Raspberry is frozen what to do with it. What should be done so that the raspberries do not freeze

Raspberry, for all its plasticity, is not winter-hardy enough. In the Middle lane, gardeners bend it down for the winter so that the shoots are covered with snow. In the south, there is no such "shelter" - the snow cover is too unstable and does not save the bent stems from frost.

In winters like the last one, raspberries freezes a lot. Especially large-fruited and new remontant varieties suffer from this. In winters with little snow, raspberry shoots often die. Usually only “tops” die, but the roots remain, and replacement shoots grow from them again. True, the harvest can be obtained only next year.

This can be repeated every winter. It is impossible to completely bend the shoot to the ground - it will break, although its main part lies on the ground to the top, covered with foliage and snow all winter. Such an arc was exposed from the snow - the bark on it cracked, the cambium turned black - which means that the shoot will die.

Similar cracked and blackened stems can be found in the south, where raspberries do not bend down (this is a waste of work). But even in this case, part of the shoot from the level of the snow cover to the ground was preserved, and these are 3-5 dormant buds. After overwintering, they will give a decent harvest. The closer to the top, the shorter the fruit branch (20-25 cm), the berries are smaller, there are no more than 10-12 of them. But the fruit twigs at the very base of the bush grow up to 1 m and branch out strongly. They form from 70 to 100 flowers and ovaries.

And that's not all - the berries on them are 1.5-2 times larger. That's what 3-5 sleeping buds are at the base of the bush! It is only necessary to prune the shoots in time so that the roots do not deplete their reserves in an attempt to pump the dead areas of the shoots with nutrients.

In the spring, do not rush to cut out the dead shoots - you need to wait for the buds to awaken along the entire length and then pick up the pruner. Keep in mind - at the base of the shoot, the buds awaken much later than on the rest.

Always leave a stump 20-30 cm tall when cutting out dead shoots: it may be a late awakening of dormant buds on it. If they are not there, re-cut to keep more dormant buds at the base of the shoot.

Growing fruit branches at the base of a shoot up to 1 m long will not hold the harvest of berries on their own - tie them to a low trellis of a normally fruiting bush. After freezing, 10-12 stumps 25-30 cm high remain, and up to 30 powerful fruit branches grow on them - this is too much, leave 12-15 of the most powerful and well-placed, reject them to the side and tie them to the stamens, and cut the rest of the branches . It’s a pity, but it’s necessary - otherwise there will be a lot of small berries, and the thickened bush will turn into a hotbed of pests and diseases.

Shrub care is always associated with various inconsistencies, oversights and mistakes. As you know, "the one who does nothing is not mistaken." So, when growing raspberries, various kinds of difficulties can arise, and in order not to make a mistake when choosing certain measures of influence, you need to familiarize yourself with the material given on this page. To make it easier to use, we present the information in the form of a table.

Raspberry response to extreme conditions and measures to overcome their consequences

