Soft fruits

You do need to have enough plants to "get a meal" at any one time. Fewer plants will mean no/rare gluts, but at the start and end of the season you are likely to have not-enough-for-a-meal. I don't mollycoddle my Courgettes (or anything else), and no doubt it can be done with less than 6 plants but, at the opposite extreme, I doubt you would ever get a meal off a single plant. It will have one perfectly formed courgette, and one not-big-enough - although it can also do "one vast one" in addition to the above!

I would restrict their cropping in Year 1. Summer ones will give you nothing, you need to cut them down to the ground after planting, they will establish root in Year 1, send up "suckers", and those suckers will fruit in year 2. Opinion is divided on Autumn fruiting: they will fruit, somewhat, in year 1 as they fruit on the current season's suckers, but some folk will say that you should not let them fruit so they put more energy into roots etc. and you get a more established plant, fruiting more heavily, in subsequent years. I'm a "live like you are going to die tomorrow, garden like you will live forever" person, so I didn't let any of my Raspberries fruit in Year 1. Same principle as Asparagus.

That would be my choice too, but I'm sure others will have the opposite opinion, and I'm also sure that both are right! I just think yours will be easier to look after, and easier to get a good crop off - at worst you might have a vigorous plant to do battle with

 

I let my Autumn Raspberries fruit the 1st year because you cut it right back to the ground in the spring...So i don't see why you should not let autumn raspberries not fruit year 1...

 

They will fruit if you let them, but it takes energy, and if you chop off the tops so they don't fruit more energy will go into getting the plants established for future years. Because the plants are young they spend more energy making fruit than is good for them, and it would be better for them to devote that energy to making roots instead.

That's the theory, different folk take different views, many are impatient to get a crop, which is a natural enough feeling

 

Well i cannot complain how my Autumn raspberries have cropped the past few years....As you say different folk take different views

 

Ah .. but you didn't do a comparison I don't doubt they cropped, and if you looked after them then no doubt they cropped well. But might they have done better? Dunno ... only a 50:50 test tells you that, for sure. Textbooks talk about such stuff, and I hope?? that someone somewhere did a test and that was the source of the info for the textbook. (In fact it is the sort of thing that they are inclined to test on Beechgrove ... next week wil see the results of their long term test between a proprietary tomato fertiliser like Tomorite and home made Comfrey fertiliser, which I am looking forward to seeing - saves me having to make my own test )

 

I planted half dozen Raspberry canes in my tiny garden last year and have been picking a fair amount every day, so encouraged by success have ordered a dozen Posh ones from T/M they reckon they do not need staking and don't have prickles "Joan J" Autumn fruiting, They arrive in October and fruit next year You wont get a better berry for jam making even a handful of Raspberries in any thing gives a good flavour/colour and they freeze perfectly

 

Damn.

 

JJ can you post a picture of your young plants

 

I would but I just dropped my phone down the toilet

 

Ooooops

 

The insurers will really believe that!!

 

It flew out of my pocket and into the toilet. Not even my toilet either.

It seems ok but the camera has all instead up with condensation. So I could take a photo for you but it would be in a very porn like soft focus. But if that's your sort of thing then I will take one tomorrow

 

Yup no probs JJ..Accidents happen my friend..Hope your phone is not to badly damaged..nowadays phones can handle being dropped in water JJ..fingers crossed yours will be fine