Growing raspberries in the bucket: care ABC

Characteristics

• botanischer Name: Rubus idaeus
• Plant family: Rose family (Rosaceae)
• Growth form: shrub
• Flower: white, inconspicuous
• not poisonous
• Varieties available with and without spines
• Fruits: red, yellow or black raspberries

Raspberry varieties for the tub

With raspberries, a distinction is made between summer and autumn-bearing varieties. The autumn-bearing variety is better suited for keeping on the balcony or terrace, as it usually has a more compact growth and is not designed for height. Dwarf raspberries are even more practical for growing in tubs. This cultivated form is available for growing in pots as a summer and autumn raspberry.

Summer raspberries (selection):

• Black Jewel
• Fallgold
• Glen Ample
• Malling Promise
• Meeker
• Preussen II
• Rubaca
• Ruby Beauty (Zwerghimbeere)
• Schoenemann
• Summer Chef
• Tulameen
• themselves
• Willamette

Autumn raspberries (selection):

• Aroma Queen
• Autumn Best
• Autumn Bliss (Blissy)
• Bella Aromatica (Zwerghimbeere)
• Goodasgold (dwarf raspberry, thornless)
• Himbo-Top
• Little Red Princess (Zwerghimbeere)
• An experiment
• Polka

location

Raspberries need warmth and sun so you can harvest the berries in summer or fall. In addition, the location should be protected from the wind so that the comparatively thin rods do not break off. A location with scaffolding to which you can tie the rods is ideal. That way they don’t break off under the weight of the fruit.

Substrate

Comes in a tub as a substrate for raspberries

• humus garden soil
• with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5 or
• special berry soil

in question.

plant

When planting the raspberries, the planter plays an important role, because it should offer the bush or the roots enough space . Therefore, the pot should have a capacity of at least 25 liters. In height, it should not be lower than a conventional water bucket with the same capacity. Furthermore, only pots that have a drainage hole should be used, because raspberry bushes do not tolerate waterlogging. Once you have found the right planter, proceed as follows when attaching it:

• Create a drainage layer of gravel and/or shards of clay at the bottom of the bucket (against waterlogging)
• Cover the drainage layer sufficiently with soil
• Place the raspberry bush in the middle of the pot
• fill bucket
• Press substrate lightly, refill if necessary
• Pour the raspberry lightly

plant neighbors

As a rule, balcony raspberries are kept as solitary plants because they need a lot of space. Nevertheless, shrubs can also be combined with other fruits, such as strawberries, if the planter is large enough, such as an old zinc bathtub, and you have enough space on the balcony.

watering and fertilizing

Raspberries in the bucket need regular watering. However, you should not water the plants too much, because raspberry bushes do not tolerate waterlogging. Since the flat roots in the pot dry out particularly quickly in hot periods, you should check the shrubs several times a day. They may need water twice a day. On hot days, watering is always done in the morning or in the evening when the sun does not fall directly on the substrate. When watering, always make sure that flowers, leaves and fruits are not wetted with the water. Because raspberries don’t particularly like this form of watering.

Since raspberries are frugal plants when it comes to nutrients, they rarely need additional nutrients . If they are kept in a suitably large pot and are given fresh substrate regularly (every two years), then the raspberries should do without fertilizer. Nevertheless, fertilizer application is not wrong. However, you should only fertilize the plants twice a year, as an excess of nutrients damages the shrubs.

To cut

When cutting raspberries, a distinction is made between summer and autumn-bearing plants.

Summer raspberries

Since summer raspberries only bear fruit on one-year-old shoots, you can remove the harvested canes immediately. In the spring the new rods are thinned out. If the young shoots are between 20 and 40 centimeters high, select 10 to 12 shoots that

• healthy
• unharmed and
• medium strength

are. Ideally, leave 10 to 12 young shoots. Cut off the rest of the “offspring” at ground level.

autumn raspberries

In contrast to summer raspberries, autumn raspberries bear fruit on this year’s shoot. Therefore all rods can be cut. In the tub culture, it is advisable to let the rods survive the winter, because the undergrowth protects the plant from cold and wet. It is important that you remove the old canes before they sprout in spring so that the shrub puts all its energy into the new sprout.

harvest time

Harvest time is in summer or autumn, depending on the variety. In order for the full flavor of the berries to unfold, you should only harvest fully ripe berries. These are easy to spot as they are very easy to pull off the plant. If this is not the case, you should leave the berry on the bush.

repot

To ensure that the raspberry gives you a bountiful harvest over the years, you should change the substrate every two to three years. You should also replace the planter so that the roots have enough space.

hibernate

While raspberries planted outdoors do not need winter protection, balcony raspberries must be protected in the cold season in any case. Because frost and cold penetrate quickly through the walls of the bucket and can easily damage the roots. So that the raspberry doesn’t get cold feet, the pot is packed well:

• Place the bucket on a thicker wooden board or a styrofoam plate (against the cold from “below”)
• Cover the walls of the planter with bubble wrap and/or a protective plant fleece
• Cover the surface of the earth with brushwood (against the cold from “above”)
• place the packed plant close to the house wall (heat radiation)
• Protect remaining rods with spruce or fir branches

multiply

Raspberries planted outdoors can be propagated in a number of ways, such as cutting off stolons. In the bucket culture, however, only cuttings come into consideration. Follow these steps:

• Cut cuttings in early summer
• from a new, only slightly woody shoot
• At least two leaves per cutting
• put in a bowl with growing substrate
• keep moderately moist
• put in a bright place

After two to three weeks, the cuttings should have formed their own roots. If this is the case, they can move to a pot.

diseases and pests

Diseases and pests do not stop at raspberries in the bucket. Typical diseases of raspberries include:

• cane disease (fungal infection)
• Viral diseases (cause dwarfism)

Pests that affect the shrubs are:

• aphids
• raspberry gall midges
• Raspberry rod gall midges
• raspberry beetle
• spider mites