I was out getting pet food today, and of course the feed store has lots of fruit trees, berry bushes, seeds, roses, etc. I got 2 new raspberry bushes to replace the ones that died last year or the year before (I loose track), and another rhubarb start. I have wild black raspberries that do great, only wild berries are not so big as tame ones. My tame raspberries have not yielded a single berry so far, and several bushes have died. I could add some rabbit manure if they like that. I have my new bushes soaking in water overnight (all of the other berry bushes and roses recommend that). (I only have 2 surviving blueberry bushes in tubs also... any tips on them? My "dwarf" blueberry bush is huge and yields lots of berries. The other one is a newbie from last spring...) I need to find a new sunny spot for the rhubarb, which obviously did not like the two previous places I tried to grow it. I remember that it grows deep roots and loves manure. The manure I can do--Horsey makes lots. So does the Bunny. How big should I dig the hole once I find a good spot to plant it?
I think it's normal for raspberries to not produce in the first year, every year there is new growth that doesn't produce while the old-growth produces, so you might not get much of anything this year.
adam is correct but I am concerned why they died. is it the only time or do none of your berries survive? if none of them survive check around for black walnut trees. they kill off any competition near it. even once the tree is gone the chemical it secretes stays in the soil for about 7 years. otherwise maybe they got too dry before they were established and died.
You could be planting raspberries too deep. The roots like to be just under the soil and with a lot of drainage. I wouldn't soak them for so long, only a couple of hours and that's if they're bare rooted same with all the other fruits as well and roses.
Think of tall bush blueberries as dwarf fruit trees. They create a thick fibrous root system with a tap root(s) also. Slow to produce the first few years. Most types like acid soil. Think peat and decomposed bark (related to huckleberries that grow on decomposing logs) Here they are commercially grown in bogs that dry out in the summer. In my yard they do well in good garden soil.
Maybe 40 cm deep at least for rhubarb and make sure it is well fertilised. Water deeply when watering till it is well established.
I finally found a spot for my rhubarb in front of my well house. I hope it is far enough from those black walnut trees. I had posted another thread here some time ago when I was having problems with my rhubarb before, and someone had a picture of a gigantic rhubarb plant next to a small building. I cannot find it. My raspberries and blueberries are in tubs, and there should not be any roots or whatever from the black walnut trees. I got rid of my compost pile this year because it was full of black walnut and pine roots. (I pushed it out into Horsey's pasture to help fill her bog). I am hoping to build a small 8 x 8 greenhouse there soon. Anyway, my compost is now in large plastic barrels that were given to me over the winter. I am digging up some wild blackberry bushes for a friend, and going to put some in my garden. They are not the least bit bothered by black walnut trees and grow profusely under them. The new raspberry bushes that I bought are doing great so far. And I bought another blueberry bush to take the place of last year's that died over the winter. If every blueberry and raspberry bush I ever bought was still alive and producing, I would have a huge berry farm. My tame bushes are all in tubs, I learned that after my first year's flop with blueberry bushes--7 of them that try. The wild bushes seem fine around the black walnut trees. I have been trying to catch up on my yard work here--mowing with the push, weeding etc. A friend says he will cut up the downed trees for me. I hope so. I dread the copperheads they are attracting to my yard. I don't know how, but I missed seeing all of your answers to my post. Sorry.
Is there a question that you wanted to ask or are you just giving a update? I sometimes have blueberries that just die because I have to grow them in containers but some of them have lasted for years. Over here we have trouble with vine weevil grubs that eat the roots so I buy some nematodes for vine weevils. Don't pick your rhubarb too soon, give it a year to settle in and the second year only pick a few sticks. Once it's started to grow vigorous then you can pick it. In the spring give it a mulch but not too close to the middle bit or it can rot.
Mostly, I was giving an update. I have never had the rhubarb plants live long enough or get big enough to harvest any of it. Thanks for the tips on the mulch. I am hoping to get my new rhubarb in the ground today. My blueberries are in tubs (keeps the black walnut roots away from them), and in a section of my garden for my tubs. I will look for nematodes, but where to look? I have not seen any insects harming my blueberries. The blueberries in containers just have not thrived, despite being in good compost and mulch. Except my dwarf blueberry bush is doing great. And the newest one looks promising. The member who posted her picture of her giant rhubarb had some good advice also.
I don't either. I just looked at my tape measure it's 15 and three quarter inches. Do you use ericeacous compost for your blueberries? That's what they like and rain water.
Be careful with those wild blackberries ! They can get out of hand quickly and then you have a bramble patch which snakes do love ! They do best when mowed or cut down at years end ! They produce on new growth !
I don't seem to work the quote thing right on this board. However, thanks about the blackberries. I have gobs of wild blackberries around my place. I don't get to mow them. I just wanted a few in my veggie garden so I don't always have to wade through them in the heat to get some. And then there is the copperhead issue (and other poison snakes)! And what is "ericeacous" compost? I never heard of it. I have used leaf mulch and peat moss, and they get rained on. If no rain, I have well water to water with. I also add some horse manure sometimes.
I dug up a very large clump of lilies (dark yellow ones that I call "banana lilies" because the buds look like bananas, and I lost their name tag. If scientists can make up names for things, so can I.) to make room for the rhubarb. I think it weighed 100 lbs. It felt like 100 lbs. I had to wash the soil away so I could divide them, and share some with a friend. Even so, they barely fit into a new pot I bought for them. I will get the rhubarb in its new spot in the morning.
