The raspberry will live but 8 inches is pretty shallow. Planted in the ground their roots can grow several feet down. Potted plants tend to adjust their size based on the available soil, so your plants may also be much smaller and less productive than one grown in the ground. If your goal is water retention you may have better luck just planting it in the ground and providing a decent amount of mulch around the plant, on top of the ground.

Thanks!I read online that the oot should be 15" deep and wide for one plant but now I'm wondering if a 2 foot pot might be the way to go? I was trying to avoid planting them in-ground because I'm hoping to keep them contained and I was worried about additional runners.

Most red raspberries do have new plants popping up nearby the plant but you can simply pull them up early in the season and they are not that much of a problem. As an alternative, if you want to go the container route, try one of the fabric containers (e.g. plant bags) which helps the plant manage the water better.

Should i bury the plant bag? If the new plants are easily pulled up it may be easier for me to amend my clay soil and plant the canes.

I would suggest amending the soil, perhaps adding some peat moss if you have clay soil. I found that it is an ongoing battle to keep potted blackberry or raspberry with the correct level of moisture. The final touch is adding plenty of mulch around the plant to conserve moisture. Pine needles work well and do not seem to compact as badly as other types of mulches.

Richard Ashton wrote a good article on growing fall berries in Texas gardener magazine. You can search it and read it on line. Raspberries do not like Texas heat and really require afternoon shade to keep them from dying. The berries also do not like the heat and the plants should be pruned back to keep them from fruiting too early in the fall. You did get a fall bearing plant which is the best for Texas. Black berries are better suited for Texas conditions. I do not think that the plants will spread due to the harsh summer conditions. Good luck. I planted some last spring and was able to get a few berries last fall. I just don't know how long the plants will survive.

Thanks for the advice. I made the mistake of planting blueberry bushes in full Texas sun last year and they didn't survive long. I have a fence line that gets full morning sun and some afternoon shade. I guess I'll plant them there. It's the spot I was planning to try artichokes in.

My blueberries have no problem taking full sun all day long, rather enjoying full sun and growing vigorously. The only down side, all my blueberry plants are in the containers I have to water them the every other day (if not every day). I am in Texas (zone 8B), btw :-)

Your blueberry bush puts my new little plant to shame, lol.

This is my sunshine blueberry bush going on its third year. Yes, I should have pruned it better but with the birds and my 5 and 9 year old boy, my wife and I try to grow as many as possible. It is in a 15 gallon pot with a mixture of peat moss and pine bark. I will prune all the lower branches after harvest. My ONeal blueberries are tall and starting to ripen. With less bushy habitat the berries are bigger and sweeter.

Glad to see you have them on boards. I used Roottrapper II on a lot of blackberry cultivars in an attempt to keep them from spreading into the ground. Gophers dug their way through all of them and the blackberries took care of the rest.

Well here's my two cents, pretty much reiterate what most said here, someone once told me if you keep plants in the black plastic containers that the roots would burn in intense heat, don't know if that's true.

But today as i'm checking my raspberries and blackberries i noticed my Heritage Raspberry has begun starting fruit buds already, i live in New York here but had those potted plants getting a headstart in my garage in early March, now that said i can't believe that it's starting to grow fruit already...is this common ?.....5-6 weeks till harvest put's that around end of May for Heritage....real nice!

We have a new golden raspberry plant that we recently transplanted into a container and it isn't responding well, looking a little withered and not seeing any new growth. Are there any pruning tactics or other modifications we can use to encourage a very young plant? It is a 14" standing cane at the moment. Thanks!