Hi Red,

As long as the roots/plants have been stored somewhere COLD long enough for them to be thoroughly hardened off, I dont see any problem with planting them now. Obviously your soil needs to be thawed, and one very important thing: be sure the soil where youÂll be working and planting them isnÂt too wet. If you dig up a little bit and youÂve got a mud ball, itÂs too wet! If you dig up a shovelful, it should break apart pretty easily. If you work in the area and plant when itÂs too wet, itÂll become badly compacted, and when it dries out youÂll wind up with something akin to concrete. So harden them off, and check out your soilÂif in doubt, wait a few days longer and check againÂand then go for it!

Happy planting,
Skybird

P.S. If youÂre still looking for anise hyssop seeds, check out my post on the Seed Exchange thread.

I agree with Skybird and if they are hardened off/chill requirement met and your soil can be worked, go for it.

Dan

How does one go about hardening off blackberries, raspberries???

Do you have the plants now? Were they "inside" where you bought them (I assume they were this early in the year). Are they bare root or in pots?

Almost no matter what you answer to those questions, if you have an unheated garage, stick them out there for the rest of this week---an unheated shed would work too (as long as the garage or shed doesn't get too warm during the day). Then, next week, if the nites are gonna be right around freezing, lay them outside somewhere on the north side of something, maybe with a light blanket or something over them for the first couple nites, then leave them out there for a few more nites without being covered at all (but if they're bare root, be sure you keep them in the plastic or whatever they're in), and then they're hardened off! It's just a matter of getting them acclimated to the cold temperature over a week or two---depending on how warm a place they were being kept in where you got them.

It's easy, just takes a few days or a couple weeks!

Skybird

If you have the plants and they've broken dormancy, I'd pot them up and hold them in a light, cool, but non-freezing area until nature catches up. Raspberries in your area probably won't be leafing out until late April or early May, which is their signal that mother nature has told them the coldest weather is past. If you plant growing berries out before then, you are just asking for a hard frost to take them out.

If they are growing and you hold them, then you will need to do the hardening off bit before putting them out in the sun and wind permanently or the leaves will get fried.

Plants which are still fully dormant can be planted out as soon as you can work the soil and they will then wake up when it is time.

The key is to purchase plants without budding leaves, then do as the excellent advice above sez. We went into the local HD the other day and their seed potatoes are inside, rotting and raspberries budding. The Lowe's stock is outside, perfectly fine.

Dan

Thanks for all the advice. Keep it coming for this newbie to berry bushes!!!

This is going to be a great spring for learning. Many firsts - First raised beds, first square foot gardening, first raspberries & blackberries, first fruit trees (goosberry, black currant...etc). Now to begin to find soaker hoses. Can't wait to have my own house so I can put a soaker sprinkler system in. Until then, it's hoses throughout the garden.

Ok...here's the update. I decided not to get any because I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks...however, my neighbors are helping the gardening cause and now I have raspberries & blackberries.

Raspberries (from Home Depot in a plastic bag) - no budding leaves, but not sure if they're dormant. Will do the hardening off as described above - time in the outside shed, then time slumbering under a blanket next to the house, and then out to the great outdoors. Hopefully my neighbors can help me with this, as they were the ones that got me the berries...and I'm going to annual training with the air force for 2 weeks - leaving Sat!!!

Blackberries (from Lowe's in a larger plastic bag) - not only budding, but have leaves! I'm confused if I should give them the same treatment as above or should I 'pot them up and hold them in a light, cool, but non-freezing area until nature catches up'?? Could this be the shed for 2 weeks, or should I keep the raspberries and blackberries home inside for those 2 weeks? If I pot them up, should I water them, or just mulch them heavily with leaves?

Suggestions? Advice?

Redley

Hi Red,

Ok, the raspberries are easy! I assume theyre still in their plastic bags, and with at least some holes in the plastic for ventilation?

Stick them out in the shedon the floorwhere theyll stay cold for the two weeks youre gone. On the floor to keep them as cold as possible during the day, and if it happens to get really warm around here while youre gone, you might ask the neighbors to come over and open the shed to cool it down during the day. If it stays pretty cold theyll be fine out there till you get back. Throwing an old blanket or rug over them would probably keep them cold enough on the floor even if it got pretty warm in the shed. All youre trying to do is to keep them from breaking dormancy while youre gone.

The blackberries are a little bit tougher! I sure wish people didnt sell stuff that was out of dormancy when its still "winter" outside! I agree that planting them in pots for now would probably be the best and easiest. What kind of soil do you have to plant them in? Id probably put them in (store bought) potting soil, but thats because I always have it around here and its the easiest to work with. If you use garden soil Id still recommend mixing it about half and half with potting soil (NOT Hyponex brand) or homemade compost if you have access to that. When things are in pots I find they can be hard to water and "manage" when theyre planted in clay garden soilwater runs straight thru when you try to water them, or it holds the water way too long and can promote root rot, especially when it's cold as has been mentioned on another thread.

When you have them potted up (and watered thoroughly) you could either stick them in the shedas long as we dont get REALLY cold while youre gone (It sounds like you have some really great neighbors!

Good luck with your recurrent training! Do the nursing lessons just go "dormant" while youre gone? ;-)

Skybird

Skybird,

Yes, both raspberries and blackberries in plastic bags with ventillation holes. Will place the raspberries under a blanket on the bottom of the shed, and the blackberries get potted up tomorrow morning and placed in the shed (unless I can get to them tonight...could happen, I'm famous for making a mess out of my kitchen potting until the wee hours of the night)

I have some store bought potting soil for potting veggies and flowers (from Lowe's for my winter sowing obsession...just got 20 more milk jugs today). I don't have the miracle grow with the 6 month of fertilizing anymore. Not sure if it works or not. Figured I would try a bunch of different soils in the winter sowing. I'm curious - why not Hyponex???

