Author Topic: Fruit Cage Newbie  (Read 1848 times)

Dinu

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Fruit Cage Newbie
« on: September 17, 2014, 09:18:00 »
Hi

I recently built a fruit cage for my allotment.  My intention is to grow soft fruit as I have already got numerous established fruit trees on my allotment when I inherited it. However I am still very much a newbie and this will be my first attempt at growing soft fruit and I would be incredibly grateful for your feedback.

The encompasses 4 beds all approximately 115cm wide each and 3 beds of the length of 3.9M and one of the length of 3.7M. The paths in-between the beds are 60cm wide, while the main path at the back is 70cm wide. Lastly the entrance to the fruit cage measures approximately 90cm.

I was intending to create a raised bed on bed 4 for strawberries.  And then grow (NOT on raised beds) Blueberries on bed 3, Summer Fruiting Raspberries on Bed 2 and lastly Autumn Fruiting Rasberries on Bed 1. I wanted to try and grow Rhubarb somewhere but can’t think of where to incorporate it in the plan.   

Questions:

1.   Have I made the best use of the space?
2.   Have I decided on the right soft fruit? Are there any you could recommend which you love to grow and eat?
3.   If I do go with the fruit I have chosen how many plants should I order bearing in mind that the raspberries are only available in packs of 5 canes.
4.   How many blueberry plants do I order for bed 3?
5.   What variety of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries do you recommend?
6.   When should I start to plant my fruit cage?
7.   Where can I incorporate the Rhubarb?
8.   How should I prepare the soli?
9.   Any other advice?

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post and help a newbie!

GREGME

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Re: Fruit Cage Newbie
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2014, 12:23:13 »
Hi just had a quick read, remember you will need acid soil/compost for blueberries which are maybe better in pots. Sure others on here will recommend favourite strawberry, raspberries varieties on here.

daveyboi

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Re: Fruit Cage Newbie
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2014, 13:24:38 »
I would not bother to put the rhubarb in the fruit cage if you have space available elsewhere.

The only other thing that springs to mind right now is setting the orientation of the raspberries and also so they do not shade the other fruits.
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Buster54

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Re: Fruit Cage Newbie
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2014, 22:42:03 »
 :wave: hi I grow Polka raspberries(autumn fruiting,fruits on new canes so you cut them down end of the season and they spread by underground shoots popping up everywhere close to the mother plant so they virtually double or treble the second season once established and can grow upto 6ft so position is paramount as they will over shadow) and 'Mara des Bois' strawberries as this variety of strawberries fruit from May to October in my polytunnel and June/July till October outside depending on the weather,just remember you may buy 12 strawberry plants but that could turn into 72 depending on how many runners the mother plant sends out in a season if you let them
You will need 2-3 different varieties of blueberries(supposed to aid bumper crops)and need to be grown in acidic soil(a constant pH of 5.5 or lower) or ericaceous compost if in a container,and rhubarb needs to be put in a corner of the allotment out the way of everything as once established can take up a lot of room with its massive leaves
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chriscross1966

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Re: Fruit Cage Newbie
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2014, 13:38:33 »
RHubarb doesn't need caging, personally I'd suggest that (in order of neccessity), strawberries would be top of the list, followed by the currants (black/red/white) then gooseberries, then the raspberry/blackberry family and hybrids, plus dwarf trees fruit like plums... I've got Tulameen (summer), Autumn BLiss and All GOld (autumn, yellow) raspberries adn reckon they're all pretty good.... most of them came from Aldi/Lidl, took a year to get going (I put them in pots in the GH as soon as I got them, and only planted out the ones that got going properly the next year) ) the Tulameen started up in mid June this year, though more usually they start at the start of July, the Autumn Bliss have been going since the start of September, joined by the All GOld a week or so later, they can carry on into November if we don't get a proper frost...All GOld is a lot sweeter though smaller adn maybe not so flavourful as Autumn BLiss, but I like them mixed together... the plant is a chunk politer than Autumn Bliss too, though with all raspberries, once you've got them your main horticultural problem s trying to stop them taking over completely... sooner or later they will succumb to viral diseases though (they get  stunted and unproductive), at which point rip them out and plant something else and swap the location with something else ....FOr Strawberries I like Cambridge Favourite for the taste, but it needs managing properly or it's just an invasive ground cover weed that won't crop well... blueberries I wouldn't know about.... I'm no fan and my soil would be hopeless for them as it is rather alkaline...

 

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