Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) make a suitable fruit crop for gardeners within U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 4 to 8 since they require a climate offering moist, somewhat cool conditions. Most commercially available raspberry shrubs are propagated vegetatively, but gardeners can successfully grow the plants at home using fresh seeds. Seed-grown raspberry plants possess the same potential for fruit production as those grown from cuttings, but with more variable results in the abundance and quality of the fruit. Nonetheless, it is a simple and effective means of creating a new shrub when fresh cuttings are unavailable.

Seed Starting
These instructions are for sprouting seeds in the spring outside if you live in a reasonably warm region. There are detailed instructions here on how to sprout raspberry seeds through the winter.

The supplies you’ll need are:

Sterile, low nutrient seed starting mix
Plastic pots or a seed starting tray
Peat pellets and empty trays
Raspberry seeds (of course!)
Plastic bag
Clean sand
Prepare your planting spot for the seeds first, moisten the peat disks or fill the plastic pots with the seed starting mix, you’ll want to choose a low-nutrient starting mix for this.

Once the peat pellets have absorbed water and expanded, they should be soft and easy to put seeds into. They’ll look a lot like the image.

Put two or three seeds in each pot or peat pellet. Place seeds 1″ apart if you’re using some other type of seed tray.

Use a pencil to push them down into the soil about ½” deep. Once planted, put a thin layer of sand over the seeds and then set them in a sheltered spot outside.

Keep the soil surface slightly moist with water from a spray bottle. Remember that raspberries don’t need a lot of water, so err on the side of caution and don’t spray them too much. After about four weeks of care, the seeds should start to germinate. It could take as long as six weeks to see the first ones sprout though, be patient.

Keep an eye on the weather outside and when it reaches 60° F minimum and stays above that then you can move your seeds in the garden.

Planting
It’s ok to begin transplanting them to the garden, raised bed or container when they are about 1″ tall and have started to show their first set of leaves.

It’s imperative that you don’t reuse any soil that’s been used recently for:

Potatoes
Tomatoes
Eggplants

Brambles Roses

Peppers (any type)

This includes any of these things planted in the soil within the last three years. These plants leave behind diseases such as Verticillium wilt that the raspberry plants are likely to pick up.

The Long Wait
Keep in mind that during the 4 to 6 weeks the new raspberry babies don’t need a ton of water, especially if you live in an area that gets spring rain.

Watch them, make sure pests don’t find them and then they should take off and grow quite quickly once the temperature climbs and stays above 65° – 70° F.

Good luck with your raspberry seeds! Let me know if you need help with them.