Blackberries have been known to us for a long time, but summer residents began growing them en masse on their plots a couple of decades ago. Moreover, in our country it is distributed mainly among private farms, and is very rarely grown on small farms. In Europe (especially in Poland and the UK), farmers boldly began growing vitamin berries for commercial purposes, but they cannot keep up with the world leaders in production - Mexico, Canada and the USA. By the way, it is from Mexico that this delicate berry comes to Europe.
Blackberries are biennial crops - in the first year of life, their shoots grow, and fruit buds are just being laid; in the second year of life, flowers appear, then fruits. After this, the fruit-bearing shoots die off, which is why they are cut out at the root in the fall. In parallel with the fruiting shoots, replacement shoots grow, on which fruit buds are laid. The bush is normalized from these new shoots, removing the excess ones, leaving the strongest ones, which will produce next year's harvest. Thus, the owner can plan the development of the bush and the harvest.
But there is also remontant blackberry, which is cultivated as an annual crop. It forms fruits on the shoots of the first year, after which all shoots are cut off in the fall, and next year new ones grow, on which flowers will grow, and then fruits. You don’t have to cut the shoots after fruiting, then next year there is a reason to expect two harvests.
Berry crops are usually planted in the spring in an open, well-lit place with prepared (generously fertilized) soil. After planting, the seedling is pruned, leaving shoots no more than 30 cm from the ground. Then they take care of it all season - water it, weed it, loosen the ground around it, save it from pests, and in the fall the shoots are carefully rolled up and placed under cover, and in winter they are also covered with more snow. Next year, these shoots will bear the first fruits, which are usually allowed to ripen - they will no longer weaken the bush. In a couple of years, the root system will develop, the bush will mature, and fruiting will reach its maximum.
When to pick blackberries
The wild ancestor of our garden blackberries usually ripens in the second half of summer. But today scientists tell the crop when it is best for it to ripen. The varieties and hybrids created by breeders can be independently selected according to the time of fruit ripening. Just like a thorny bush, which causes many unpleasant moments for the gardener when caring for it, can be replaced with a thornless one, because a garden thornless blackberry has already been created.
There are early, mid-season and late varieties of blackberries.
The fruits of early varieties ripen in June. There is an opinion that these are not the most delicious, usually sour and small berries, but this is not entirely true. For example, from the beginning of June you can pick large cone-shaped berries of the Columbia Star variety. Its thornless creeping shoots are grown on trellises. This variety is undemanding to growing conditions and care, and produces a rich harvest of aromatic, sweet and sour berries. The very famous Natchez variety produces its first ripe berries in June, and its last in August. This thornless bush produces powerful, upright shoots, and its large berries are distinguished by their sweetness.
“Thornfree”, “Karaka Black”, “Loch Tay” - all this early varieties crops resistant to traditional diseases. The only thing you can be afraid of when growing early blackberries is spring frosts; if they occur at the beginning of flowering, the harvest will be spoiled.
Most varieties of blackberries have extended fruiting: flowers bloom at the same time, ovaries form, and berries ripen. All this can last from 4 to 6 weeks, for some even longer. Harvest should be done after 2-3 days; it is not advisable to leave the berries on the branches after they are fully ripe.
This feature is considered as an advantage if you want to constantly receive fresh berries, or as a disadvantage if you want to quickly harvest the crop in order to process it.
July is the time of ripening for mid-season blackberry varieties. Among them there are prickly and thornless, large-fruited and not so large. Large-fruited “Black Satin” and “Loch Ness” are deservedly popular. “Laughton” is an old variety, its berries are not very large, but aromatic, with a dessert sweet-sour taste; they tolerate transportation well and are stored for several days without losing their qualities. "Laughton" usually gives an excellent harvest, blooms even when there is no threat of late frosts, and ripens under the bright warm sun.
The late blackberry harvest ripens in July–August, sometimes in September, like “Chokeberry.” The most famous varieties are: “Chester Thornless”, “Navajo”, “Texas”, “Apache”. It’s good to get a harvest of delicious vitamin berries at the end of summer, when all the others have long been ripe, eaten and forgotten. But with late ripening there is always a danger of losing part of the harvest with the arrival of cold weather. The fact is that even those blackberries, which the creators declared frost-resistant, will freeze in our winters without shelter. This means that in the fall, before the cold weather arrives, you need to have time to trim and cover the shoots for the winter, even if not all the berries are ripe.
There is also a remontant blackberry, which is capable of producing a harvest not only on the shoots of the first year, but can produce two harvests: one on the shoots of the second year (if they are not pruned), and the other on new shoots. Then the first harvest will occur at the beginning of summer, like raspberries, and the second can go into autumn (it may become a problem for it to ripen before frost). There are hybrids of raspberries and blackberries (so-called raspberry varieties) that are so not afraid of cold weather that they can ripen almost in frost. Remontant varieties are not like that. In protected soil conditions they produce two excellent harvests: in May–June and in September. But in open ground, not all climatic conditions may allow this.
There are so many varieties and hybrids of blackberries that every gardener can choose them not only by the size and taste of the berries, but even by the timing of fruiting.
Video “How to get a record blackberry harvest”
From this video you will learn what kind of blackberries you need to plant on your plot and how to care for them in order to get record harvests of berries from June to September.
plodovie.ru
Planting and caring for garden blackberries: 5 golden rules
The attractiveness of blackberry cultivation is its high and stable yield. The rich chemical composition of the fruits of the bush makes them especially important for the human diet. This is a worthy alternative to garden raspberries and an opportunity to diversify your culinary preparations. With proper planting and care, taking into account all biological features Blackberries will bear fruit for at least 10 years.
The potential for productivity and benefits of blackberries is much wider than that of its close relative, raspberries. However, gardeners are not eager to plant and grow this magnificent shrub on their property.
This is distinguished by the fact that plant varieties bred from southern forms have been cultivated for a long time. They found it difficult to take root in the planting region and led to massive disappointment among gardeners.
The situation changed after new relatively winter-hardy varieties appeared that can withstand temperatures down to -30 C.
Therefore, for cultivation in the middle zone or more northern regions (in Siberia and the Urals), it is important to purchase varieties of modern selection.
To grow blackberries in the middle zone or more northern regions, you need to purchase varieties of modern selection Despite this, blackberry cultivation is somewhat limited in the northern regions. This is due to uneven fruiting, the final period of which often coincides with the first frost and some of the fruits do not have time to ripen.
In addition, insufficient lighting leads to loss of quality in ripened fruits.
Autumn planting of blackberries has more advantages and is most optimal in the middle and southern regions. After planting the shrub there will be a period of stable and cool temperatures, increased humidity will promote root development until the soil temperature drops to -4°C.
Blackberries emerge from a state of relative dormancy very early, and shrubs that have taken root in the fall will immediately begin to develop vegetative mass.
When planted in spring, the plant does not have time to take root due to too rapid warming and the start of sap flow, after which active shoot growth begins.
A weak root system is not able to provide the necessary nutrition to the increasing vegetative mass. This greatly weakens the bush and affects overall development.
Spring planting is preferable in northern regions and if the blackberry variety is characterized by poor winter hardiness.
In autumn, the plant should be planted at least 20-30 days before the first frost, in spring before buds open, when the air temperature rises to +15°C.
To grow in a personal plot, planting material must be purchased from reputable nurseries. Annual seedlings with two stems, the thickness of which is at least 0.5 cm in diameter, have the best survival rate.
An important criterion is the formed bud on the roots. The optimal length of tap roots is at least 10 cm.
To grow blackberries, you need to choose a place well lit by the sun and protected from northern winds. In the shade, the young shoots of the plant will grow poorly, become elongated, the fruits become smaller and lose their taste.
A good option is to plant along the fence, where the bushes will be protected from the winds and the stems from breakage. In this case, you need to retreat 1 m from the fence so that the plant is not heavily shaded. It is better to place the bush on the south or southwest side of the site.
To plant blackberries, you need breathable and well-drained soil. Loams with a humus layer of at least 25 cm are ideal.
To plant blackberries, choose well-lit places, loamy, well-drained soils. The occurrence of groundwater in the area should not be higher than 1.5 meters. If these indicators are violated, the roots of the plant will be damp and cold, which significantly affects winter hardiness and yield indicators.
To plant thorny shrubs, the planting area must be prepared in advance. All weeds are removed and destroyed vegetable waste, preventive spraying against pathogens and pests is carried out.
Salty, rocky, sandy and swampy areas are not suitable for growing blackberries.
Severely depleted soils need to be replenished with essential macroelements. To do this, the area is dug up to a depth of 30-35 cm, and organic and mineral fertilizers are applied.
Planting pits and substrate are prepared 15-20 days before planting seedlings in open ground.
The blackberry root system is more powerful and penetrates deeper than that of other berry crops. Therefore, the pits need to be made more voluminous. The best option is to stick to the parameters 40x40x40 cm.
Upright varieties of shrubs are placed at a distance of 1 m, creeping plants at 1.5 m. 2 m are left between rows.
Organic matter and minerals must be added to each hole:
- compost or humus 5 kg;
- superphosphate 120 g;
- potassium sulfate 40 g.
The nutrient components are mixed with fertile soil and the resulting substrate is filled into the hole 2/3 of the volume.
The shrub is planted vertically with a root collar depth of 1.5-2 cm. In light sandy loam soils, depth is up to 3 cm.
Blackberries are planted vertically with a root collar depth of 1.5-3 cm, covered with substrate and watered Blackberry roots are placed in a hole, straightened and covered with substrate. In this case, the hole is not completely filled, leaving a distance of 1-2 cm to the soil level.
Thus, there will be a recess under each bush, which will contribute to the rational hydration of the blackberries.
Then the surface of the substrate needs to be compacted and the seedling watered with 5-6 liters of water. After planting blackberries in spring, the plant must be provided with regular watering for 40-50 days. After compacting the soil, the tree trunk circle is mulched with sawdust, peat or straw.
Mulching the soil surface under the bush with peat or rotted manure with a layer of 15 cm will protect against weeds and prevent the appearance of dense crusts. Additionally, it is a source of balanced supply of nutrients to blackberry roots.
Planting blackberries:
Blackberries are more drought-resistant and easy to care for than raspberries. The only drawback of the culture is its relatively low winter hardiness and frost resistance. Therefore, you need to care for the plant taking into account its biological characteristics.
With proper care and proper preparation for winter, blackberries will grow and delight with a high yield, in terms of which among berry crops it is second only to grapes.
Throughout the life of the blackberry, you need to control the density of the bush and make formative pruning.
These activities include:
- Removing inflorescences in the first year of growth. This is done to stimulate the development of the root system.
- In the second year after planting, you need to shorten the stems, leaving a height of 1.5-1.8 m. The procedure is carried out in the spring before the buds open. Sections should be made above the kidney.
- After each winter, you need to cut off the frozen sections of the stems to a living bud.
- In summer, at the beginning of June, the bushes are thinned out. At the same time, young shoots are removed, leaving an average of 6-8 strong stems for creeping varieties and 4-5 for erect ones. The tops of young shoots are cut off by 5-8 cm.
Blackberries require pruning: this way the density of the bush is controlled and the stems frozen over the winter are removed. Bush blackberry is a shrub with a two-year fruiting cycle. During the first year, the stems of the plant develop, become woody and form fruit buds. The next year they bear fruit and only in rare cases can they form new fruit buds.
Agricultural technicians advise removing biennial shoots that have spawned, thereby stimulating the development of new growths and thinning out the blackberry crown, which will only make it look better.
For creeping types of shrubs, you will need a trellis with 3-4 rows of wire with a distance of 50 cm between them.
In the first year of development, 2-3 shoots are fan-shapedly tied to the lower wires. Annual shoots are directed to the center of the bush, tied to the topmost wire.
Before the onset of cold weather, young shoots are removed from their support and sheltered for the winter.
The stems of erect blackberry varieties are tied to a trellis with a slight slope to one side. When new shoots grow during the growing season, they also need to be tied up. This time the slope is made in the opposite direction from the fruiting branches.
A peculiarity of growing blackberries is the need to shade the bush while the fruits are ripening. Exposure to direct sunlight negatively affects the commercial quality of the fruit. To do this, shading nets are stretched along the rows of bushes.
Every spring, blackberries need fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers, which will stimulate the growth of annual shoots - this is another golden rule. To do this, apply 50 g of ammonium nitrate under each bush, covering it to a depth of 10-15 cm.
Every 3-4 years, shrubs in the garden need to be fed with other macroelements. This procedure is carried out after harvesting. Per 1 m2 the following is added to the soil under the plant:
- compost or humus 10 kg;
- superphosphate 100 g;
- potassium sulfate 30 g.
Blackberries need fertilizing with ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, humus It should be remembered that nitrogen fertilizers are applied only in the spring. Also this mineral is large quantities contained in pig manure and chicken droppings.
Activities for fertilizing blackberries can be combined by spraying with 1% Bordeaux mixture, which will suppress the development of microorganisms. For additional disease prevention, the area under the bushes should be cleared of fallen leaves.
When to water, do you need to loosen?
The deep-lying root system of blackberries, compared to other berry bushes, makes the plant drought-resistant. But this does not mean that the plant should be left without irrigation and not watered.
Watering is especially necessary during the fruit-filling period and when hot weather sets in. At this time, the wide leaf plates of the plant evaporate a large amount of moisture.
The optimal volume of water for an adult bush during fruit filling is 15-20 liters per week. At other times, you need to focus on the condition of the substrate and not let it dry out too much.
Several times during the growing season it is necessary to loosen the soil under the bushes to a depth of 10 cm, while simultaneously removing weeds.
It is especially important to carry out the procedure in the fall, at the end of August, in September. The looser the soil, the less the soil in the root layers will freeze.
Shelter for winter time
Before the winter season, the shrub will need shelter. To do this, the stems of the plant are bent to the ground. It is important to do this until the air temperature drops to -1°C. Otherwise, they will lose elasticity and break.
To do this, the branches are tied into bundles, bent to the ground and secured with hooks. Upright blackberry varieties are quite difficult to bend down without breaking the stems.
Many gardeners have found a way out of the situation and, at the end of the growing season, tie weights to the tops of the stems, under the weight of which they gradually bend to the ground.
Regardless of their frost resistance characteristics, all varieties of blackberries need shelter for the winter. To do this you can use:
- hay or vegetable tops;
- roofing felt;
- sawdust;
- peat or humus.
Blackberry shelter for the winter:
The most dangerous time for blackberries is the snowless beginning of winter. Therefore, it is necessary to cover the plant before the onset of the first cold weather, and in winter, pull snow towards it. Blackberry stems are not prone to overheating, so the plant can also be covered with polyethylene.
The foliage of fruit trees is not suitable as a covering material. It often hides pathogenic microorganisms, which in the spring can begin to actively develop on the bush.
Spruce branches are well suited for shelter, which will additionally protect against rodents.
Blackberry fruiting is uneven and can span a whole month. The fruits of the bush are characterized by good transportability and a long shelf life at low temperatures Oh.
The leaves and roots of the plant have bactericidal, sedative properties and will take their rightful place in the home collection of herbal remedies.
profermu.com
Growing blackberries externally
Did you know that all the varieties grown in the world come from the USA, except 4-5 of European origin, and even then they were bred as a result of crossing with American ones? How should the growth point be located when planting? different types? And what is the difference between upright and climbing blackberries? Or that plants turn after the sun, choosing the direction on the support themselves?
What you need to know about garden blackberries?
Landing nuances
Blackberries can be planted in both autumn and spring. In the southern regions with mild winter and prefer warm autumn or temperate climates autumn planting. The plants have time to take root and grow earlier in the spring. In the northern regions - for example, in the Urals, in Ufa, it is appropriate to hold the event in the spring to avoid freezing of the seedlings.
Soil requirements: deep sandy loam, light sandy loam, if loam, then well drained. Soil acidity pH 5.6 - 6.5. Does not like highly acidified soils. The humus content is directly proportional to the yield.
Like raspberries, it develops better and is more productive in illuminated areas, but unlike it, it easily tolerates shading. Less demanding on watering, drought-resistant due to the length of the root system - more than 1 m, the location of its main part in the upper 60 cm of the soil.
- When planting, the root bud of creeping varieties is directed upward, while that of upright varieties is immersed in the soil by 1-2 cm.
- Important: for thornless varieties, compaction of up to 1.5-2 m between plants is possible, thorny ones love space, cutting less than 2 m is not recommended.
A small digression: when plantings are compacted, the intensity of fertilizing is increased, since the feeding area is reduced. Beginning gardeners are not recommended to reduce the distance to 1-1.5 m x 1.7-2 m, but you may not calculate the strength and be left without a harvest. If you grow blackberries for yourself and there is no problem free space- give the plants space.
As for the scheme for growing blackberries - using the bush method, trench - in rows. In the second case, the place for the supports is preliminarily marked and the load-bearing ones are installed.
When planting, mullein, chicken manure is added to the planting hole, in a concentration of at least 1:10, humus, superphosphate is also added in an amount of up to 150 g, potassium fertilizers 40-45 g. It is believed that this fertilizing is sufficient for the first 2-3 years of life, but does not exclude annual spring fertilization.
Mix the fertilizers with the soil so that the hole is 1/3 full. The root system should not come into contact with manure: it is sprinkled with a layer of 10-15 cm of humus to 1/2 of the total volume, then watered. Once the water has been absorbed, the seedling can be placed.
We pinch the shoot at a height of up to 25 cm to accustom it to a horizontal position.
- The pattern for creeping (bramble) and erect dewberries differs significantly. The first ones are planted at a distance of 1.5-2 m between bushes with a distance of 2-2.5 m between rows. If there is free space, you can expand the distance to 2.5 m.
- Dewberries (upright) are planted at a distance of 2-2.5 m and the same amount between rows. Cumaniki are grown depending on the characteristics of a particular variety - the height of the plants and the planned formation of the bush. Thus, when growing in a fan form, low plants are grown in rows with a distance of up to 2.5 m; when grown on T-shaped supports or another two-strip trellis, in the single-strip method - according to a scheme of 1.8-2 m in a row with a distance between rows of at least 2.5 m.
Plants are planted in the same way as raspberries, currants and other shrubs. The cuttings are carefully lowered into holes from 40x40 cm to 60x60 (according to the size of the rhizome) at the same depth, sprinkled with soil, lightly compacted, and then watered. If the soil is moist, then watering is not needed.
Afterwards, the shoots are shortened to a height of 25-30 cm, mulched with a small layer of humus, last year’s sawdust or straw.
Do not water the plants planted in the fall - this delays the growing season and complicates the transition to the sleep phase. On the other hand, dry soil freezes faster, and plants that have not received enough moisture may not survive the winter well. You shouldn’t overuse it, especially if the soil is wet. The best option is to water in advance, without waiting until late autumn, and enough. You should definitely not water during rains. In autumn, with the approach of stable frost, shelter is necessary.
Features of care: shortening is necessary!
Let's look at the features of caring for blackberries. A necessary condition for proper development and abundant fruiting is the formation of a bush. As for rationing, leave 3-4 annual shoots for brambles, and 5-8 for creeping dewberries. Rationing depends on the growing method: with bush growing, 3-8 shoots are left, with trench (in rows) 10-15 shoots per linear meter.
As the shoots grow, they are systematically shortened 2-3 times during the growing season. Otherwise, the plantation will turn into an impenetrable jungle. Thus, creeping species can produce lashes of more than 10-12 m.
For erect trees, double pruning is as follows: in the first year of life, to stimulate branching, the tops of the fruiting trees are shortened by 5-7 cm. Then, in mid-early July, the tops of young shoots that have reached 30-35 cm are shortened by 7-10 cm. This is called tweezers, and is carried out for greater branching upon reaching 80-90 cm.
Climbing vines are shortened at the bend, including the tops, not allowing them to grow to a length of more than 3.5-4 m. This is done not so much to increase volume as to prevent thickening. In May-June, rationing is carried out - weak, thin trunks are removed.
An alternative way is to shorten the lateral branching by 4-5 buds in the fall when it reaches 35-40 cm, and next spring by the same amount.
Then everything is simple: applying fertilizers and watering, mulching and loosening the rows. In comparison with raspberries, the heroine of our story is less demanding in terms of both the amount of fertilizer and watering. For more information about these annual pruning activities, read the article in our series. For mulching, rotted manure, buckwheat or rice husks, old sawdust, and spent mushroom substrate are used.
Bush formation
Scheme for attaching blackberries to a trellis, methods 1, 2 - Single-strip with fastening each shoot using two methods 3 - Single-strip support in one row 4 - Double-strip, we fasten the shoots by weaving around the wire5, 6 - types of T-shaped trellis
- Both types form differently. The easiest way for gardeners is to place nets near the fence, thereby forming a hedge and giving support to the plants. Also, individual bushes can be fenced with stakes or driven in one in the center.
- For industrial plantings the approach is different. Construct standard supports used in raspberry fields, directed from north to south to improve illumination. On beams and stakes with a height of 1.2 to 2.5 m, depending on the type, 2-3 rows of wire are pulled at intervals of 50 cm to 90 cm. To secure the branches, use garters, pieces of wire, and pin them with clamps. Oxidizing materials should not be used. We will talk about all the details further in the article about the construction of a trellis, its types and choice.
- Vertical molding, growing on a single-plane or two-plane trellis with division on both sides of the fruit-bearing vine and the young, bush method are suitable for upright plants.
- For the second and intermediate forms, hybrid, the weaving method is more suitable - twisting the stem around a wire, according to the principle of a wicker fence, double-sided propagation, when the shoots are laid out on two sides - fruit-bearing ones on one side, young of this year - on the second, or fan molding. Weaving is less commonly used with a solid horizontal wall, as well as on curved arches - supports.
As an example: single-plane support, the first row at a height of 70 cm - 1 m, the second - 1.7-2 m, at a distance of a raised arm, the third - between them. Second option: the first row - at a height of 25-30 cm - for the direction of young animals, the second - 1-1.5, the third up to 2 m.
Fruiting shoots, especially thorny ones, become rigid and can break if you try to bend them during shaping or remove the vine before wintering. Character is cultivated from childhood - and first of all, blackberries are taught to be positioned horizontally on supports. They do this to make gartering easier, but the main thing is to remove it from the trellis in the fall without breaking it.
To do this, when the seedling reaches a height of 15-20 cm, it is pinned to the ground with a spear, a wooden spacer, or a piece of non-rigid, non-oxidizing wire. In the future, it can go up when tied to a vertical support, or horizontally.
Features of fertilizing
To increase the yield of blackberries, mulch with humus, compost, and on top - straw, sawdust (not fresh). The agricultural practice is also useful for maintaining soil moisture and protecting against weeds. Responsive to the application of nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers in the spring, potassium. In the first year, organic matter is not needed. In early spring, as soon as the snow melts, mineral fertilizers are scattered around the plants.
Here is a scheme for feeding blackberries in the spring per plant: 4.5-7 kg of humus (compost) - if necessary, 30 g of potassium fertilizer, 50-90 g of superphosphate, 20-25 g of ammonium nitrate or 10-15 g of urea. In April - early May, before the ovary, mullein is also added in a concentration of 1:5, bird droppings in a concentration of 1:10. These fertilizing can be replaced by the application of complex fertilizers, including nitrogen and mineral components.
What then or after the ball?
The fruit-bearing vine is cut to the ground - replacement shoots will take their place. This year's young shoots are removed from their supports, carefully laid on the ground, and covered. This must be done immediately after fruiting, so as not to deplete the strength of the root system.
For wintering, the vine is removed from the trellis - just like grapes, they are covered. In the spring, they open it, hang it back in place, clear it of any remaining leaves or damaged branches - and a new circle has begun. In regions with severe winters, additional measures are used - read more about preparing for winter in the author’s publication.
The frost resistance of blackberries lies within almost the same limits as that of grapes. Depending on the variety, within -15 -20 C° or -20 -30 C°. However, it generally requires shelter, except for the upright variety grown in the southern regions. You can compare it with the winter hardiness of large-fruited raspberries - an equally problematic crop in terms of wintering. Successful growing experience in the conditions of the Ufa region, the Urals, and Volgograd indicates the possibility of growing in a covered form.
The culture is labor-intensive only at the first stage, and only for those who do not know which way to approach growing blackberries - fears disappear after the first successes. In fact, this is almost the most unpretentious berry bush that does not require special care - for gardeners, and a fertile, unpretentious crop that is many times superior in yield to its sister raspberry. In comparison with it, it grows like weeds, multiplies at the same speed, is also unpretentious, does not require intensive feeding, selflessly giving fragrant purple berries, without demanding anything in return - except perhaps caring, kind hands. Happy harvest to you!
vizazh-2.ru
Prospects for growing blackberries in the Black Earth Region | APPYAPM
Once upon a time, every garden in Russia had blackberry plantations, but now in a rare garden you will find blackberries.
So why is it almost never grown in our gardens?
The main reason for the low distribution of blackberries on farm plots is the lack of knowledge of technology and pure-quality seedlings. Today, most people associate the word “blackberry” with its wild forms, but now there are wonderful varieties that have proven themselves for industrial cultivation. It is interesting to note that in some countries where blackberries are grown, they have significantly replaced raspberries, because in terms of productivity, transportability and healing properties significantly surpasses it. For a long time, the spread of blackberries was hampered by the difficulty of collecting fruits due to thorns. Today, a huge number of thornless varieties have been created, including those with increased winter hardiness.
Until recently, it was useless to look for useful information on this culture in Russian sources. Today the situation is changing, thanks to the appearance in the country (albeit in very rare cases) of new foreign varieties, forums on the Internet, and the efforts of enthusiastic gardeners, it is possible to get a holistic picture of blackberry culture and understand the merits of this berry. And these advantages are undeniable:
- practically does not get sick, produces clean large berries;
- In terms of productivity, it is much superior to the main berry crops, second only to grapes;
- stable harvest;
- high transportability;
- absence of pests, etc.
It is impossible to fully appreciate the flavor diversity of blackberries and their hybrids, since each of them has its own note and aroma and even a name different from blackberry. Considering all these factors, it seems to us that the future of blackberries is more positive, and the main thing that is required today is reliable information about the characteristics, agricultural techniques and varieties of blackberries.
We would like to structure our conversation about blackberries a little differently - first answer the most frequently asked questions, objectively note the shortcomings of the crop and ways to eliminate them, and only then move on to practice and agricultural technology.
1. Why is it worth growing blackberries if raspberries are sweeter and more aromatic?
The question is due to private ignorance of culture. The belief that raspberries are sweeter is fostered by the entire spiritual culture of our peoples. It is difficult for us to prove that blackberries can be sweet, that the sugar content in some varieties reaches 13%, while in raspberries it does not exceed 8-10%. Moreover, blackberries are also discredited by the widespread (and the only widespread today) ancient sour-unleavened varieties, passed on from one gardener to another. It is also impossible to objectively evaluate the taste of frozen imported berries - it deteriorates significantly, such berries are only suitable for processing.
In fact, the taste diversity of blackberry varieties is enormous; almost no raspberry-blackberry hybrid is similar to another. Having tasted one variety of raspberry, you can get an accurate idea of the culture, which cannot be said about blackberries. Behavioral stereotypes have been formed over centuries, the introduction of potatoes was accompanied by riots and blood, and Jack Vosmerkin’s cigars turned out to be desirable only after grinding into shag. And only the practice of introducing new, truly interesting varieties and proper agricultural technology can prove over time that blackberries are economically profitable, the plants are productive, technologically advanced for production, and their quality can be higher.
2. Blackberries have little winter hardiness and are problematic to grow because... requires shelter.
Blackberries freeze no more than table grapes and have the same frost resistance. Today, in the Black Earth Region and to the north, all the main table grape varieties that manage to ripen in our climatic conditions are successfully grown. On our farm, there were no cases of death of blackberry plants from frost at all, including the least winter-hardy varieties of Brazilian or American selection. Even for them, a light film cover, ten centimeters of soil or a good bunch of straw and a natural snow blanket are enough. At the same time, blackberries practically never suffer from damping off.
3. Why do blackberry plants bear fruit poorly year after year?
There is only one piece of advice - try to cover it this year. Most likely, this is frost damage to flower buds - even declared frost-resistant varieties cannot withstand low temperatures at certain periods. Both flower formations and plant bark are often damaged, which can be easily remedied by 5-10 minutes of working with the plants when frost sets in. Blackberries do not require cross-pollination, so in the summer they will thank you with a good harvest. Although, of course, there may be more than one reason, or not this one at all. But more on all this later...
4. How objective is the information on large fruit size and yield, and are there any new ones on the sales market today? large-fruited varieties?
The largest-fruited blackberry varieties were bred with the donor “participation” of large-fruited Colombian blackberries, reaching 20-25g. You can note the varieties “Chesapeak Blackberry” (15-22 g), the average weight of the berries “Karaka Black”, “Kiowa”, “Natchez”, “Apache” is from 9 to 12 g. Naturally, “exhibition” berries come across larger ones ( but rather, they are artificially grown) This is how farces about incredibly large-fruited raspberry varieties of 15-20-25g appear. Any gardener can easily achieve single huge specimens of the same raspberry - leave one shoot on a good bush, trim the top, remove excess laterals with flowers, feed heavily with growth stimulants, and you are guaranteed to get several “broilers”. The most interesting thing is that blackberry breeders never sought to create a very large berry, which is worse for storage and transportation. Much more important is yield, taste and, in general, a set of positive consumer qualities.
As for yield, it is blackberries (and not raspberry-blackberry hybrids) that are truly extremely productive, and with proper plant formation and suitable agricultural technology, the gross harvest of berries per plant can reach 15-20 kg. from the bush.
New highly productive varieties, including large-fruited ones, are beginning to appear in Ukraine and Russia. We grow and propagate such large-fruited varieties as “Black Butte”, “Natchez”, “Apache”, “Karaka Black”, which are distinguished by very good taste.
5. Is it possible to use blackberries for decorative purposes and in landscape design?
In our opinion - more than. In private plantings and nurseries in Poland and Ukraine, we came across superbly formed clumps of blackberry bushes and the framing of individual areas, which in terms of decorativeness were not inferior to the most “branded” crops used for these purposes. Blooms with large fragrant white or pink flowers Not much inferior in color to jasmine, fruiting also pleases with an abundance of glossy carmine dark red or blue-black anthracite berries, not to mention the autumn purple outfit of blackberry bushes. Then it’s just a matter of taste, skill and desire.
Biological features of culture
In botanical culture, blackberries, like raspberries, belong to the extensive Rosaceae family. This is semi shrubby plant with erect, arched or creeping shoots. Forms with creeping shoots are called dewberry. It is usually more productive and has tasty and juicy fruits. Straight-growing blackberries are called brambles; in their biological characteristics they are more similar to raspberries - growth processes, formation of root shoots, etc. The main feature that distinguishes blackberries from raspberries is the inseparability of the berries from the fruit. Thanks to this, the berries almost do not wrinkle and are more suitable for transportation and storage. Blackberries bloom later than raspberries, so the blackberries are clean, without raspberry beetle larvae. The berries do not ripen at the same time, and the harvest is spread over a month. Varietal differences also determine the ripening time - from July to the end of September, so by selecting the right varieties, you can create a 3-month “conveyor belt” for the ripening of fresh blackberries. Foreign breeders in the United States have recently developed remontant varieties of blackberries (“Prim-Jim” and “Prim-Jan”), suitable for regions with long summers and fairly harsh winters. These varieties are capable of bearing fruit on annual shoots in the autumn and need to be tested in different regions.
The increase in blackberry yield compared to raspberries is also predetermined by biology and morphological characteristics. The polyploid structure of blackberry cells gives it a more powerful bush structure and a larger berry. Cultivated varieties of blackberries have a more branched fruit branch with many orders of branching, which is self-fertile. Each bud on the shoot is flowering. Depending on the variety, up to several dozen berries grow in a fruit cluster, and there are a large number of such clusters on a long shoot of dewberry.
Significant disadvantages of blackberries are the straggly type of bush and thorns. However, today more and more varieties are getting rid of these shortcomings. The blackberry root system is much more powerful, goes to a depth of 1.5 m (main rhizome) and has an extensive superficial feeding system of adventitious roots. This contributes to the powerful development of the bush, its durability (up to 15-20 years) and drought resistance. Fruiting shoots are biennial, i.e. In the first year, shoots grow and flower buds are laid; in the next year, fruiting occurs and the branches that bear fruit die off. In return, several replacement shoots and root shoots grow (in brambles), which ensures the continued existence of the bush.
Blackberry plants present specific requirements for growing conditions. With a lack of light, the shoots become very elongated, shading the fruiting ones. Productivity and quality of berries decrease sharply, plants become less resistant to pests and diseases. Therefore, normalization and correct placement of shoots is a necessary condition for obtaining stable high yields.
The sum of temperatures above +10 is the main indicator of the feasibility of cultivating blackberries in a given area. However, even if this indicator is below optimal, there are many ways to get around the problem - slope exposure, protected location, etc. And weather conditions vary from year to year.
Growing blackberries
When choosing a varietal assortment, you need to know that on heavy loams and dense chernozems, dewberries with creeping shoots work better. Upright varieties need light composition soil - high air permeability and moderate moisture are the conditions for a successful culture. Good results When grown, brambles produce deep sandy soils.
For this reason, we had to abandon the commercial cultivation of straight-growing varieties; dense chernozems, due to insufficient aeration, inhibited the development of plants, while Black Satin and Thornfree successfully grew and fruited. In general, when choosing a site, choose land that is protected from cold winds, which lead to drying out of the shoots in winter. Preparing the soil and fertilizing a site for planting blackberries is not much different from raspberries. It is better to place plants in rows if we are talking about a personal plot - along the border of a garden plot or fence. Since blackberries are extremely light-loving, the fence should either be a mesh fence, or the plants should be located on the light (south) side. The depth and width of the seats is determined by the type of planting material. We recommend a distance between plants of 1.5-2 m (more for vigorous forms).
Many gardeners initially plan to use thorny blackberries to create hedges. I will warn you - you will hardly get any berries. This can be justified if the fence is an end in itself. Berry production requires sparse shaping and pruning, and large distances between shoots. In a neglected fence, it will be impossible to understand, cut, or lay shoots for shelter. Due to the freezing of flower buds and thickening of the shoots, the harvest is small and of poor quality.
The planting itself also depends on the seedling. The cuttings are planted in furrows, covered with soil at a depth of 7-10 cm, watered and mulched with loosening materials. The seedlings are placed at the bottom of a hole or furrow, the roots are straightened and covered with soil so that the bud at the base of the stem is 2-3 cm below ground level. In dry weather, watering has to be repeated. The landing times are normal.
Plant care is basically similar to agrotechnical techniques on plantations of raspberry varieties traditional type fruiting - watering and fertilizing at the same time (flowering, active vegetation of shoots, watering berries), loosening the area, removing plants with signs of mycoplasma and viral diseases, is carried out preventive measures pest control.
It has already been mentioned that there are no many pests and diseases on blackberries; this crop has significantly fewer lesions, but depending on varietal hybridization, weevils typical of raspberries, raspberry stem gall midges or leaf aphids, and spider mites may appear. Among the diseases, we note anthracnose and gray rot of berries, especially in dense plantings or affecting berries in close proximity to the ground. In order not to bring the matter to application chemicals, for preventive purposes, normalize shoots, eliminate thickening of plantings and place fruit-bearing branches on a trellis.
Let's dwell on the construction of trellises for blackberries. Several methods of arranging trellises and placing shoots on them are offered by agricultural technology -
gartering of fruiting and growing shoots at different heights;
gartering the same shoots on different sides;
the fan-shaped method of arranging fruit-bearing two-year-old branches on a flat trellis is, in our opinion, the optimal way. After wintering under cover, the fruiting shoots are fan-shaped on a flat trellis, consisting of 3-4 wires stretched at a height of 0.5 to 2 m. Growing young shoots bend to the ground and spread along the trellis under/along the lower wire. In autumn, these shoots can be easily covered and fruit-bearing branches can be removed. The next year the cycle repeats.
Fig. 1 Location of shoots in the spring after removing the cover
Fig.2 Location of shoots in August for fruiting. Below - pinning annual growing shoots for late autumn shelter
Our advice: to install trellis supports, it is convenient and functional in small areas and dachas to use construction reinforcement, which is easily driven in and removed from the soil, while having sufficient strength for tying up wire and shoots. In the fall, press down the film cover with the same reinforcement.
In upright varieties, the stems are shortened in the fall at a height of 1.6-1.8 m; in creeping varieties, the tops are cut off at the bend. Pinching, or removing the tip of a blackberry shoot, is an important agronomic technique that promotes the awakening of lateral buds and the formation of branches, which leads to an increase in the fruiting zone. It is also advisable to trim the lateral regrown shoots of erect varieties to a length of 40-50 cm, which will make the bush more compact without threatening fruiting. In most creeping varieties, the main fruiting zone is in the middle part of the stem, so when the upper part of the shoot is removed, there will be no loss of yield, and the size of the berries increases.
Blackberry propagation
The vegetative method of crop propagation is of practical importance for gardeners.
We have already noted that upright varieties are in many ways similar in biological characteristics to raspberries, so here we will consider methods for obtaining planting material from creeping varieties of dewberries and raspberry-blackberry hybrids. These varieties do not produce horse offspring or produce very few of them. Therefore, to obtain planting material for sundews, it is advisable to root the non-lignified part (ends) of shoots 25-35 cm long. The end of the shoot is placed in a furrow 20 cm deep in July-August, sprinkled with earth to a depth of 10-12 cm. As a result, 3-4 young plants, which are separated in the spring and planted in permanent places or grown.
Another method is pulping (rooting the apical buds of shoots)
In young shoots, sundews that have reached 60 cm shorten the top by 10-15 cm. Side shoots grow from the axillary buds. When the tops of the shoots become spindle-shaped, they have small leaves and thickenings at the ends, they are buried in the ground to a depth of 5 cm and sprinkled with a damp, loose substrate. In the spring of next year, the top is separated from the mother plant and left for growing, or replanted.
For propagation of valuable varieties and forms of blackberries, it is advisable to use green cuttings. When the mother bush produces many extra shoots, they can be used as green cuttings. At the end of June - beginning of July, single-bud cuttings 2.5-3 cm long with a whole leaf are cut from the shoots, preferably from the upper third of the shoot, with the exception of the last two buds.
Before planting in the substrate (peat-sand in a 1:1 ratio), it is advisable to treat the cuttings with root formation stimulants, half-bury them in the ground and place them in a greenhouse with an atmosphere of artificial fog. After 25-30 days, roots form on the cuttings and the plants are transplanted to a growing or permanent location. Typically, this method is the main one when propagating valuable varieties, allowing one to obtain high-quality and healthy planting material with a closed root system. Single-bud cuttings are planted in cassettes with loose peat mixture with the addition of drugs that suppress the development of pathogenic fungi and rot at 100% greenhouse humidity. Rooting occurs at an optimal temperature of 24-29 degrees. Celsius, for which in the summer shading materials and frequent spraying through fine mist nozzles are used. Subsequently, the rooted cuttings are transplanted (August) into pots with a volume of 0.5-2 liters and grown until commercial seedlings are obtained.
In conclusion of the story I would like to note the following. In addition to growing on a personal plot and summer cottage, we consider blackberry crops to be economically profitable for commercial cultivation, primarily due to the lack of competition in the market and the high demand for fresh products in large cities. Preliminary calculations show that even with relatively considerable costs when planting a blackberry berry garden (cost of seedlings, soil preparation, trellis installation, costs of harvesting and packaging, etc.) with the yield of modern varieties, the production of berries of this crop is profitable and highly profitable.
A small producer using amateur agricultural technology to limited area, will be able to perform additional operations that require not only time and labor, but also attention associated with an individual approach and analysis of the results. The number of plants per unit area in small-scale plantings, where the use of machines is not provided, is several times higher. In order to collect the maximum harvest in our region and at the same time have good income, you should find for yourself the optimal size of planting area that can be cultivated, covered and harvested with minimal losses. Price ratios in our market convince us that blackberries can be grown successfully and profitably not only for ourselves, but also for the market.
Blackberry varieties:
Certain groups of forms and varietal directions of this crop should be noted in order to correctly orient the reader and simplify the choice in the future. For convenience, let us turn to V. Yakimov’s classification.
1. Modern varieties of blackberries, which have already become widespread in Russian gardens. These are Thornfree, Black Satin, Thornless, Smutsem. The most common of modern varieties. Dewberries, characterized by the absence of thorns, good yield, juicy large black berries with a glossy sheen, relative frost resistance, i.e. needing shelter for the winter.
2. Erect brambles. What you can find - “Agavam”, “Eldorado”, “Theodore Reimer”.
Straight-growing powerful bushes with thorny shoots. The shoots are tall, faceted below, dark red in color, produce and reproduce by basal shoots. The berries are black, glossy, weighing 3-4g, ripening in July-August, when fully ripe, very sweet, without acid, unripe - grassy. Due to the power of the shoots, they are difficult to cover for the winter (bending down the growing shoots in the summer is required). They have increased frost resistance. A good alternative for planting on sandy soils.
3. Varieties of Polish selection “Orkan”, “Polar”, “Gazda”, “Gai”, “Rushai”. Deserving special attention a group of varieties with high frost resistance, recommended in Poland for growing without shelter. Due to their absence in Russia until 2009, they have not yet been tested enough in plantings and are undergoing introduction. Based on consumer properties, we will highlight the varieties “Gazda”, “Orkan” and “Polar”, which have tasty large berries, are thornless, and have excellent consumer characteristics.
4. New cultivated varieties (introduction 2010-2011) The following foreign blackberry varieties are undergoing variety testing: “Apache”, “Arapa-ho”, “Natchez”, “Karaka Black”, “Navajo”, “Loch Ness”, “Loch Tay” , "Too-pi", "Chester Thornless".
These are mainly thornless varieties of dewberries with large and very large berries, of various flavor shades, requiring shelter in winter. To date, no frost damage has been observed in our region. These are the latest achievements of foreign scientists, varieties with a complex set of positive consumer characteristics that require testing for the adaptive ability of successful growth and fruiting in the conditions of the Black Earth Region. Let us note that at present many varieties have entered fruiting and have shown themselves to be very successful.
5. Raspberry-blackberry hybrids: “Tybury”, “Boysenberry”, “Loganberry”, “Silvan”, “Marion”
One of the best raspberry-blackberry hybrids.
The farm has collected thornless forms of these hybrids (thorned forms also exist). the only exception is “Tayberry” with frequent thin thorns, but an unusually tasty dark carmine berry. All varieties differ from one another in the taste and color of the berries; they do not produce basal shoots; they are easily covered for the winter (the shoots are bending, semi-creeping). Winter hardiness is quite high.
Peculiarities of cultivation of black raspberries.
According to the botanical classification, black raspberries are closer to blackberries. It has almost one feature in common with raspberries – the separation of the berries from the fruit stem.
This peculiar raspberry does not produce offspring; it grows as a powerful tall bush with long 2-meter shoots with hanging tops, reminiscent of straight-growing blackberry bushes. The shoots must be shortened for good fruiting. All varieties of blackberry-shaped raspberries produce many side shoots, which are also removed when pruning, leaving stubs of 1 cm.
Plants grow well when placed according to a 2 x 0.7-1 m pattern. with the obligatory placement of branches on a trellis, otherwise the plantation next year will turn into thickets of impenetrable thorny bushes. We recommend the same fan-shaped single-layer arrangement that is used when growing blackberries, with strong pruning, which will increase the size of the berries and simplify the care of the plantings.
Traditional agricultural technology - watering during shoot growth and especially before fruiting, fertilizing, loosening and mulching. The crop is drought-resistant, but if there is a lack of water during the active growth of annual replacement shoots, the latter grow weak and the yield the following year is sharply reduced. The same will happen if there is a lack of nitrogen fertilizers in May-June; we recommend applying urea.
For fruiting linear meter 8-10 shoots are left, which are removed after harvesting. The winter hardiness of black raspberries is -30, but covering annual replacement shoots in November will significantly increase the yield. The black raspberry is small (usually 1.5-2 g), with a bluish bloom and a blackberry sweet taste and aroma, with good and high transportability, quite dry. Many gardeners grow blackberry-like raspberries for high-quality aromatic processed products (liqueurs, wines, etc.). It is more disease resistant than red raspberries, but can be affected by anthracnose and verticillium wilt.
Reproduces like sundews - by apical shoots, which is also described above, or green cuttings. Good results in propagation are achieved by the method of rooting by horizontal layering (similar to the propagation of gooseberries). To do this, in the spring, long shoots are laid out in 5-7 cm grooves around the bush and pinned with wooden hooks. When adventitious roots appear on the underside of the shoots, they are sprinkled with soil, leaving the apical buds open. The cuttings are watered, covered with soil for the winter, and planted out the next year. Most varieties of black raspberries are bred in the USA and Canada, where this crop is most common. There are no production plantations in our country.
- Two years ago I purchased blackberry seedlings. As I was assured, this is an upright variety that grows as a bush. I planted the plant, it took root, but still does not bear fruit, although it even bloomed last year. Explain why blackberries don’t bear fruit?
Valentina Yavlenskikh.
Galina Ivanovna Salova, foreman of the nursery of the Altai Flowers agricultural company:
Blackberry shoots have a two-year development cycle: in the first year they grow, lay buds, and bear fruit in the second year. It is unpretentious and grows on a wide variety of soils. All blackberries are self-pollinating plants. Therefore, after flowering, berries should appear on your bush. Possible reason The reason why blackberries do not bear fruit is because they are oversaturated with bait. Since the main factor for the fruiting of self-pollinating plants is pollinators - bees, you should attract them to your bush. When the blackberries begin to bloom, mix water with honey and sprinkle on the bush. This will attract their attention, and according to all the laws of biology, your plant should bear fruit.
Planting and growing vegetables and fruits, caring for the garden, building and repairing a summer house - all with your own hands.
Garden blackberries: planting and care
Growing garden blackberries
Interest in blackberries is constantly growing - and there are many reasons for this. This berry is familiar to many. Some pleasant childhood or youth memories are usually associated with it. People like wild blue berries, but suddenly they learn that there are also cultivated blackberries, which are many times sweeter, disproportionately larger, more productive and more aromatic than wild ones.
The first rule of growing garden blackberries: do not overwater!
There is no need to think that if wild blue blackberries grow in flooded areas, then garden blackberries will feel just as good in such conditions. Blue blackberries, being a raspberry-blackberry hybrid (a hybrid of 2 types of blackberries and red raspberries), have a more superficial root system.
Garden blackberries are powerful plants that consume large amounts of water when mature. Watering is directly related to the total weight of the crop and the size of the berries. The same variety can have significantly larger berries only due to regular, abundant watering during the ripening period. But this does not mean that garden blackberries should grow in a swamp. Its roots go down to a depth of 1.5 m, but the bulk of the roots are located in the meter-long root layer. Thanks to this, blackberries can grow in fairly arid, even semi-desert, conditions, where raspberries do not survive, but do not tolerate stagnant water. Therefore, the groundwater level should be no higher than 1.5 m. Blackberries tolerate a temporary spring increase in the groundwater level, but this can affect the development of bushes, the ripening period of the berries, and in some cases result in temporary chlorosis. From the above, it is clear that in waterlogged areas, care must be taken to remove excess spring water using drainage.
Although blackberries are drought-resistant, they require watering to produce large, beautiful berries. The basic rule is that the soil under the bush should not be waterlogged or completely dry. During drought, a developed 4-5-year-old bush during the ripening period can consume up to 30 liters of water per week. For a young bush, a little watering and surface mulch that retains moisture are sufficient. There are times when gardeners, with good intentions, simply flood young bushes until they fall out completely.
The amount of irrigation water also depends on the soil. By the way, blackberries grow well in both loamy and light soils. But loams are preferable, since they are more moisture-absorbing and freeze less in winter. On sandy loams, regular addition of organic matter and more frequent watering are necessary. It is especially favorable to have at least small quantity loamy component. On such soil, the berries ripen faster, are sweeter and are less likely to be affected by gray rot. Soil acidity should be in the pH range 5.7-6.5. On alkaline soils, blackberries suffer from chlorosis, often freeze and die.
Blackberries run from a shovel
Blackberries are able to grow and fully bear fruit in one place long years. The vast majority of modern varieties do not produce offspring unless the root system is damaged by digging. Therefore, in order for the blackberries not to show aggression and not run around the area, you need to forget about the shovel as a tool used in blackberry rows.
In open, sunny places, blackberry bushes develop better, and the berries ripen earlier and have a sweeter taste. Blackberries bear fruit in conditions of partial shading, and the comparative decrease in yield is associated only with the development of the bush. Taking into account the above, in areas with a relatively short frost-free period and not very hot summers, blackberries should be planted only in open sunny place. In the conditions of the Lower Volga, Don and the foothills of the North Caucasus, slight shading of the bushes in the afternoon is acceptable, which preserves the berries from burning, which manifests itself in the discoloration of individual areas on the drupe. This phenomenon significantly worsens the presentation of the berries.
For planting, the soil must be prepared in advance. The bushes are planted in a weed-free area, and the soil under the bushes is mulched with humus. This allows you to maintain fertility and resort to weeding only in the spring (a carpet of blackberry shoots spreading in rows suppresses weeds in the summer). It is also possible to mulch the rows with non-woven materials, but once every 3 years the non-woven material will have to be removed and the plantation must be fed with humus. You can use grass between the rows with low grasses, allowing you to do without mowing (bentgrass). They will not interfere with mulching the bushes with humus. You can do without humus, but then you will have to use mineral supplements according to raspberry standards. In this case, you need to forget about the environmental friendliness of the products. But it is blackberries, like no other crop, that are suitable for growing eco-products, because they do not require preventive treatments against diseases and pests.
Garden blackberries are the healthiest crop
Blackberry varieties without raspberry genes exhibit high resistance to fungal diseases, are not susceptible to viral diseases and are resistant to pests. Although individual viruses have been detected on blackberries, they do not in any way affect the yield or quality of the berry. The economic advantage of planting blackberries (without raspberry genes) with in vitro planting material over vegetatively propagated material of the nth reproduction has not yet been scientifically proven. There are no comparative studies that statistically confirm the effectiveness of such blackberry plantings, although they exist for other garden crops. This only once again speaks of the highest immune potential of the plant, the possibility of long-term operation of plantings and the possibility of using one’s own planting material to repair and expand the plantation.
However, it should be noted that in rainy summer conditions, gray rot of berries can cause significant damage to the crop. This fungal disease begins with berry clusters located in the lower part of the bush (near the soil surface) and quickly spreads to the clusters located above. In windy, dry places (with constant dry winds) this phenomenon is not observed at all. Therefore, in a humid climate, to prevent the disease, it can be recommended to pluck out the lower buds of fruiting shoots (in the spring to a height of up to 1 m) or place various materials and objects under hanging berry clusters (massive inverted fruit boxes>, excluding contact of the berry with the ground, as well as sparse planting with intervals between plants in a row of up to 2.5-3 m.
The berries can be spoiled by wasps and bronze beetles. Against wasps, traps with sugar syrup are sometimes used, made from a plastic bottle cut crosswise with the upper part (neck inward) inserted into the cut half. These are also used in the vineyard (read more about the fight against wasps in -PH" No. 6, 2013 - Ed.).
It is difficult to find a remedy against bronze. The pest damages only ripe berries (apparently, it finds them by smell). The damage looks like this. as if a bird had pecked at the berry. Most often, the beetle visits the outer rows of plantings. Bronzewort is most active in August. By September, her activity decreases. The percentage of damaged ripe berries is relatively small. The damage of the bronze flower also manifests itself in early summer, during flowering, when it eats away the pistils on the flowers, but since there are enough other wild and garden flowers at this time, the damage is sporadic.
Seven meters of harvest
According to the structure of the bush, blackberry varieties are divided into creeping (Kanaka Black, Black Pearl. Thornless Evergreen, Black Dimond), semi-erect (Thornfree, Black Satin, Smooth Steem, Natchez. Loch Ness, Loch Tay, Loch Maree, Hull Thornless. Chester Thornless. Triple Crown, Doyl, Cacanska Bestrna) and upright (Orcan, Arapaho, Navaho, Polar, Gaj, Ruczaj, Asterina). Creeping and semi-upright varieties have shoots up to 7 m long. Straight-growing varieties develop shoots up to 3-3.5 m. The group of semi-upright varieties is the most numerous and productive.
Blackberry shoots, unlike raspberries, can live more than 2 years, but blackberries are grown in a 2-year cycle, like raspberries. That is, the shoots that bear fruit are cut out, and the replacement shoots that developed during the summer season are saved for fruiting next year. If shoots that have already produced one harvest are left, then next season they will have few flower buds. Thus, the bush will be thickened with barren shoots, which complicates harvesting, delays its ripening, and contributes to the accumulation of pests and diseases. Therefore, cutting out fruit-bearing shoots is an obligatory and necessary technique. It is most rational to grow new shoots in free form (without pruning). This requires a large land area. The fact is that the agricultural technology practiced today in Russia (regardless of the breadth of cultivation) is associated with covering replacement shoots in the fall. The shoots intended for fruiting (last year's shoots) are lifted and tied to a trellis in the spring. Replacement shoots that appear in summer are formed in a creeping form by bending down (using wire hooks or staples). This formation of replacement shoots requires their obligatory shelter for the winter.
Shelter is the main element of agricultural technology for garden blackberries, which has shown its effectiveness not only in central Russia, but also in the southern part of the country, as well as in Ukraine and Belarus. Blackberries grown in this way show a yield that significantly exceeds the yield of the same varieties in the mild climate of Western Europe (from 4 to 8 kg per bush). Europeans do not cover blackberries, and they do not freeze them, but the fruit buds are always less frost-resistant than the vine, which leads to the loss of part of the harvest.
Agricultural technology using machines, used in farms Covering is also practiced, but lower yields are also associated with machine harvesting, machine pruning, and planning the plantation for the use of machinery. Some industrial varieties, under amateur cultivation conditions in central Russia, the Southern Urals and Altai, are capable of yielding up to several tens of kilograms per bush, which is confirmed by numerous reports from gardeners in these regions who have mastered the crop.
Considering the length of the replacement shoots that form in a creeping form and are located on the ground along the row, one can understand that the length of the strip occupied by one bush can be significant. Of course, creeping shoots at a certain stage can be smoothly turned in the opposite direction, but still the size of the area occupied by one bush will be determined by a strip 6 m long and 1 m wide. This explains why people who start growing blackberries are almost always tempted somehow solve this problem by pruning. A gardener who picks up a pruner usually has little idea that in his hands is the surest way to deprive himself of a significant part of the harvest. The fact is that each bud on the vine is a future fruit arrow, which in industrial varieties produces many dozens of berries. It eats many dozens of berries. If we approach it purely mathematically, then cutting out half of a long replacement vine means throwing away half the harvest, measured in many kilograms. This relationship is not always direct, because the size of the berry itself at the ends of the vine may be smaller than in its initial part, and the largest berry comes from the lower buds of the shoot. In mature, developed bushes, with timely, abundant watering and mulching the soil with humus, the berries can be more even in size. To enlarge the berries, industrialists sometimes use pruning of fruiting shoots by a third.
Once upon a time, in order to save space, I proposed replacing the pruning of a bush by shaping it with pinching the developing replacement shoots at a certain length, which made it possible to develop the lateral notation of the main shoot and shorten its final length. But as a result of many years of comparative practice, I abandoned this method in favor of free growth of replacement shoots (without formation). Any pinching of a replacement shoot complicates its future garter on the trellis. Having a long shoot, I only tie it up. When pinching is used, it is forced to subsequently tie up each of the numerous shoots of lateral branching. This greatly increases the labor intensity of the spring garter operation, and also increases the risk of shoots breaking off during gartering. To effectively use the area of the site, I recommend not pruning, but increasing
the number of bushes on the same strip intended for one bush. On a strip 6 m long, instead of one plant, you can plant 2-3 bushes of a thornless variety. Replacement shoots of neighboring bushes will be placed in the same area, moving towards each other. Fruiting shoots (of neighboring bushes) on a trellis can also occupy the same wires, and their placement can have different options.
Trellis for garden blackberries
Since the blackberry vine is long, and the berry clusters are often drooping and significantly weigh down the bush, it is clear that a trellis is necessary for growing plants. The most common trellis is flat, and the most common vine trellis is fan-shaped. The height of the trellis is at the level of a raised hand. This is the height at which the last wire is located. The bottom wire is located at a height of 1 m from the surface of the ground (this is enough so that the brushes hanging from the vine tied to it do not touch the ground). The flat shape of the trellis is suitable for both amateur and industrial cultivation of berries (for manual and combine harvesting).
There are also multi-plane trellises of types V. Y, G. All of them are designed for various systems agricultural technologies associated with combine harvesting and adapted for various types of combines.
As a rule, the planes of such trellises have hinged joints that allow changing the angles between the planes to carry out various operations, up to changing the geometry for pre-winter covering of the trellis planes with replacement shoots.
Fruiting shoots and replacement shoots on the Y and V trellis are tied on different planes of the trellis. The shoots do not break when the trellis planes are turned, because they work by twisting and not by bending.
Trellis G does not provide shelter. The design of the Y trellis has 2 movable arms, which determine the ability to fold under the shelter on one side of the row spacing, but the stationary vertical stand of such a trellis is too high, so the shelter turns out to be high, which is unacceptable for the frosty winters of most Russian regions.
The most suitable trellis for Russia is V, which allows you to rotate and lay replacement shoots (together with the trellis plane) horizontally on the ground.
Multi-plane trellises are an expensive proposition. Therefore, for a summer resident and small-scale berry producer, an ordinary flat trellis with posts offset to the row spacing is quite suitable. The offset of the posts allows the use of rolled covering material, rolled out along the entire length of the row. Usually 2 layers of non-woven material are enough for covering. It is advisable to use non-woven fabric with a density of 60-100 g/m2. m white color. In the southern regions, it is permissible to use non-woven fabric of lower density.
Why should you plant garden blackberries?
- Most modern varieties of garden blackberries do not prick or get sick, and the berries tolerate transportation well, do not spoil in the refrigerator for days, and have different aromas that are unlike anything else.
- Bushes of modern varieties do not “run” around the site and are not spread by offspring.
- Without any exaggeration, many varieties of berries can be safely called sweet. Their sugar content can be more than 14%, and one form of Brazilian selection showed a sugar content of up to 16%, while for raspberries this figure barely reaches 10%.
- The variety of aromas of blackberries is incomparable. All varieties of currants and raspberries have the same aroma with the most minimal difference, which is expressed not in the variability of shades, but in its intensity from variety to variety. Grapes are a little more variable in aroma. It is sweet, but quite recognizable, despite the subtle shades of numerous Muscats. Blackberries have varieties that are completely different in aroma and do not taste like anything already known.
- In terms of yield, it is difficult to select a crop that can adequately compete with garden blackberries. The quality of the berries has already been appreciated by gardeners in various regions, as well as by consumers. Today, the price of 1 kg of blackberries is significantly higher than the prices for traditionally grown berries. This is due to a temporary deficit, which will undoubtedly be replenished. This crop is well suited for both amateur and small-scale berry production. The costs pay off handsomely.
What variety of garden blackberries should I plant?
A thornless, productive variety has been successfully established in our gardens over the past 20 years. Thornfree.
At correct definition the degree of ripeness of the berry and timely harvesting, it can be desirable for lovers of both sweet and sour berries. Its taste changes during the ripening process from sour to sweet-sour, sometimes depending on the weather (with a lack of heat, the variety does not acquire sugar). Also, during the ripening process, the hardness of the berry changes. Sweet berries may be too soft. Due to changes in quality during the ripening process, picking berries of this variety requires experience, and the tasting assessment of taste may vary. In this presentation, the variety is interesting because it is quite familiar and can serve as a comparative criterion for ripening time and taste. Here in Samara, despite continuous fruiting for 1.5 months, the variety manages to ripen and produce a full harvest. Gardeners living at the latitude of Moscow consistently harvest only a certain part of the harvest, which depends on specific geographical conditions landing sites and the vagaries of summer weather. Therefore, in regions located north of Samara, it is preferable to plant early and middle varieties.
Very promising super early variety with sweet and sour berries Kagaka Black(advances in terms of ripening Thornfree for 5 weeks). Its berries have an interesting aroma, but the acid somewhat prevails over the sugar. Early sweet varieties deserve close attention Natchez, loch Toy and the sweet and sour variety Oxcan (the first ripe berries of which precede the appearance of the first ripe berries on Thornfree by 3 weeks). The last berry Loch Tay harvested at the same time when the first berry ripens Thornfree. Fruiting of Natchez and Ogsap lasts for 5 weeks.
Very interesting are the mid-ripening sweet varieties Polar, Arapaho, Asterina (2 weeks ahead of Thomfree), as well as the sweet and sour Huff Thorn/ess, Gaj, Smooth Sreem, Slock Satine (1-1.5 weeks ahead of Thomfree). At the same time as Thomfree, the sweet varieties Triple Crown, Loch Ness, and Navaho ripen. The sweet variety Chester Thornfess begins to ripen several days later than the first berry on Thorn-free.
Southerners, on the contrary, would like to replenish their plantings with later varieties than Thornfree. Sweetfruit may end the season in the south of the country remontant variety Prime Ark 45. In Samara, he only manages to give away the first berries. Perhaps it will be of interest to gardeners in Volgograd, Rostov-no-Don and more southern regions. Even more recent is the remontant variety Reuben. In Samara, in mid-October, only the coloring of the first berry occurs, which, due to lack of heat, does not gain sugar during this period. In Poland, this variety is grown in tunnels with open summer time ends (about the same way the Chinese grow tomatoes and cucumbers). All listed varieties have large black berries. The largest berries are those of the Natchez varieties (from 10 to 22 g), Prime Ark 45. The largest berries of the varieties are only slightly smaller Polar, Asterina, Karaka Black, Chester Thornfess, Smooth Sreem, Triple Crown, Reuben. The most interesting berry shape is found in varieties Karaka Black, Natchez, Prime Ark 45(the length of the berry is several times greater than the diameter). The berries of the Asterina, Chester Thornfess, Polar, and Triple Crown varieties have an original round shape. The aromas of some varieties are similar. However, there are varieties that have an individual “face” that is difficult to confuse with others. This Thornfess Evergreen, Chester Thornfess, Asterina, Prime Ark 45, Triple Crown, Black Pearl, Black Diamond. I once admired the variety of flavors of raspberry-blackberry hybrids, but this love is too expensive with a negligible gross return. Real hedgehog wikis with black berries (about which we're talking about in the article) are no less interesting, but at the same time they are many times more productive and practically not susceptible to diseases and pests. All of the listed varieties are thornless, with the exception of the Kagaka Black, Prime Ark 45, and Reuben varieties.
In fact, there are a lot of fruitful varieties with black berries (blackberry>, including in my collection. They are still waiting to be evaluated. The path of learning a new culture is very exciting, but it’s always easy
Scheme and density of garden blackberry plantings
There are various blackberry planting schemes with intervals in the row from 0.6 to 3 m and intervals between the axes of the rows from 1.9 to 3.5 m.
The intervals between plants in a row should not be less than 1.5 m (the care of the bushes becomes more difficult) and more than 3 m (the area is used irrationally). For dense plantings, thornless varieties are usually used (minimum or average spacing between plants in a row). Prickly varieties are planted at maximum intervals rather than moving along a road that has already been traversed by someone.
Spacing between rows of blackberries
If for the width of the row where the bushes are planted and the creeping shoots of replacement are located, we take the width of the strip B = 1.2 m and arrange the bushes along the axis of the row, and for pedestrian passage leave a row spacing with a width of A = 0.5 m, then, accordingly, the interaxial distance will add up: S – B/2 + B/2 + A = B + A = 1.2 + 0.5 = 1.7 m.
It can be seen that since row width B = const, the distance between the axes of the rows depends only on the row spacing A. Accordingly, if: A = 0.5 m, then 5 = 1.7 m;
A = 0.8 m, then S = 2 m; A = 1.3 m, then 5 = 2.5 m; A = 2.3 m, then S = 3.5 m.
The width of the row spacing is selected depending on what or who passes along this row spacing - a gardener with a wheelbarrow or walk-behind tractor, a mini-tractor with a cart, or a combine harvester wheel. We took the row spacing for pedestrian passage to be 0.5 m and as a result the interaxle distance was 1.7 m. Practice has shown that the distance between the axes of the rows should not be less than 1.9-2 m.
Why blackberries don’t yield and what to do
Blackberries are considered one of the most unpretentious berry crops, capable of producing a harvest in any conditions. There is nothing surprising in this: until quite recently it was a wild shrub, and its natural habitat (and this is most countries in the northern hemisphere) taught it to survive and bear fruit in any conditions. However, with the transformation of blackberries into a garden plant, some owners of personal plots who grow them sometimes complain about their low yield, or even lack of fruitfulness.
What is the reason for this behavior of an unpretentious and hardy culture and is it possible to do something about it?
