How to Root a Cutting From a Raspberry Bush

Ever-bearing raspberries produce crops in summer and in fall.

The most common methods of propagating raspberries are by tip layering in late summer or by digging up and transplanting suckers in early spring. Another method of propagation, typically used to create a large planting of raspberries, is by taking tip cuttings. Take raspberry tip cuttings in early spring to give the plants the entire growing season to form roots and become established before winter. Insert the cuttings into the soil in their permanent planting site, rather than in nursery pots or flats.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning clippers
• 1/2-inch wood dowel
• Protective winter mulch

Instructions

1. Take tip cuttings for red or black raspberries in very early spring, while they are still dormant. Choose canes that are 1/16 to 3/16 inch in diameter. Make the cuttings of variable lengths, from about 12 to 24 inches long.

2. Insert the raspberry cuttings about 3 inches deep into the soil in a permanent planting location. Push the wooden dowel into the soil to make a hole and then insert a raspberry cutting. Firm the soil around the base so the cutting stands up. Evenly space about 2 oz. of cuttings, by weight, in every three feet of the planting row, according to the Ohio State University Extension.

3. Check the cuttings frequently, every day or two, and water as needed to keep the soil moist but not wet.

4. Mulch the growing bed with 2 inches of weed-free hay or straw. This helps keep the soil moist and minimizes the growth of weeds.

5. Check for the formation of roots about eight weeks after planting. Apply gentle pressure on the cutting, as if you were going to pull it like a weed. If it seems to resist coming out of the ground, chances are good that roots have formed.

6. Apply a protective winter mulch about 6 to 8 inches deep, depending on the severity of your winter weather. Remove the mulch in early spring before the buds begin to swell.

Tips & Warnings

• Raspberries are susceptible to several diseases, which are passed along to cuttings. To ensure you have virus-free new plants, take cuttings from healthy plants with no signs of disease.

References

• Ohio State University Extension; Brambles -- Production Management and Marketing; Richard C. Funt, et al.
• Purdue University Extension; Raspberries; Bruce Bordelon; December 2001