While kayaking several years ago, I found red raspberry plants growing wild on the rock cliffs along the river. They were in the most marginal growing conditions, with their roots growing into shallow dirt in cracks and grooves in the rock face. They were partly shaded by the trees and shrubs around them. In spite of all this, they had an abundance of juicy red berries.

I brought some home to plant in their own garden, giving them compost and keeping the pH to the proper level. The garden has trees on the east side so the light is partly shaded in the morning but full in the afternoon. Having given them all the advantages, I figured they'd take over the propery and produce berries the size of basketballs. I cover them with bird netting when the berries start to form otherwise the birds would eat them all.

After all this, they never produced as many berries as the wild bushes seem to do. They did produce a few new plants by growning roots at the end of the canes. I let those grow on their own for a year, then cut the cane to separate the plants.

Anything else I can do that might help produce more berries and more plants? I'm in northern Maryland, fairly close to the Chesapeake Bay.

Paul

On Monday, January 28, 2013 4:22:14 AM UTC-7, Pavel314 wrote:
While kayaking several years ago, I found red raspberry plants growing wild on the rock cliffs along the river. They were in the most marginal growing conditions, with their roots growing into shallow dirt in cracks and grooves in the rock face. They were partly shaded by the trees and shrubs around them. In spite of all this, they had an abundance of juicy red berries.



I brought some home to plant in their own garden, giving them compost and keeping the pH to the proper level. The garden has trees on the east side so the light is partly shaded in the morning but full in the afternoon. Having given them all the advantages, I figured they'd take over the propery and produce berries the size of basketballs. I cover them with bird netting when the berries start to form otherwise the birds would eat them all.



After all this, they never produced as many berries as the wild bushes seem to do. They did produce a few new plants by growning roots at the end of the canes. I let those grow on their own for a year, then cut the cane to separate the plants.

Anything else I can do that might help produce more berries and more plants? I'm in northern Maryland, fairly close to the Chesapeake Bay.

Paul

For some inexplicable reason wild raspberries don't do well when attempts
to domesticate them are taken in my experience.

I have wild ones growing next to my tame ones and they will be good one
year and not the next. When I have time I'm going to ask some of my more
experienced horticulturists as to what is going on.

The damned deer love to nibble on my raspberries...that is a real problem.

Sometimes plants that have to try hard (but not too hard) are encouraged by the situation to put all their energy into flowering and fruiting, because they don't expect to live long. Move them into a comfortable situation, they'll know they have longer to live, and put more energy into surviving and less into reproducing.

The situation is well known in figs. You have to confine them and put them on a pile of rubble to encourage fruting. It is not because they require these conditions to grow well. Give them an easy life and they will take to it, grow vigorously and healthily, but barely fruit at all.

A plant growing in a crack in a rock next to a stream may be getting natural trickle irrigation deep down, and may have access to particular mineral nutrients. It can be very difficult to reproduce sufficiently similar conditions in the garden.

On Thursday, January 31, 2013 4:14:51 AM UTC-5, echinosum wrote:
'Pavel314[_2_ Wrote:

;977440']In spite of all this, they had an abundance of juicy red

berries.

Sometimes plants that have to try hard (but not too hard) are encouraged

by the situation to put all their energy into flowering and fruiting,

because they don't expect to live long. Move them into a comfortable

situation, they'll know they have longer to live, and put more energy

into surviving and less into reproducing.



The situation is well known in figs. You have to confine them and put

them on a pile of rubble to encourage fruting. It is not because they

require these conditions to grow well. Give them an easy life and they

will take to it, grow vigorously and healthily, but barely fruit at

all.



A plant growing in a crack in a rock next to a stream may be getting

natural trickle irrigation deep down, and may have access to particular

mineral nutrients. It can be very difficult to reproduce sufficiently

similar conditions in the garden.


echinosum

That sounds reasonable; my fruit trees produce a lot more after a heavy pruning in the dormant season.