As for my shed...I know you'll be jealous...my shed is from France of the super-fancy Le Rubbermaide type and it is under a tree, so it will be nice and cool inside. I'm hoping my nursing mate will take the plants out every few days...I know she's super busy, so I'm hoping that they will last for the 1 weeks even if she can't do it. The 2nd week I'll have a friend I met during basic training actually staying here and she'll be more than happy to shuffle the black berries. for the next 5 days, it looks like heat won't be the issue - high of 54 but a low of 20 for 2 nights in a row on wed and thurs. Is that too chilly to put out in the shed straight from the indoor racks at Lowe's and Home Depot?

And no, I wish the nursing lessons went dormant while I was training. I will be studying after working all day doing community outreach programs with my fellow medics, nurses, and doctors...BUT I will be doing it in Hawaii at Hickim Air Force Base, so I'll be doing it with a smile :) (and I'm a redhead, so sun is the enemy!)

I'm looking forward to meeting you at the spring swap. I am excited for spring, but have so much to do before then!!! My oh my I do ramble don't I ;)

Oops - forgot to double check on my understanding. When can these blanketed raspberries and potted blackberries be planted? Would the 2 weeks I'm gone be sufficient 'hardening off time' and as long as the soil is good to go (as stated in earlier post), can I actually plant them the first week of April when I return if they survive the shed experience?

Redley

LOL! Well Im sorta thinkin that studying after working all day in Hawaii is maybe better than studying even not after working all day in Denver! And community outreach programs sounds kinda like fun to me!

The raspberries will be fine in the shed (is your French shed a big-enough-to-walk-into one rather than one of those Rubbermaid storage bin kinda things?) covered up on the floor for the whole two weeks as long as it stays cold. The blackberries should be ok too, but with leaves already, they really should be getting out into some bright light at least part of the time, and I recommend in the shade because youre better off if they dont start growing too much yet, and our hot sun could really get them going. I checked NOAA, and they show the coldest temps as getting barely down to the mid 20's for the next 7 days in Golden, so if it stays like that the whole time, no worries. And even if it should get into the teens after theyve been out there this week, they should be hardened off enough to take it in the shed by then. If youre gonna worry about them for the first few nites you put them out there, cover them with an old sheet or very light weight blanket for the next couple nites before you leave. Theyre tougher then you might think, and even if the leaves get ratty looking, the canes will be fineas a matter of fact, it wouldnt be at all unusual for the leaves that started to grow in the package to turn brown after theyre planted anywaybut your new growth will be just fine. So work out what you can to get the blackberries out of the shed during the day at least part of the time, and even if that doesnt work out for some reason, theyre still not gonna dry up and blow away in a couple weeks. ;-)

Re: whether or not theyll be hardened off and ready to plant out when you get back, wait till then and see what happens with the weather between now and then. This is Colorado after alland its MARCH! You could come back home to 3' of snow!

Hyponex "potting soil" is composed mostly of something called sedge peat (Colorado peat) and it could pretty accurately also be called sludge or muck! Its a nasty, nasty fine particle peat thats, well, thats mucky! I cant imagine successfully growing anything in it, and I suspect most of the people who buy it and kill their plants think they cant grow plants, when the only thing they really cant do well is buy potting soil! Next time youre in Walmart or Kmart find the Hyponex and lift up a bagits like lifting a bag of lead! Theyre able to keep selling it because its cheap and many people dont have a clue what a good potting mix should be like. With Hyponex folks would be better off if they just saved their money and used the clay they have in their yards! Theyre totally different, but both equally bad for plantsbut at least the clay wouldnt cost them anything!

Almost any other "all purpose" potting mix should work pretty well. A good potting mix should feel "light and fluffy" when its moistitll be mostly Canadian peat, which is WAY different from Colorado peat. I use Sunshine Mix which I buy in 3.8 cubic foot bales at Paulinos. Sunshine is a good mix, and buying it in the bales is the cheapest way to buy itabout $33 a baleand it "keeps forever." I use probably about a bale per year, but for the last couple years Ive been using quite a bit to pot up the things I bring to the swaps. I use Sunshine #1, but #1 and #2 are virtually the same, and the cheapest ones. Paulinos carries Sunshine all purpose mix in bags too.

And I think its David who swears by Black Gold brandBlack Gold and Sunshine are made by the same company! Black Gold is available at Timberline which is the garden center with the absolute best selection of perennials in the Denver area, and isnt that far away from you at Ward Road and 58th! I dont know if Kelly carries the Black Gold in bales or not. One comment: I did happen to notice that the CSU page I linked above under Hyponex mentions that they DONT recommend the Black Gold "All Organic" mix. Ive never used itcant comment on it!

I think I got all your questions! Have fun in Hawaii!

Aloha,
Skybird

One thing to remember....Potting MIX and Potting SOIL are not the same thing. You want MIX! :)

Actually, I use the words interchangeably, Ms. Fuzz. MANY years ago they were all called potting soils, but then some companies started calling them mixes, and now you can find it either way. Whats in the bag makes more difference than whats on the outside of the bag. ;-) So if the bag says "soil" on it, dont let it scare you away, just look for something to plant things in thats light and fluffy when its moistmostly Canadian peat, and itll work for you.

Skybird