Growing and Maintaining Small Fruits

broadcast fertilizer

applied over an entire area. Broadcast fertilizer can stimulate unwanted weed growth between the rows

Heeling in

means of short-term storage. It involves placing the plant roots in a shallow trench and covering them with soil or organic mulch.

Banded fertilizer

placed only on the row,

bleeding,

the oozing of plant sap.

Frost protection

the practice of using water sprinklers when temperatures drop to 34°F (1°C) at plant level in the field or garden to prevent frost damage.

Floricanes

the second-year canes that form flowers and bear fruit.

four-arm kniffen system

the use of a two-wire trellis to support a grapevine that has a main trunk and four major lateral canes, or "arms." This system calls for early spring pruning of the vine to four lateral canes, each with 6 to 12 buds arising from the main trunk.

canes are biennial,

they have a two-year life.

Trellises

two or three wire supports stretched between wood or metal posts.

crown

where the shoot and the roots come together. It should be exposed at ground level. (strawberries)

Examples of small fruits

strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and grapes.

brambles

Raspberry, blackberry, and other thorny plants in the genus Rubus

Arbors

curved wooden supports that may also provide shade and add interest to a garden.

Small Fruits

edible fruits produced on small perennial plants.

Primocanes

first-year vegetative canes. They grow vigorously during the summer, initiate flower buds in the fall, and overwinter.

Spring-bearing (June-bearing) strawberries

produce berries mainly in the month of June,

everbearing strawberries

produce berries throughout the summer.

matted-row system

requires setting plants 24 inches apart in rows 3½ to 4 feet apart. This popular method allows the plants to form runners (horizontal shoots) to fill in the rows to about 2 feet wide. (strawberries).

hill system

requires the removal of all runners. The plants are set 12 to 18 inches apart in rows 1 to 1½ feet apart. Often the rows are arranged in groups of three or four, with 2-foot walkways between the groups of rows

spaced-row system

setting plants 24 inches apart in rows 3½ to 4 feet apart, but the runner plants are spaced to make roots not closer than 4 inches apart. In this method, rows about 2 feet wide are obtained. All new runners are removed. This gives optimal growing conditions for good production. Strawberries can develop dense mats that lower productivity. Spaced-row culture requires more care than matted-row culture, but higher yields, larger berries, and fewer disease problems are the rewards.