Raspberry propagation

Hi,

I'm new here and generally new to gardening. I live in a flat and have a west facing balcony. Any form of hanging basket is out of the question (rented). I've been growing strawberries here in pots with generally no issues.

My mum (not a knowledgeable gardener either) gave me a cutting of her raspberry plant. I have managed to grow this and it had taken really well. I used compost I bought previously. All my compoat came from Wilko for £1.

With the raspberry plant needing more space, I repotted it in a bigger pot with a new bag of cheap compost. It was growing for a while but looks like it is now just dying. I had some mangetout seeds which I also managed to grow with this batch of compost. With the mangetout starting to grow, these plants also just started to die. I figured it was the cheap soil. Different location and watered correctly.

So I've bought better quality compost today (Levington multi purpose compost). I want to try and take a cutting(s) from a healthy part of the plant and grow it from scratch. Is this possible this time of year? Would it be successful? I received the original cutting in spring.

If it's worked out alright, I've attached some pictures.

 

Hi,

Your mothers raspberry, importantly, when does it fruit, around July, eg a summer type or more August onwards into September, known as Autumn type.
By chance do you know the variety name ?

Has yours produced any fruit yet ?

Apart from those lower leaves looking a bit Rusty, which I would bin, the main stem and upper leaves look quite healthy.

My thoughts would be to leave it alone for now, assume you have not put it in new compost yet ?

Just keep it well watered and give it a little bit of Seaweed extract feed to help boost it a little, do not add a lot more this time of year, though that depends on knowing if its a Summer or Autumn type.

Either way, would be better to repot in early spring just as new growth is showing, into a larger pot always better and perhaps using a mix of garden soil or John Innes and compost.

 

My mum's is a July fruiting variety, my little girl has had fun picking them all before anyone else has a chance. :D The variety is unknown. Mine hasn't fruited yet, I assumed it would be next year.

No it is still in the original pot. I didn't want to do anything before I had advice. I shall remove the brown leaves. I have this. I can either use this or would seaweed extract feed on its own be better? Or an actual branded one, not an own brand?

Thank you

 

Hi,

Ok, summer fruiting it is, so its not going to do too much more growing this year, though you may just get a few flowers/fruits if the weathers good.

That fertiliser is to boost plants with fruit on them, so I would not apply that.
Probably the best, this time of year, would be either Seaweed Exctact (Doff brand in The Range about £3 if still in stock) or a small handful of a slow release Fish Blood and Bone over the soil.

Just looking at your pics again, it does look like its not planted deep enough as the roots are showing, so think getting a large pot so all the roots are covered might be a better way.

Also use a thick cane to support the plant and tie the cane to the wall otherwise it will readily blow over and possibly snap the plant.

 

Yeah the roots were all covered when I moved it in there. Don't know what happened. I blame the seagulls. I'll keep an eye out and move them into a bigger pot. Thank you.

 

Hello WorthingBloke and welcome to the forum. May I ask. Can you obtain another plant from your mum?
Yes you have done your best, but to me the future doesn't look great. Please don't give up. I can only comment/advise on the information you provide and the actual photos.

What made you decide to pot up? The sudden change of compost could be to blame, however you do say that other plants growing in this new compost are failing. This tends to indicate compost defaults.

So lets in brief analyze the photos. Any leaf infection/contamination. Get rid of the affected leaves. Never attempt to treat an ailing plant with fertilizers or other chemicals. You will do more harm than good. Signs of infection by whatever means. Remove damaged parts. The foliage of plants is the plants shield.

Looking at the stem. Close to the base, there is a brown section. Such can indicate the maturity of the plant. In this case it appears that the green, outer covering has become seperated from the underlayer. This to me would indicate that the plant is in the last stages of life. You can gently using your thumbnail,scratch the brown part of the stem. If you see green, then all is well. Otherwise RIP. Sorry.

 

Thank you for the reply. Sorry I'm a little late.

I had to repot it as the original pot was getting increasingly too small. I felt the roots needed more room to grow. I've always used the same soil (same cheap brand, different bag).

I've noticed what looks like new leaves. I've tried seeing them in my old photos, including what I didn't upload. Although hard to see, I can't see this new growth.

I've scratched at the brown part and there is dark green underneath. Darker then the main plant. I've taken a photo of this. My phone's photo has trouble focusing on this.

Thank you.

 

Hi @WorthingBloke , the new growth looks very healthy to me. I don't think there's anything wrong with your plant at all.
What I think the problem is is the same problem I have ( I live in a flat ) with some of my plants, and that is it's been scorched by the sun. Can you not try to shade it a little.
Wilkos compost is fine it's all I ever use as it's the only shop I can get a taxi from.