Black Raspberry Farming

If you want to have your own black raspberry farm, you need to find a great site. The plant thrives in southern regions since the raspberries don’t like very low temperatures.

When you know the growth requirements, you can have healthy and fruit bearing raspberries soon. With on-site irrigation, you will surely succeed.

You can find many raspberry farms in the US. If you’re interested to have a black raspberry farm, you will need to find an ideal site. Growing such crop can be very enjoyable. If you live in the north, you might find it hard to grow the black raspberry but with the right strategies, you can succeed in having your very own farm.

Basic of Black Raspberry Farming

Choosing the site is very important. Black raspberries love full sun, sandy loan and well drained soils, and organic matter. The farm should have an ample supply of water but avoid planting in low areas. It would be best to have irrigation on site to ensure better fruit yields especially during dry spells. If this is your first time to grow the fruit, you have to ensure that the area has not been planted with eggplant, peppers, potatoes, and tomatoes in the last 4 years. You see, such plants carry the ‘verticillium’ which is not good for raspberries. To ensure that the farm is free from virus diseases, you need to destroy all the wild blackberry or raspberry plants within 600ft.

Soil preparation is very important. According to experts, it can take around two years to prepare the soil and it will usually depend on the current condition. You have to test the farm soil for fertility levels and pH. Ideally, the soil should have 5.6 – 6.2 pH. In case the soil is acidic, you can apply ground limestone to improve the pH level. You can contact the Cooperative Extension office in your place to find out more about the testing. You can also sow cover crops like oats, millet, rye, and buckwheat. In one season, you can sow at least two times. Another option is to apply compost or barnyard manure to the soil.

On the year when you decide to plant black raspberry, you need to spread garden fertilizer during spring. For every 1,000 sq ft, you need 25 lbs of the 10-10-10 fertilizer. A couple of days before planting, you need to cultivate the soil. The roots and crowns are considered perennial but the canes can live for two years. Make sure that you pick the right varieties that will meet your farms needs and requirements. It’s better to grow black raspberry in southern parts such as New Hampshire and Maine. This is because the raspberries can be injured if the temperature gets below 5ºF. To ensure healthy plants, you need to get the black raspberry from reputed garden dealers or nurseries.

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