Hi seindy, Welcome to Garden Web and The Plant Exchange. You might want to set up your Member Page email link so you can easily be reached as wellas your zone/location. Please see addressing newbie and newer member issues for instructions. The location goes in the one box provided for the garden zone. See I am zone 5/6 S IN Sue...chemocurl

Hi, Here´s an update of my experiment 1 month after repotting. There were ups and downs. The first couple of weeks i was struggling to get my PH right and now i´m using 3 tablespoons/10 L of vinegar everytime i water (that´s about PH 4,8) and now all my pots range from 4,8 - 5,7. I think this is working well, but if the ph keeps lowering more then i expect i´ll problably cut the vinegar to 2.5/2 Tbs/10L. Week #1 After reppoting I´ve feed all the plants with a solution of 10grms/10 L of 12.5-5-15 + Micronutrients (2L each Pot) and all the plants turned to a redish/brown 2 days after (photo in my last post). They looked not good at the end of week one. PH was going up and down as i was watering with regular tap water. Week #2 Started adding vinegar to water and PH of potting mix started lowering. All plants where growth stalled and redish/brown leaves didn´t developed any further. The exception come up with pot #5 which is a different and unknown cultivar that i bought already fruiting. This one´s leaves never turned pale green but some of the lower leaves started turning brown/purple. Fertilized with AS 2 times this week with 1/2 teaspoon /10L vinegar water(a little less than 1/2 tsp/2.5 gal). I gave each pot abou 1,5/2 L of this solution. Week #3 Fertilized once with the same AS dosis i did the week before. Some leaves started to show a scorch in the middle of the leaves and mostly the new ones started to burn a litlle on the leaves edges (maybe the AS solution is very strong or 1,5/2 L per plant is a lot, not sure here - i´m using 5 gal pots). Some pots showed up signs that something was not ok besides their color and the scortches, showing up some curled leaves, mostly the new ones. They were greener but kind of stalled. At this time, half the week was gone, and i stopped the AS fertilization and added 5grams/ of granular Organic fertilizer (half the recomend dosis) NPK 5-8-15 and Rocmagic Ironite as a source of nicronutrients with 1% Ca and 1% Mg. My goal here was to feed the plant with some nutrients that could be missing and to achieve the 3:1:2 ratio of NPK. Using this organic NPK and the AS i could get this ratio and and still use Fruitnuit´s fertilization program of AS (Feed N more times with a weak solution). Week #4 Temperatures turned from 60F(16C) average the first 3 weeks to 77F (25C) this week, and plants showed immediatly some growth and a lot of new vegetative buds and new shoots. Redish/brown seems to be fading away almost tottaly on older leaves by the end of the week, but all new leaves came up with a pale green color and just some of them with that redish/brown color especially on the borders. The older leaves were green almost like before re-potting. I was not really sure what to do here, i am sure the wheather was the most important factor of the plants recovery, not sure about the Organic NPK effect on this week´s growth. As thing were going ok, except for the pale green new leaves, I restarted the AS fertilization at the end of the week. Week #5 Temperatures droped again from 77F (25C) to 57F(14C) by day and 50F (10C) 50F by night, and the weather was very rainy and windy. Immediatly leaves and shoots stopped growing and the leaves turned everyday browner and browner. I still fertilized with AS once again this week, but leaves started to burn on the edges, so i stopped. Pot#5 is now with many leaves Brown/purple again. Pot #5 has more and more leaves colored purple. I think this is a lack of P, so i added 50 grams of Red Guano as a source of P only on this pot. I think weather had a dramatic influence on plant growth and i´m not sure of the contribute of the complete organic fertilizer. I still can´t get rid of the brown/red color on new leaves. I know brown/red leaves are normal in a spring with cold tempertures, and it´s true that when temperature raised to 77F (25C) leaves turned greener (pale green), but is it normal this leaf color with 57F(14C)? Or is there some nutrient missing too? Pale green color in new leaves seems to me like lack of N, but everytime i feed them with AS, there´s always a little burn on the edges and some burned tips too. What do you think of reducing to 1/4tsp AS/10L? 1,5/2L per bush in a 5 gallon pot seems ok? Must i fertilize with AS only when there is full sun? Pot #5, which as fruit, also has purple leaves and not many growth. It didn´t respond to AS (never did) and didn´t respond to the P in red guano yet (just feed them 3 days ago). Hope it recovers.. I´m hopping anyone can give me some advice of what´s going on pots #1 to #4 and specially #5. Thanks

nourahm Raspberry's are on my list of things I want to grow, as well as blackberries and boysenberries. I haven't grown them before, but have done a lot research on them. I want to start growing some so I can learn the in's and out's, then take what I learn and turn it into a commercial operation. I have a big problem to overcome in order to make it a year round operation, and that is HEAT. I live in the Mojave Desert of AZ, and summers are brutally hot here. Anyhow, one hurdle at a time. I'm wondering if you grow Primocane and/or Floricane raspberry's, as well as what variety's of them you grow? Also, what kind of yields you get out of each plant. I have read that you can expect anywhere from 8 to 22 1/2 pints from each plant, mostly depending on how old (mature) the plant is. With larger root systems being able to support more canes. Keeping in line with $3.50 a 1/2 pint (what they sell for here at the store), 22 x $3.50 = $77 per plant in a 4 month season. I realize that may be the high end, but from what I have read it is quite possible with a refined, efficient system. Of coarse that would not be all profit, there would be operating costs to consider. But one thing I particularly like from what I have read about this crop, is that it tolerates low light levels. Even to the point where I wouldn't even need supplemental lighting during winter months. Supplemental lighting may induce flowering earlier, but doesn't seem to increase yields much (not enough to offset the added electric bill). That's a huge cost savings on the electricity I would need for production, not to mention equipment.

jj007lj, I built mine 12" deep, but they are sitting on good soil so the roots can go as deep as they want. Eight inches should be fine for strawberries, they have rather short roots. I'm not so sure that's deep enough for the raspberries, though. I've never had them in raised beds before, but their roots run quite deep. Granny Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden