Population of Weeds in a Plantation of Red Raspberries (Rubus Idaeus L.)

Data from monitoring of weed populations are relevant for successful integrated weed management. The purpose of this experiment was to compare the diversity of weed species in red raspberry plantation rows. The red raspberry plantation was established in August 2019. The plantation is located in the south part of Latvia, Zemgale region (N56°33’29.5302”, E23°46’26.04”). The red raspberry cultivars ‘Daiga’, ‘Shahrazada’, ‘Norna’, and ‘Polana’ were grown in the plantation. The bushes were spaced at 0.6 m in rows and 3 m between rows in a plot with size 0.51 ha. Weed infestation in the red raspberry plantation was determined by using the counting method. The counting of weeds and identification of weed species were done three times during the vegetation at the 16^th,22^nd, and 30^th week of 2021. In total, 34 weed species, including 18 annual and 16 perennial weeds were present in the red raspberry plantation. Poa annua (5–60 plants per m-2) and Elytrigia repens (6–393 plants m⁻²) were found as dominant weeds. During experiment there were differences in weed populations and density between red raspberry cultivars. The cultivar ‘Norna’ was dominated by perennial weeds, while ‘Polana’ by annual weeds.