[apes1978]

I planted my raspberry canes a few months back, and there is still no sign of life, should anything be happening yet or am i too impatient? also, the ground is very dry as i have no water tap, and we rely on water butts, but we have had no rain for ages and my butts are dry, could the problem be that they are too thirsty  :?:

[Salkeela]

Hmmm... I transplanted a few canes a few months back.  Most now have leaves.  A few have none, but examination under the mulch (hay) shows a small shoot coming from the base even though the stick bit has died.  A couple show no progress whatsoever so I assume they didn't make it... but I'll leave them & see what happens.  

A bit of water would do no harm.  Then generous mulch round the base of the cane to reduce evaporation.

[crowndale]

I am in the same position with rasp canes.  Put in two lots of canes earlier in the year, one lot have all developed leaves and the other lot only one (out of 12) has leaves.  I will leave them be for now but am wondering myself how long before calling the supplier and saying 'oi you...!!'  It's not like they were free or anything, had to pay for them.

[cozzcov]

What did you do when you planted them?  Did you cut them down to soil level?  Although this will prevent any fruit in the first year but will help establish a good root system and more vigour for the next years.  Always water new plants. You might not get shoots showing until later in the year.  Mine are only a few inches high at the moment.

By the way are they summer or autumn fruiting?  Summer fruiting canes need cutting down after harvesting, this years new canes will produce fruit the next year.  Autumn fruiting need cutting down each February as they fruit on the same year's growth.

[crowndale]

I have some of both, it's the summer fruiting ones that haven't produced leaves yet.  They were cut back to about 6" as per instructions in the leaflet that arrived with them.  Maybe I'll go later and take a look at the roots and see if shoots are coming off them.  Is it worth cutting them back further even at this late stage?

[apes1978]

there were no instructions to cut them down when planted, im not sure whether they are summer or autumn ones now, i will give them a good water and see what happens, i havent given up hope yet!

[apes1978]

there were no instructions to cut them down when planted, im not sure whether they are summer or autumn ones now, i will give them a good water and see what happens, i havent given up hope yet!

[ruffmesiter_69]

you would have thought you would have seen some growth by now, when you planted them did you check the root system? check around the base of the canes as they may be shooting new growth. did you get them from a reputable supplier?

[cozzcov]

if you are lucky then they could be putting all their efforts into building roots, this will lead to good strong canes in following years. I moved some autumn fruiters early this year and the have sprouted but are only a couple of inches high.  I must have moved one good one as there are extra canes coming up a few inches away from the main cane, even a tiny one where it was dug up from.  Water them well, anything planted new needs to be well watered during its first year.

6 inches was probably the advice so that you don't lose where you've planted them.  Always prune old growth down to soil level, its helps prevent any diseases or infections being held by the plant.
You won't really see much grown on summers yet, they grow canes to fruit the following year - you have pruned back this years fruiting canes when you planted.  

The only other thing I can suggect is sit back and wait - I was only given 4 canes 6 years ago - i now have well over 20 - i give some away each year.