Raspberry Red Guard: variety description, advantages and disadvantages, cultivation

Recently, the owners of garden plots prefer to grow remontant varieties that tend to bear fruit on the shoots of the current year, as well as to present tasty and he althy berries for a long time. One of these varieties include raspberries Red Guard. About the features of the berry, as well as how to properly plant and care for the variety, we will talk further.

Description and characteristics of raspberry Red Guard

It is advisable to start the description of this variety directly from the berries. So, the first thing they pay attention to is the taste and color, and they do not leave anyone indifferent.Each berry has a weight of about 12 grams, and their taste is excellent. Some gardeners have managed to grow raspberries weighing 18 grams.

Repairing raspberry Red Guard is characterized by powerful bushes. Young shoots are located close and compact to each other, from the side it seems that they all come from one point. By the way, this fact simplifies the care of culture. Plant height reaches 160 centimeters.

Raspberries start to bloom from the fifteenth of July, and by the end of the month the first harvest of berries is already harvested. The crop bears fruit until frost. In one season, with proper care for raspberries, it is possible to collect at least 9 kilograms from one bush.

Pros and cons

Comparing the Red Guard raspberries with other remontant varieties, it is worth noting several advantages:

Raspberries begin to bear fruit much earlier than others, and the berries have an excellent taste. All fruits are the same size, which can not but increase the commercial characteristics of this variety.
Some berries grow together, resulting in double-sized fruits.
The plant is disease-resistant and highly frost-resistant.
Culture has a high reproductive capacity.

The variety is considered elite, so it is devoid of many of the shortcomings that others have. However, in order to get a decent harvest, the owner of the garden plot must comply with all the requirements of agricultural technology when growing raspberries.

Cultivation specifics

The specifics of growing raspberries depends on the characteristics of the plant. We will tell you more about how to properly organize a landing below.

Choosing a seat

The soil plays an important role in the cultivation of Red Guard raspberries, in particular, its composition. So, the land for planting should be loose and contain a sufficient amount of humus. Also, special attention should be paid to the location of the site.

The variety needs adequate lighting. On the site for planting the plant should not be high-lying groundwater. The place must be protected from the wind.

Planting Pit

When the landing site is determined, it is necessary to draw a markup. Between the rows they leave at least one and a half meters, and between the bushes - half a meter.

Next, start preparing the landing pits. The easiest way is to plant raspberry seedlings in trenches. The depth of the trenches must be at least 45 centimeters.

Soil preparation

The next step is preparing the soil. This point also requires attention, especially if the land on the site does not meet the requirements of this type. Depending on what kind of soil is available, you need to draw conclusions about what exactly is missing in it, and take measures to replace or improve it.

The main task is to make the soil structure loose and provide the right amount of trace elements.

Filling the planting trench

It is useful to compact planting holes or trenches when planting bushes, which will ensure that the required amount of moisture flows to the roots of plants.

Ground landing

Planting raspberries in the ground does not cause problems and consists of the following steps:

A hole is prepared in the soil, whose size would correspond to the size of the root system of the seedling.
The hole is watered, the soil is compacted.
The seedling is released into the hole and covered with soil.
The plant is being watered.
The earth is being filled up.
Mulch.

How to care for the Red Guard raspberry variety?

If the landing took place according to all the rules, and the deadlines are met, you can be sure that at the end of the season there will be a rich harvest in the beds. So, competent care of the variety is another prerequisite in order to get a good berry.

Water and mulch

When raspberries are planted under mulch, they require little to no watering. Water is needed in cases where the weather is dry.

Experienced gardeners recommend drip irrigation. The best option would be to lay an old hose, on which small punctures are made, and let a weak pressure of water. The hose is left next to the raspberry bushes for about 1-2 hours.

Garter

For growth and proper development, the plant needs a garter. Since the bushes are quite powerful and tall, the selected support should also be reliable. Raspberries planted in trenches need a trellis garter. The trellis is usually stretched over poles located along the edges of the row.

Loosening

As for loosening the crop, it must be done carefully, since the raspberry root system is close to the surface of the soil.

Feeding

Raspberries are fed in the following way: 2 tablespoons of urea, half a glass of ash are diluted in 10 liters of water. Plants should be watered with the resulting nutrient solution. After such top dressing, it is recommended to heavily water the crop to prevent burns of the root system.

Pinching

If we talk about traditional raspberries, it is worth noting that the berries appear on last year's stems, so they are cut as soon as the harvest has taken place, so that no hemp remains. This will be the starting point for strong young shoots to begin to develop, which will initiate the future harvest.

As for the remaining young stems, pinch the top to speed up their maturation.

In addition, be sure to systematically thin out the planting, getting rid of the growth, which is characterized by poor development and only thickens the raspberries.

Preparing for winter

Raspberry Red Guard is a frost-resistant variety that does not need to be prepared for winter. Experienced gardeners recommend tying the highest shoots of bushes into bunches so that they do not get damaged by snow pressure. Despite the fact that in the spring the shoots are cut flush with the ground, their damage reduces the yield of raspberries in general.

Combating diseases and pests

Regardless of which variety the raspberry belongs to, care measures must necessarily include preventive measures or direct control of diseases and pests.

So, the main enemies of berries are: raspberry beetle, stem fly and spider mite. As a preventive measure against raspberry parasites, they practice deep digging of the soil in the autumn, while eliminating plant debris, and in spring the bushes are covered with agrofiber.

As for fungal diseases, spraying of bushes using solutions of Bordeaux mixture and Nitrofen is used to combat them.

If the bushes are affected by viral diseases, such as root cancer, mosaic or curl, the plant must be removed and burned.

Raspberry breeding

Raspberry of this variety is characterized by a high ability for successful reproduction. So, one plant is capable of providing up to 20 root shoots in one season. If in the future it is planned that some of the offspring will go for further transplantation, it is necessary to eliminate weak shoots and leave future seedlings to develop in such a way that the distance between them is at least 10-15 centimeters.

At the time of transplantation, seedlings must be cut off and planted at the depth of the previous occurrence. To make acclimatization as easy as possible, after watering the soil is mulched with compost, which is applied in a fairly thick layer.

Cleaning and storage

The best time to harvest raspberries is early morning when the berries are still cool. It is also better if there is no moisture on the surface of the fruit (rain or dew), because this affects the duration of storage, and also worsens the quality of the berries.

Only ripened fruits are subject to collection, which are easy to distinguish by color, and they are also easily separated from the fruit. The berry is taken with three fingers and removed from the fruit, turning it a little. This process requires the utmost care and accuracy, as raspberries are easily damaged.

Raspberries are stored for several days at temperatures from 0 degrees to +2. If harvested in dry and cool weather, it is stored for up to a week.