How to Transplant Raspberry Daughter Plants or Suckers
Raspberries come from a small deciduous plant. The stems are slightly prickly and the leaves have 3 to 5 small leaflets. Raspberry plants can live up to 10 years so it is important to replenish the raspberry plants if you want a continuous supply of berries. An inexpensive way to do this is by digging up the daughters or suckers that the parent plant sends out. Raspberry plants will not produce fruit until the second year of growth. Fresh raspberries picked from your garden are delicious and nutritious. You can eat them fresh, or use them to make wine. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Look for suckers or daughters growing from the roots of the raspberry plant. They will be growing separate from the mother plant.
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With a spade or shovel, carefully dig around the sucker. Keep as much soil around the roots as possible. Use a scissor or pruning shears to cut the main root that attached it to the mother plant.
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Find a pot large enough to hold the sucker you've just dug up. Make sure it has drainage holes for water to seep out.
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Add potting soil in the pot. Place your raspberry plant inside and finish filling the pot with soil. Water the sucker or daughter thoroughly.
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Put the sucker transplant in a sheltered area of your garden. This will give your transplant a better start on developing more roots. In a month or so, when the roots have developed more, prepare the garden soil.
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Dig up the soil with a spading fork or tiller. Add 2 to 3 inches of compost and work this into the soil.
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With a shovel or trowel, dig holes that are bigger around than the raspberry's container. Make the holes about 24 inches apart, spacing each row 7 to 8 feet apart.
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Pop the raspberry plant from the container, and place it in the hole. Make sure the soil ball does not protrude higher than ground level.
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Fill the hole with soil. Firm the soil so there are no air pockets. Water thoroughly. Keep the soil moist but not soggy until the plants are established.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to check the leaves against the mother plant. Make sure you are planting the raspberry plant and not the graft stock plant.
Do not plant raspberry plants where you have had eggplant, peppers, potatoes or tomatoes within the last three years. Raspberry plants susceptible to verticillium wilt that attacks these vegetable plants.
