Fruity

I've decided to grow raspberries and blackcurrants in pots on the patio. I'm a bit dubious because I'll have to protect the fruits from birds, make sure that they get support etc etc. But hopefully I can pull it off.

We bought the raspberry canes and blackcurrant bush from a garden centre in February and I left them outside wrapped in bubble wrap in order to acclimatise them (although I don't know if I needed to as they were already outside when we bought them). Then I transferred them into large 30cm deep pots. However after reading the gardening book I realised that I needed to separate the canes (of raspberries) as each one was a plant. How was I to know - the label didn't mention it and there were no signs of shoots! The raspberry plant(s) had got used to the pot so I was a bit nervous about rooting them out again and separating them - but it had to be done. So now I have two pots of raspberries and so far (after a day) they haven't died of shock. But we shall see... I have erected a make-shift "post and wires" support system for the raspberries. Basically two canes, one in each pot, with parallel wires joining them. As the raspberries grow, they'll be supported by the wires. Mmmmm.

Unwittingly, I have chosen a summer flowering raspberry - which don't look as pretty apparently (because they need wires for support). Well we will just have to see how they turn out.

In order to stop the pots of fruit drying out, I've put a layer of bark chippings on the top of the soil. It hasn't rained much lately so they need all the help they can get. I also mixed some manure (not fresh!) in there too (before potting).