mild winters. After autumn planting, the seedlings overwinter safely, and in spring the plants begin to grow vigorously.
For the Middle Zone and northern regions, it is advisable to plant seedlings in the spring, since the risk of freezing is quite high (especially if the winter is frosty and snowless), and spring bushes will take root without problems. The same applies to varieties with low winter hardiness (for example, black raspberries).
Preparing the bed
Preparing a site for raspberry bushes begins with clearing the soil of plant debris and thorough digging (digging depth is 25-30 cm). It is necessary to take into account that raspberries grow rapidly, so the initially applied fertilizing may subsequently not be enough.
How to feed the plants depends on the preferences of the summer resident and his capabilities. Both minerals and organic matter can be used as fertilizers. You can combine different types of fertilizers.
Here are several options for complex fertilizing per 1 square meter of land:
- Humus (6 kg), mineral mixtures with phosphates (80 g), potash fertilizers (25 g).
- A mixture of peat and compost (10-liter bucket), half a half-liter jar of superphosphate and potassium salt.
If the land on the site is fertile and is being used for the first time for growing garden plants, then special feeding raspberries not needed when planting in spring.It is quite enough to use wood ash as fertilizer when digging up the soil (1/2 kg per 1 “square”). The taste of the berries will be much better.
How to feed raspberries when planting
Raspberries require a lot of nutrients when rooting, so when planting raspberries, fertilizing should be applied directly to the hole.
Such fertilizers are added to each of the holes.
- 2 tablespoons of superphosphate.
- A mixture of compost and humus, at the rate of 3.5-4 kg per square meter of land.
- Potassium salt (can be replaced with wood ash) – 2 tablespoons.
If the soil is acidic, then, in addition to the specified list of fertilizers, you should add 1 cup of slaked lime to the hole.
Before adding fertilizers when planting in a hole, they need to be mixed with the soil. After the bushes are planted, the ground around them needs to be mulched using:
- Dry humus.
- Peat.
- Sawdust.
- Sawdust.
First feeding of raspberries
Proper feeding of bushes in spring is one of the main procedures that provides the key to a bountiful harvest of tasty and healthy berries. The time to apply fertilizer in spring is April.
Before feeding raspberry bushes, certain preparation is required:
- Remove branches that froze during the winter.
- Collect foliage that has fallen in the fall.
- If weeds appear, they need to be weeded by hand before fertilizing the raspberries. Weeding must be done carefully so as not to damage the roots of the bushes.
- If the soil is well moistened, then in April you need to apply nitrogen fertilizers as the first fertilizing. The amount of fertilizer is approximately 80 g per 1 “square” of bed.
- Peat, compost or rotted manure are used as mulch for bushes. This protects the soil from drying out. Manure attracts earthworms, which loosen the soil, providing air flow to the roots.
Spring fertilizing with organic matter
Using organic fertilizers in the spring is an effective and environmentally friendly way to fertilize.
It is possible to fertilize raspberries in the spring in the following ways:
- Manure diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10.
- An aqueous solution of bird droppings in a ratio of 1:20.
You can use bone meal as mulch for raspberry bushes.
A good result is obtained by using Kemira (3 tablespoons per 10-liter bucket of water). To feed 1 bush, a liter jar of solution is enough.
Oddly enough, weeds, or rather an infusion of them, can be used as organic fertilizer. The most desirable options are comfrey and nettle as they are rich in potassium and nitrogen.
The herbal infusion is prepared in this way. Pour 1 kg of herbal mixture with 10 liters of water and leave for 10 days, stirring the mixture periodically. Adding a small amount of plants such as valerian or lemon balm improves the smell of the fertilizer. Dilute the resulting fertilizers for raspberries with water in a ratio of 1:10 – 1:15 and water the raspberry bushes at the rate of 2 liters per 1 bush.
Here are some tips for fertilizing from experienced gardeners:
- The best time to apply organic fertilizer is a cloudy day.
- If the soil is dry, you need to water the bushes before feeding.
- Do not allow the organic solution to come into contact with foliage or stems.
- Prepare organic solutions for fertilizing in an open container. Fermentation processes are possible only with free access of air.
If you did everything correctly, the harvest will be great: the berries will be large and sweet.
An important rule: overfeeding a plant is worse than underfeeding.
Mullein and especially bird droppings are highly concentrated, so overfeeding can lead to undesirable consequences, including plant death.
Spring fertilizing with inorganic fertilizers
Potassium, nitrogen salts and phosphates are essential for the normal development of the plant. Sometimes potash fertilizers are replaced with ash. Wood ash is beneficial in all respects. It is economically used and does not contain harmful substances. The amount of ash per square meter of bed is about 150 g. Ash can be added either dry or mixed in water. In addition, ash neutralizes overly acidic soils.
It is useful to feed old bushes with mineral fertilizers before starting to loosen the soil. Of the ready-made mineral mixtures, Azofoska, Kemira and Ekofoska have proven themselves to be the best. We dilute the mixtures according to the instructions, and then feed the bushes.
As the first feeding, if there is no ready-made mixture, you can use ammonium sulfate (15 g per square meter of area). The fertilizer is sprinkled under the plants without dissolving in water.
From about four years of age, raspberries are fed with a mixture of mineral fertilizers and organic matter. Consumption per 1 square meter is.
- Potassium salt – 3 g.
- Nitrogen fertilizers – 3 g.
- Phosphates – 3 g.
- Humus – 1.5 kg.
Excellent as a complex fertilizer and urea. For a ten-liter bucket there is 1 shovel of humus and a matchbox of urea. The feeding is so strong and useful that it is enough for the entire growing season.It is even more useful to combine the use of a mixture with urea with mulching with sawdust, chopped straw or dry rotted manure.
If there is no organic material, then this recipe will do.
- Potash fertilizers – 40 g.
- Superphosphate – 60 g.
- Ammonium nitrate – 30 g.
These ingredients must be diluted in 10 liters of water before feeding.
Do not use potassium chloride to feed raspberries: this substance can harm the bushes. And superphosphate is useful because it contains many useful elements: sulfur, magnesium and potassium.
Assessing the appearance of the plant
According to experienced gardeners, the appearance of plants helps to choose the best feeding option. By the appearance of raspberry bushes one can judge which substances it lacks, and which, on the contrary, it has too much of.
- Nitrogen deficiency. The foliage on the bushes is small and faded.
- Large amount of nitrogen. The shoots and foliage grow too intensely and have a dark tint. The berries fall off unripe and the yield is significantly reduced.
- Not enough potassium. The foliage is colored brown at the edges, reminiscent of scorched ones. Plants tolerate winter cold worse.
- Phosphorus deficiency. The bush produces weak shoots.
- Insufficient magnesium. The bushes grow poorly, the leaves turn yellow from the center to the edges.
- Iron deficiency. The color of the leaves is unnaturally yellowish, with green veins.
Spring feeding and subsequent fertilization throughout the year will allow you to get a good harvest of tasty and aromatic berries. By identifying signs of nutrient deficiency by the appearance of plants, you can correct the situation, select suitable fertilizers and make plant development more intensive. The berries will be more fragrant, larger and tasty.
