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Midwest Gardening Fruit & Orchards garden

Blackraspberry Seed Stratification/Scarification Before Planting?

2 years ago

Hi,

So I'm very new to gardening and wanted to grow some black raspberries in my back yard. We've actually had wild black raspberry bushes growing by our backyard but I was interested in getting some started for myself in a little garden area and I had some questions about their germination process. From what I've seen online it seems like they require either a stratification or scarification process and I was wondering if a) that was indeed the case, b) if they do, should I start one process over the other, or are both done before germination can begin? Also if it helps I live in a 6a hardiness zone. For the stratification I heard that you use spaghum moss with the seeds while they are being refrigerated/cooled. Is the moss required or is there a possible alternative like moist paper towel? And I don't know much about the scarification save that it involves acidification of some sort. I just got the seeds but am not sure if I need to start one of these processes before getting them started in some soil.

I have some room indoors to get the seeds going a bit before moving them outside if need be. Also let me know if there's any equipment/things you recommend I use to grow my berries. Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
2 years ago
As with your question about currants I'll say again that you'll get far superior crops if you use cuttings or divisions from named cultivars. Growing from seed will probably lead to disappointment and could well be more expensive in the end that just buying a plant. Certainly it will take a lot more of your time.
Rashane Thapa
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks for the additional advice on currants, floral_UK. Do you have any advice for what I should do with my black raspberry seeds to prepare them for sowing?
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Rashane Thapa
Original Author
2 years ago
Also, when actually planting the black raspberry seeds, how many should I put in one pellet/plot? Do I just put one seed in a single pellet/area or do I put more together?

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