Raspberry branches are soft, especially after fruiting, the branches bend and droop on the ground, resulting in dirty berries and mildew, which directly affects the quality and yield of products. The drooping branches shade each other, the lighting and ventilation conditions are poor, and the management is extremely inconvenient, so branches must be tied. These methods are as follows:
1. Pillar binding method
Used for single plant planting. When planting in the next year, a column is erected near the plant cluster, with a height of 1.5~2m and a thickness of 4~5cm, and all branches of the plant cluster are tied to the column, subject to the weight that can support the whole plant cluster. This method is simple and material-saving, but the disadvantage is that the light-receiving part of the branches is uneven, which affects the results. The improved method is to erect more columns and tie the annual branches and biennial branches to the columns respectively, so as not to shade each other.
2. Fan binding method
It is also suitable for single plant planting. Two pillars are erected between two clusters, and half branches of two adjacent clusters are tied to the two pillars. This method has the advantages of good light reception, convenient management and high yield (as shown in figure 1).
Figure 1 Raspberry Fan Binding
3. Hedge frame binding method
Suitable for strip planting and single plant planting. Set a bracket every 5m, with the height of 1.6m, and drag 2~3 wires on it to tie the branches evenly to the wires. The branches are not shaded from each other, with good ventilation and high yield, which is suitable for large-scale cultivation (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Raspberry Hedge Frame Binding
(2) Pruning
You can do it three times a year. For the first time, after removing the cold, cut off the dry part at the top of the biennial branch, so that the remaining buds can send out strong fruiting branches. Cut off dense branches and pest branches from the base, and keep 7~8 biennial branches in each cluster. Leave one branch every 15~20cm in the wide band and one branch every 10~ 12cm in the narrow band.
The second pruning, when flowering, cut off the branches that bear little or no fruit, so as to concentrate nutrition on the middle and upper bearing branches, and at the same time remove the redundant roots and tillers.
The third pruning, after the summer berries are harvested, mainly removes the dry biennial branches and pest branches, so that the plant cluster has good ventilation and light transmission, and the robust annual branches of 10~ 15 are retained in the plant cluster. In Heilongjiang province, the remaining branches are often gathered together and tied upright, which is called drying strips, to promote the branches to receive good light, accelerate lignification and store more nutrients for the next year's fruits.
In addition, in summer, the dense basal branches are cut off at any time, and the roots and tillers are removed by intertillage weeding, so that the ventilation between plants and rows is good.