*Symptoms*	*Reasons, time*	*Events*
The outer integumentary tissues are cracked along the entire length of the stem, the exposed cambial zone and the buds are green, but dry, the buds do not develop	Wither. More often in autumn with a sharp change in weather: early snow, which then melts, rain with snow, temperature drops to minus 20 ° C and deep thaws, strong winds. The process ends in winter as a result of freezing moisture from damaged tissues.	Early in the spring, remove the damaged ground part, form a new one from offspring and replacement shoots. Varieties that are systematically damaged should be replaced. If it is typical for all varieties, then bend the stems earlier for the winter and shelter from rain, wind and temperature fluctuations
Stem tissues are dirty gray-greenish (wood), brown (bark), brown-black (buds); kidneys do not develop	Freezing. In the autumn-winter period at critical temperatures in the absence of snow	Same
Buds do not develop at the ends (1-20 cm) of stems	The buds and tissues of the stem have frozen and dried up. More often in autumn with a sharp onset of cold weather after a rainy summer and for other reasons for incomplete growth. The process ends in winter	In spring, cut the ends of the stems to a well-developed live bud. Eliminate the causes that contribute to protracted growth (do not water and do not apply nitrogen fertilizers after August 1, do not allow plantings to thicken, conduct a thorough fight against diseases, pests, weeds
Buds do not develop on the top of the stem to a level that was not covered by snow	The stems and buds on them were frozen and dried up to the level of snow due to low temperatures and their differences with a strong dry wind in the middle of winter	Trim the damaged part of the stems to a live bud; if it happens systematically with all varieties, then introduce it as a mandatory bending of the stems for the winter and hilling with snow
Up to a certain level (20-30 cm below), the buds on the stem are alive and developing; above - mostly dead, but there are also living ones; fruit twigs develop in the upper part, flowering and berry-setting are not uncommon, but then wilting follows. At the established level, the tissues of the stem along the ring are dirty gray-greenish, dark brown.	The tissues of the stem froze at the level of snow. Usually on sunny days in February - March with low snow cover with a rough ice crust on the surface and with periodic snow settling	In early varieties, additional irrigation and loosening of the soil, a thorough fight against spider mites are necessary. In late varieties, at the first sign of wilting of leaves on stems, additional pruning just below the ring damage. In the future, carry out 3-4-fold snow hilling in winter
Some buds do not develop in the middle part of the stem	In February-March, the buds at the top of the “arc” died out with poor shelter of the stems bent down for the winter	Normal, but more thorough care. In the future, bend the stems horizontally at a height of 30-40 cm from the soil surface. Snow covered in winter
Integumentary tissues in the lower part of the stems are cracked and peel off. The buds develop almost normally throughout the stem.	decay as a result of a violation of the temperature regime or under early snowfall, or under heavy snow cover in the autumn-winter period, or under water in spring	The usual care, more attention to aerating the soil, and in the summer and providing plants with moisture. In case of systematic flooding of the site with melt water, take measures to divert them
Several fruit-bearing branches with few buds develop from the main bud. Berries ripen normally	Partial freezing in February-March of the main kidney, its central inflorescence, vascular bundle. Development occurs due to germinal buds in the axils of germinal leaves.	General care with great attention to irrigation at the time of flowering and fruit set
The main buds do not develop. Additional ones start to grow. They form a well-developed inflorescence.	The main kidney completely froze out in January-March	Same
In spring, the tops of green offspring and replacement shoots wither a little, the bark is easily separated, the wood is dirty gray-greenish	Freezing as a result of spring frosts (below minus 6°)	Normal care, do not force growth with additional irrigation and nitrogen fertilizers. With a large area and a very severe degree of damage (the upper half of 30-40 cm shoots dies off), pruning at a height of 10 cm or their complete removal (especially in varieties with high shoot productivity)
The inner parts of some buds and flowers are dark brown; many berries are ugly, crumble into drupes	Freezing stamens and pistils during frosts in spring	Routine Care

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Raspberries are our favorite treat, and every gardener would like to increase their yield. Proper care of the shrub contributes to a good growth of berries and improves their taste. You need to deal with raspberries in the spring, starting in April. And it is recommended to start with a thorough revision of the bushes.

Raspberry pruning in spring

After winter, we check the plant and remove all frozen shoots with secateurs. If the frost damaged only the tops of the bushes, then we cut them off to a healthy tissue. It happens that the tissue of the stem is alive, and the buds are frozen. In this case, you should not immediately remove the shoot, since most likely fruiting will still occur - from axillary and sleeping buds.

Even if the stems are severely frozen and you have to remove most of the length of the stem, don't be discouraged. If there are living buds below, then you will definitely harvest the crop. Cut also all very thin and broken branches, leaving no stumps if possible.

Every spring, about ten replacement shoots appear on a raspberry bush, and the same number from the very roots in the form of shoots. At the end of May, all shoots must be removed. This will allow all moisture and nutrients to be directed to the main bush. In April, when the buds already appear, cut off the tops of the raspberries so that the height of the bush is within 1.5-1.6 meters. Removing the top helps increase the size of future berries. Make a garter of branches to the trellis.

Feeding raspberries in spring and pest control

During this period, it is not recommended to fertilize raspberries with nitrogen fertilizers, because. too active appearance of shoots from the roots will begin. If there are too few shoots without fertilizers, then apply organic fertilizers. For example, dissolve a matchbox of urea or saltpeter in a bucket of water and add a shovel of chicken manure or manure there, mix it, put it into the soil under a bush. Such a fertilizer will add vigor to raspberries for the entire period of fruiting.

By the end of May, control raspberry pests - stem fly and raspberry beetle. For spraying, purchase a special insecticide or biological product. From mid-May, flies fly out of the upper layers of the soil and lay eggs on the leaves. If the raspberries are not processed, then the larvae, after being born, simply gnaw the leaves and young stems. Accordingly, they wither, blacken and die.

A source

Most raspberry varieties do not have good winter hardiness. Despite the fact that breeders have managed to adapt some varieties to very solid temperature drops, raspberries often need protection from freezing. To save berry bushes, it is important to properly prepare raspberries for the winter. If you follow all the basic recommendations, then next season will certainly please you with a bountiful harvest.

Why do raspberries freeze

Raspberry winter hardiness indicators are directly dependent on the timely stop of shoot growth and their development. The aging of wood should also stop in time. If the autumn heat is quite long, then the raspberry bushes will go into wintering without having time to form their shoots completely and without dropping the entire foliage. It is these shoots that often freeze and die quickly enough.

In the middle and upper lobes of berry bushes, damage to flower buds can also be observed. The tops usually die due to their immaturity, and the shoots located in the middle parts - due to insufficient protection by the snow cover.

Preparing raspberry bushes for winter

As a rule, experienced gardeners begin to prepare the site for winter in July. During this period, it is important to completely stop applying nitrogen-containing fertilizers under raspberry bushes. And they begin to prepare them for the reduction of such dressings at the very beginning of summer. This is necessary so that the raspberry bushes are able to cope with the difficult test of frost without prejudice to the future harvest. That is, it is highly undesirable to overfeed raspberry plantings with nitrogen.

If manure acts as mulch, then it should be placed on the beds until mid-June, no later. If any other material is used as mulch, and manure is used exclusively in the form of liquid fertilizer in diluted form, then it is stopped to be applied towards the end of July.

With the onset of September, they begin to pinch the tops of the shoots - it can be carried out simultaneously with cutting the fruiting stems. Despite the fact that this procedure does not provide for the possibility of secondary growth, raspberry bushes will be able to stock up on all the elements they need for a successful winter.

Until about mid-September, it is necessary to get rid of the apical parts of the shoots, because they are unlikely to survive the winter in any case. And you should not count on their secondary growth either. Trimming the tops is useful in that it allows raspberries to accumulate a sufficient amount of various nutrients for the winter. It is recommended to shorten the shoots by no more than ten centimeters, but not less than five. Most often, the first fully developed kidney is considered the limit.

Also, in the fall, extra coppice shoots should also be cut. Moreover, such shoots are always cut strictly at the root. Some gardeners sometimes leave several of these shoots as backups - they can come in handy in case of a particularly severe damage to raspberry bushes in winter. Raspberry aisles are carefully loosened, while feeding from a tablespoon of superphosphate and two tablespoons of potassium sulfate. In principle, this combination can also be replaced with ordinary ash - in this case, two glasses of ash are added for each square meter.

In mid-October, raspberry bushes are spudded - hilling will help prevent freezing of the vulnerable root system. And after the mulching is completed, the berry bushes are bent to the ground and fixed in this position. However, even such a procedure is far from always able to reliably protect raspberry shoots from freezing. In this situation, in the spring, frozen shoots are shortened again. With a slight freezing, only their shrunken tops are cut off. If the freezing is serious enough, then you still should not rush to cut out the entire shoots - even if their upper parts are completely frozen, the living buds located just below are in any case capable of producing at least a small crop.

In winter, raspberry bushes bent to the ground need to be provided with constant air access, piercing ice crusts as they form. It is also important to ensure that the raspberries are well covered with snow - in winters with little snow, snow is additionally added to bent bushes for this purpose so that they are completely covered with it. Only in this case can we talk about reliable protection against freezing.

Growing raspberries is not difficult, but like any other cultivated plant, it requires careful handling. So, for example, a whole range of activities should be carried out before each winter so that the raspberries do not freeze and quickly move away from "hibernation" in the spring. How to prepare raspberries for winter, and what activities are carried out for this, are described below in the article.

Autumn pruning dates

Pruning is carried out after the raspberry has given the last harvest. If there is no time for this procedure at the beginning of autumn, you can postpone it for several weeks, but the main thing is to prune at least 2-3 weeks before the first frost. In the southern regions, the frosts are not very strong, so pruning is carried out later, but in the northern regions it is recommended to complete all procedures before mid-October.

Removed during trimming:

sick pagons;
two-year-old shoots that will no longer produce a crop or will yield, but small;
young, weak pagons that simply cannot survive the winter;
damaged branches and those that are knocked out of the bush (grow incorrectly).

But it is necessary to leave only 5-7 of the strongest, one-year-old shoots that will survive the winter and be able to give a big harvest next year. You should also trim the tops by 20-30 cm. This is especially true for tall varieties. The higher the bush, the more difficult it is to prepare it for the winter.

After pruning, it is recommended to thin out the rows. During spring and summer, a lot of young offspring could grow between rows and between individual bushes. They should either be removed or transplanted into new rows, as they will grow quickly in the spring, and will interfere with moving between the bushes.

The thickening of raspberry bushes weakens them and makes them less resistant to frost.

Knowing how to winterize raspberries can help you avoid many of the disappointments of spring. So, for example, not all gardeners know that it is desirable to immediately remove all remaining foliage from cut bushes. Sometimes raspberry foliage begins to rot right on the crop pagons. This is harmful for the plant, since rotting leaves often cover young buds and damage them. As a result, raspberries grow poorly in spring, almost do not bloom, have very weak foliage and, as a result, low yields.

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Is it necessary to apply fertilizer?

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Fertilizers are an important point in the question of how to prepare raspberries for winter. Fertilizers for the winter are always applied - this is an important rule, but the opinions of experts on the timing of fertilization can vary greatly. The first thing to note is the type of fertilizer. After the raspberry gave the last harvest, it was pruned for the winter, the remaining foliage was removed, and potassium-phosphorus mineral fats were introduced. From organic matter, you can choose compost, humus.

Sometimes organic fertilizers are applied in the form of mulch under bushes, and not under digging. This method is preferable. In this case, you can loosen the ground under the bushes, add a small amount of minerals, mixing them with the ground, and then, on top of the ground, apply 5-10 cm of humus, compost, peat. It is advisable to make sure that the mulch has a neutral acidity.

Mulch not only protects the roots of the bushes from freezing, but also feeds the plant, retains moisture.

Raspberry duck

In areas with strong and early frosts or snowless winters, raspberries are usually hung down for the winter. This is an important process that allows you to protect the bushes from frost, cold, but not harming them.

The first step is to tie the bushes in bunches so that the pagons do not get confused with each other. Soft twine is used, pieces of matter are such material that will not dig into the twigs and will not damage them.
Now each bush in turn bends down to the ground so that its height in a similar position is no more than 40 cm.
To prevent the bushes from straightening, they are fixed. To do this, you can tie them to the bottom of the trellis or simply install a wide metal arc, stick, peg on top (nearby).
If raspberries grow in rows, they are simply tied to the lower part of a neighboring bush, and so on in turn, each plant.

You need to bend down the raspberries so that in winter it is completely covered with snow. If some pagons peek out from the snow cover, they will simply freeze.

Since it is sometimes difficult to prepare raspberries for winter, it is not recommended to postpone this process for a long time. The time of bending down usually falls on the period after the leaves fall, but before the onset of the first frost. If you tighten with bending down, the pagons will become too brittle and simply break under the onslaught of the gardener. And if you do everything too early, then they can trample because of the frequent rains typical of mid-autumn.

How to make additional shelter?

In snowy regions where a lot of snow falls during the winter, raspberries usually survive well even in severe frosts. Therefore, gardeners sometimes do not even think about how to prepare raspberries for winter. The snow "blanket" simply does not allow her to freeze. But in areas where there is little snow or very strong winds blowing away snow and breaking branches, it is worth building additional shelters and snow-retaining structures.

In order to protect the raspberries from the wind and keep the snow on the windward side of the site, it is necessary to dig in several sheets of polycarbonate or plywood. Such a wall will be able to provide the gardener with enough snow to cover the raspberries and restrain the riot of the winter wind. And so that the sheets do not fall, reliable metal columns are dug in nearby, for safety net.
If there is too little snow, you can simply cover the raspberries for the winter, then a snow “cap” is not required. For this, a non-woven material is used. It is simply placed on top of bushes pressed to the ground in several layers, and then fixed on both sides, digging into the ground.
If there is a desire, opportunity and time, you can lay sheets of cellular polycarbonate in arcs on top of the shelter for the bushes described above. This is a lightweight material, so it will not harm the bushes, but it will be able to protect them from severe frosts.
When it is necessary to cover a large raspberry plantation, it is advisable to build sheds from the same honeycomb polycarbonate or similar material. This design looks like a greenhouse, only there are many holes for ventilation so that the raspberries are cool, and they do not start to bloom, but go into a dormant period.

Additional shelters for raspberry bushes are carried out immediately after bending down the bushes.

It is important for gardeners to know not only how to prepare raspberries for winter, but also how to open and straighten them after winter. With the onset of spring, additional covering structures are removed gradually so that the raspberries have time to acclimatize. The extension of the pagons is carried out after the swelling of the kidneys. And only after they are completely straightened can they be tied to the trellis.

How to prepare remontant raspberries for winter?

Remontant raspberries must be prepared for winter in the same way as ordinary raspberries. All procedures are repeated, but there is one important nuance. can produce a crop until late autumn, so all procedures are usually transferred to mid-autumn. As a rule, the preparation of remontant raspberries for winter is carried out from mid-October to early November. As soon as the last harvest has been collected, preparations for winter begin. Postponing them is not recommended, especially in the middle and northern regions.

Throughout the winter, it is sometimes worth looking at the raspberries, if possible, make sure that it is securely covered, sprinkled with snow. And the snow crust should loosen from time to time, as it can harm the bushes (does not let oxygen through, puts a lot of pressure on the branches).