Valentina is a summer fruiting raspberry, producing large, peach coloured fruits that have a sweet and aromatic flavour. The side shoots may need stabilising as this plant will produce a lot of fruit, you can begin harvesting them at the beginning of July. Your Valentina raspberry plants will come with a full growing guide.
Number of plants: 3 (each in a 1 litre biodegradable fibre pot)
Variety: Valentina
In the kitchen: Looks great as part of your summer berry salads or Eton Mess, adding colour and flavour to your raspberry desserts. Why not add to your summer gin and tonic providing a fruity twist.
Pots are a good choice for raspberries, as you can bring the pots into a greenhouse or polytunnel in early autumn to extend the cropping season. But you need to choose the right variety. A bush variety, like Raspberry 'Yummy', is the best option. You won't need to stake a bush raspberry, you can just plant it in a pot slightly bigger than the one the plant arrives in.
You can grow cane raspberries in pots as well, but you will need to choose larger pots for them.
Should I Choose Autumn or Summer Cropping Raspberries?
The first question is whether you want to be able to harvest your raspberries in early to midsummer, or from late summer to mid autumn. Perhaps both, in which case, choose both summer and autumn fruiting varieties.
The second question, is how confident you are with supports and pruning. As a very general rule, autumn raspberries require less effort to grow - they don't need a support, and pruning is very straightforward. That said, summer raspberries are not challenging to grow and by planting in a triangle around a single stake, you can keep support systems simple (more on that below.)
Planting Raspberry Canes
Choosing the right site
Raspberries need fertile, neutral soil (pH of 6.0-6.7) with good drainage
Raspberries will do well in full sun in a sheltered spot that doesn't get too windy. They will also do well with light shade at some point during the day.
Planting the canes
Plant the raspberry canes as soon as possible after receipt, in pots or beds, 45cm apart.
Depending on your order, you may find 3 canes growing in one pot - carefully tease these apart at the roots and separate them before planting.
We would recommend planting in a triangle, leaving 45cm between each plant. This way, you can put a 1m tall bamboo stake in the centre and tie the canes loosely together around the cane for support.
Supporting Summer Raspberry Varieties with a Stake
As mentioned above, the simplest way to support raspberry canes is by planting in a triangle with a bamboo stake in the centre, tying all three canes together loosely around the stake.
Growing Tips
In dry weather water the canes thoroughly once a week, especially during their first spring and summer.
Keep the area free of weeds, particularly during their first year.
Apply a mulch each winter and/or spring - well rotted manure or homemade compost is ideal.
Pruning Raspberries
To prune summer fruiting varieties, in August/September cut out the old canes (they will have turned brown at the base) and train in the new canes (green at the base), tying them to the supports.
To prune autumn fruiting varieties, in winter, cut back ALL canes to ground level, clearing the way for the new canes to grow and fruit in the following year.
Harvesting Raspberries
Fruits will ripen for harvesting at different times depending on whether they are summer or autumn cropping varieties.
The raspberries will keep longer if you pick them when they are dry
If you'd like to freeze the raspberries, do so on the same day that you pick them
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[post_content] => The main difference, as you can probably guess, is that summer raspberries produce fruit in the summer, and autumn raspberries produce fruit from late summer through autumn. There are some other differences, too, which may sway your decision as to which you grow:
Summer raspberries crop heavily for a short time, whereas autumn raspberries crop more steadily over a longer period.
Summer raspberries, as a general rule, are bigger plants and require a support system of horizontal wires, whereas autumn raspberries are smaller and more or less self-supporting (If they do need support it will be minimal - eg a single cane/wire)
Summer raspberries grow on the canes that grew LAST year, whereas autumn raspberries grow on canes from THIS year.
When it comes to pruning summer raspberries, you will cut back the old woody stems leaving the new green stems to grow. With autumn raspberries, you cut the whole plant right back.
Summer raspberries can get munched by raspberry beetle, whereas autumn raspberries tend to fruit after the beetle maggots have matured.
You might be guessing by now, that autumn raspberries are a little easier to grow if you are new to growing fruit. Once you've got a year or two under your belt, it's well worth adding a few summer fruiting raspberry plants to your fruit garden as well - you'll get a bumper crop and imagine all the jam!!
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Most gardeners will prune autumn fruiting raspberries in February. This article explains how, and also takes a look at summer fruiting raspberries and their pruning schedule as there is a quick job worth doing in February for them, too!
Autumn Fruiting Raspberries:
Autumn fruiting raspberries should be pruned at the end of winter, February is ideal. You should cut all the canes back down to ground level at this stage. This job is best done before new growth appears, which might be early this year on account of the milder than normal winter.
Summer Fruiting Raspberries:
Summer fruiting raspberries should be pruned after harvesting, in autumn:
Cut any canes that bore fruit right back down to the ground.
Then choose the healthiest looking from the remaining stems, about 6 or 7 of them, and tie them to the supports.
Cut any other remaining stems back to ground level.
In February, it is worth checking your summer raspberries - if there are some canes that are growing taller than your support wire, then prune them back to the bud closest to the wire (eg a bud that is 5cm-10cm from the top of the support wire)
Is your plant autumn or summer fruiting?
If you have forgotten which your plant is - here you go:
Choosing a Raspberry Variety Growing in pots? Pots are a good choice for raspberries, as you can bring the pots into a greenhouse or polytunnel in early autumn to extend...
The main difference, as you can probably guess, is that summer raspberries produce fruit in the summer, and autumn raspberries produce fruit from late summer through autumn. There are some other...
Most gardeners will prune autumn fruiting raspberries in February. This article explains how, and also takes a look at summer fruiting raspberries and their pruning schedule as there is a quick...
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