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Home Depot Raspberries and Blackberries

C-BUSOH
10 years ago

Is it okay to buy Raspberry and Blackberry bushes from Home Depot or will they probably die or not do as well as bushes from a garden center?

Comments (16)

  • C-BUSOH
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for the info! I think I will try the fall gold. Also how could i tell if it is new stock? and is the best time to buy them in april or early may?

  • ericwi
    10 years ago

    What Drew said. Plant stock at the big box stores is likely to be perfectly OK when it arrives, but it might not get the care it needs, so it declines in health quickly. To get good stock, you have to visit once a week in the late winter/early spring, and grab what you want when you know its fresh.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    If it's fairly new stock, it should have green leaves, or green buds, no white buds from lack of sun, or no buds because they all died. The plant should look alive at least. I suppose if it has any growth, it should recover. If nothing green or even white, it's dead. Sometimes bare root raspberries have no growth, but they sell rooted plants, in a dirt ball. Nobody is selling bare root right now.
    Plants grow slowly at first, it has to get used to it's new home. You're going to have to baby it, and if you do buy now, even more so as we are about to enter into the hot summer. Water heavy let it dry out to almost dry, and water again. Under or over watering is the biggest problems. We live near each other and Fall Gold seems to do very well here, it is a yellow raspberry btw. It is has fantastic flavor, much better than any yellows you can buy. No much, much, much better!!
    If you do not buy now do what ericwi said and go there weekly late winter, early spring and you will see them come in!

    Other good cultivars I like are
    Everbearing:
    Caroline
    Polka
    Double Gold
    Crimson Night

    June bearing:
    Encore
    Prelude
    Taylor

    Blackberries:
    Triple Crown
    Black Diamond
    Boysenberry
    Navaho

    Some are not that good, so I'm not sure what they have if it's good? I have limited experience with blackberries.

  • lawanddisorder
    10 years ago

    I bought a number of berry bushes this spring that came from Lowes and Home Depot, and they are all very healthy and producing berries. If you have a Lowes nearby, they have a bunch of them on clearance right now for $5.

  • Charlie
    10 years ago

    I have often bought fruit trees/bushes from HD after the planting season was over and the plants were placed on sale (in N. Virginia) and I have never lost one. I have a plum, a peach and a fig that were bought that way.

  • Charlie
    10 years ago

    I have often bought fruit trees/bushes from HD after the planting season was over and the plants were placed on sale (in N. Virginia) and I have never lost one. I have a plum, a peach and a fig that were bought that way.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    "If you have a Lowes nearby, they have a bunch of them on clearance right now for $5."

    That's way too much! You can order online and get great berry plants for less than that at peak times too! Currently most are not selling berries till fall or spring.
    Indiana Berry is sold out at the moment, but they charge 3 dollars for bare root, and the plants are really nice! Bare root means dormant with no leaves. I bought three and they look awesome now!
    In this photo from left to right

    Encore
    Taylor
    Prelude

    Encore and Prelude were from Indiana Berry
    Taylor from Willis orchards.
    Notice how much more healthy The Indiana Berry plants look.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    Berries Unlimited, and Norse Farms are also good places to obtain plants. Burpee has Double Gold and Crimson Night, but they are expensive. Rare raspberries though!

    This post was edited by Drew51 on Tue, Jun 25, 13 at 14:22

  • C-BUSOH
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    What kind of soil do you guys plant your raspberries in?

  • C-BUSOH
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    What kind of soil do you guys plant your raspberries in?

  • lawanddisorder
    10 years ago

    I'm not sure I agree with Drew for a couple reasons.

    The plants you get from HD/Lowes are potted with established, strong root structure and will bear plenty of fruit in the first year. $5 is a lot less than prices I see at all other retail locations.

    I ordered a bunch online, too, and, at least in their first year, the ones I got from HD/Lowes are bigger, stronger, and are bearing WAY more berries than the ones I ordered online. I got mine from Stark Bros and Henry Fields, so maybe Drew's source (Indiana Berry) has better/more mature stock.

    Plus, an extra $2 to get them now, rather than wait until the fall or next spring when online nurseries start shipping again seems like a fair price to me. I also have no patience, so...

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    Yeah I agree you could probably establish the Lowes/HD plants easier, so I think I may even disagree with myself! Well at least you have other sources if you want a particular type. I have heard many say they all taste the same, and I would strongly disagree with that. Although all raspberries are decent! Some blackberries are not!

    Soil

    I like to use 1/3 potting or garden soil or both. 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost. I also mix in trace minerals.
    Use premium potting or garden soil. Every year in the spring I mix 2/3 compost 1/3 peat to the top. About an inch coating. As you can see mine are in beds. Not all but most of mine are in beds. The Fall Gold is not, and it is in clay loam, and is doing well!
    The problem with my mix, is it dries super quick! So you have to water a lot. We have super wet springs, so the soil prevents any wet feet problems. It can rain everyday and the soil will not saturate!

    I use rain water to water, and also add some sulfur to the soil, to keep it below 7.0. My city water is 7.8, and at times I have to use it, so the sulfur keeps the PH under 7. Just a touch. I have sulfur for my blueberries, but what the hey, share the wealth!

    Currently on the new plants I'm using a water soluble inorganic fertilizer at 1/2 dose recommended, but next year once plants have established will switch to organic. I use fertilizer meant for raspberries, but a good one is Holly tone. Meant for acid plants, raspberries and strawberries don't like severe acid, but some is OK, counteracts my 7.8 water PH. Contains sulfur and microbes.

  • curtis
    10 years ago

    C-BUSOH, If doing in a pot, whatever potting soil you are already using, if planting in a raised bed or yard, don't worry about the soil. I have given away a lot of my overflow plants and they do pretty well in every soil I have put them in, even crappy yellow clay. Raspberries are almost as easy to grow as grass. (speaking from zone 5 mid west)

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    "Raspberries are almost as easy to grow as grass."

    I agree that raspberries will grow in just about anything, but I want high yields of at least 50 berries per cane. I expect to raise it a lot higher too as I fine tune growing techniques.
    Garbage in garbage out. All lawns do not look alike! It's not that easy to have a nice lawn.

  • drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
    10 years ago

    "The plants you get from HD/Lowes are potted with established, strong root structure and will bear plenty of fruit in the first year. "

    Sure for the first week they have them. But 6 weeks later when still there, they are anything but how you describe them. So I would not just go out and buy from them without having any idea of how long they have been in the store. I have seen the 6 week old brambles, and they looked really bad! I noticed they are pre-packaged too, so they are not even watering them. Good luck with that!
    Anyway I do agree with you that if new they are excellent, but that is not always the case. Next spring, watch how long they are in the store....
    I bought plants from Stark Brothers too, and they are not as big, but each cultivar is different. I had no problems with their berries.
    When I bought Fall Gold from Home Depot it didn't produce well the first year. It was having a hard time establishing. The 2nd year it was great! This is the 3rd year for mine, and it is now mature. It takes a good 3 years no matter where you get them. Part of the 1st year was also my inexperience no doubt. I improved the soil, added compost, mulch. It's making a difference.
    My new beds have premium soil, and I'm getting premium growth the 1st year. So it may only take 2 years to reach full maturity.

    This post was edited by Drew51 on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 2:03

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