Reasons and details
The most common reasons for blackberry crop failure (or poor fruiting) are:
- Varietal features. The fact that the yield of a particular crop directly depends on its variety is a well-known fact. In the case of blackberries, it manifests itself as follows: all its varieties available today (and there are about three hundred of them, or even more) are divided into erect, semi-erect and creeping. The first two can form clusters with many medium-sized berries, the total number of which will amount to kilograms. Creeping species are initially characterized as slightly fruit-bearing, but their berries themselves are larger than those of other species. It should be said separately about hybrids: their yield is also insignificant, but their taste is superior to other varieties.
- Violation of the rules of agricultural technology - primarily covering for the winter and pruning. Blackberries are afraid of frost, and if they are not protected from the winter cold, the shoots will freeze, and in the most severe cases, tissue necrosis may occur around a bud that does not have frost resistance. Naturally, there can be no talk of any harvest in this state of affairs. As for pruning, you should remember its main rule: you need to cut only old, fruit-bearing branches. If you shorten new shoots or do spring pruning, the plant will not be able to produce a harvest - at least this year. For the same reason, it is recommended to prune old branches only in the fall.
- Irregular or insufficient watering during ripening of berries, due to which they can become small and dry, and the yield can decrease. The worst case scenario is also possible, in which the berries may not ripen at all.
- Absence of flower buds on a green vine. The reason for this could be any - for example, the lack of shelter for the winter, which we already talked about a little higher - and the result will be that the empty vine will interfere with the fruiting of other shoots.
- Disembarkation at inappropriate place and, most importantly, on unsuitable soils. The first refers to an insufficiently lit area of land, and the second refers to carbonate soils. If blackberries grow on them, sooner or later their roots will reach the lime, and eventually the crop will begin to dry out. It can be determined that the cause of crop failure was the soil, and not infectious chlorosis, by the following signs: yellowing of the leaf blade while maintaining the natural color of the veins, absence of damage and necrosis of tissues and veins, mummification of berries directly on the branches.
- Unsuitable or unstable climate. Even in their natural habitat, which is not particularly soft, blackberries may not have time to ripen. The fact is that it itself requires not only a warm, but also a long growing season and usually begins to bloom a month later than its long-cultivated relative, the garden raspberry. In conditions middle zone it is the beginning of July. It takes at least two months for the berries to ripen, and thus, in the best case scenario, blackberries begin to bear fruit in early September. And although it is still warm at this time and “Indian summer” is ahead, unstable weather is quite possible, due to which the blackberries simply will not have time to bear the harvest. It is also possible that the variety you chose was not originally zoned for your area.
- When watering the plant, you should remember that moisture should not get on the berries, and the fruiting clusters should not touch the ground. If this happens, the berries will become infected with gray rot, and then the harvest can be forgotten for a long time.
- When caring for blackberries, you must definitely add different kinds fertilizers that have a beneficial effect on the yield and taste of the crop. The type of fertilizing is individual in each case and depends not only on the variety, but also on the season, the soil on which the crop grows, etc.
- When deciding to grow blackberries in your garden, you should carefully choose the variety. It should not only produce a harvest that suits you, but also be suitable for your area. Unfortunately, experts have not yet developed varieties that would be both large-berry and abundantly fruit-bearing, so when choosing, you must rely not only on the recommendations of experienced gardeners, but also on your own preferences.
- When planting bushes, you should follow simple recommendations: plant the plant in a well-lit area (slight shading is acceptable); bushes should be arranged in rows, and the distance between them should be chosen depending on the variety; Fruiting branches must be tied to supports approximately two meters high.
- If the blackberry is unlucky and it turns out to be planted on carbonate soil, the situation can be corrected by foliar fertilizing with iron chelate and adding a weak solution of iron sulfate to the root. It is also recommended to apply more manure in the fall or compost in the spring on such soils.
- The seedlings are planted in holes at a distance of 2–2.5 m with a row spacing of 2.5–3 m. For a small farm planting, compaction of up to 2 m between rows is acceptable; for mechanized processing of plantings, the distance between rows should be at least 3 m.
- The row spacing must be mulched with any organic mulch (straw, peat, sawdust). This is necessary to protect the soil from drying out, the germination of weeds, as well as to preserve the properties and structure of the soil. Nowadays, agrofabric is very popular among gardeners - it is a woven ground covering that is used in gardening and gardening instead of mulch.
- As already noted, in most cases, Loch Ness blackberries need to be tied to trellises. In this case, it is recommended to direct the lashes along the wire in a zigzag manner, braiding around them. For this variety, a trellis with a height of 2.5 m is sufficient, but you need to understand that the height of the trellis should not exceed the width of the row spacing, since such a structure will shade the adjacent row.
- The easiest way to propagate blackberries is by digging in the tops of the shoots. To do this, the branch is tilted, the upper part of the shoot is fixed and sprinkled with earth. The top is cut off no earlier than the shoot takes root. Propagation by cuttings is no less successful, however, according to experienced experts, there is a danger that the new plant will have thorns. It is quite difficult to grow a bush from seeds, so this method is rarely used.
- As for pruning, its advisability must be judged based on the situation. On the one hand, the lateral branch is already sufficient, and besides, pruning in dense bushes is not so easy. On the other hand, shortening young shoots will lead to an increase in the size and quality of berries next year. In general, you need to look at the condition of the bush - if there are a lot of shoots, then the weakest ones need to be removed, and the strong shoots should be shortened. Autumn pruning is mandatory, since after it it is easier to cover the plants for the winter.
- garter to trellises;
- applying potassium and nitrogen fertilizers in the spring - fertilizing is carried out from the 3-4th year of the bush’s life;
- formative pruning - for this variety, two prunings are preferable: autumn, in preparation for winter, and spring (in May, the tops of the shoots should be shortened by 15–20 cm to stimulate flowering);
- shelter for the winter.
- anemia;
- metabolic disease;
- hypertension;
- pathologies of the genitourinary system;
- gout.
How to deal with crop failure
For your blackberries to bear fruit, you need little: just follow the rules for growing them and all the nuances inherent in this process, and avoid what we talked about above. For example:
If you follow all these tips, then for many years you can provide yourself with a stable harvest of excellent and very healthy berries– and, as you know, in one place blackberries can bear fruit for 12 to 15 years, depending on the variety.
ogorodnikam.com
Description of the Loch Ness blackberry variety: all about the sweet berry
Features of the variety
The Loch Ness variety was deservedly awarded by the Royal Society of Horticulturalists of Britain for a whole range of positive characteristics and qualities. The berries of this variety are truly beautiful in appearance - they are large (5–10 g), regular, even in shape, shiny surface, black in color at technical maturity, with a slight bluish tint. The pulp is quite juicy, but dense, has a sweet, slightly tart taste, with a pronounced blackberry aroma. Some gardeners note a certain sourness in the taste, but this is typical only for berries at technical ripeness - when fully ripe they are very sugary.
One of the reasons why the cultivation of Loch Ness blackberries is practiced on an industrial scale is the high productivity of the variety. On average, the yield from one bush is 15 kg, but experienced domestic and foreign gardeners claim that with proper care, an adult bush is capable of greater yield - 25–30 kg. The berries are easily transported and do not lose their marketable appearance for a long time, which makes it possible to grow the variety for commercial purposes.
Loch Ness blackberry description: refers to mid-season varieties - the berries ripen in mid-August, but in some regions it may be 1-2 weeks later. They do not ripen at the same time, so the harvest will be spread over 4–6 weeks. Since the blackberries of this variety are thornless, and the berries are collected in multiple clusters, harvesting occurs quickly and without difficulty.
The Loch Ness variety is characterized by a semi-creeping form of shoots. The bushes are compact, but often dense due to the intensive growth of shoots. The branches are smooth (without thorns), over 4 m in height, up to half erect, and creeping in the upper part. This feature requires the installation of vertical trellises, but many gardeners, thanks to timely pruning, do without supports.
The culture is undemanding to conditions - it can grow and bear fruit in any soil. When the root system of the mother bush is damaged, root growth quickly grows. Fruiting begins in the second year of life. It reproduces mainly by rooting the tops, produces a large number of replacement shoots, and is characterized by a high degree of survival of seedlings. The bushes are highly resistant to diseases and have relatively high winter hardiness. At temperatures of -17–20 °C, plants can overwinter without shelter, but it is not recommended to take risks.
Video “Garden blackberry Loch Ness”
This video will give an idea of the Loch Ness blackberry variety, its features and benefits.
How to grow properly
The agricultural technology of the Loch Ness variety is similar to growing any semi-creeping blackberry, and includes the following points:
As for planting itself, Loch Ness blackberries prefer a flat area without holes or depressions, illuminated by the sun most of the day. To plant seedlings, dig a planting hole measuring 40x40 cm, at the bottom of which a mixture of fertilizers is placed: compost or humus (5 kg), potassium salt (50 g) and superphosphate (100 g). All fertilizers are mixed with the soil, after which a young plant is planted in this mixture. Planting is carried out in early spring.
In the year of planting, the young bush is not fertilized, but only periodically watered and loosened the soil between the rows if there is no mulch.
From the second year, the bush needs standard care measures:
Preparing for frost
As mentioned above, blackberries need to be covered for the winter. Of course, the variety has good winter hardiness, but since the climate of most regions of Russia is characterized by harsh winters with temperatures below -20 °C and sudden changes in weather, it is not worth the risk. Preparing for winter involves not only shelter, but also proper formative pruning.
In the fall, all shoots that bear fruit this year should be removed - they are no longer needed, since blackberries have a two-year development cycle: in the first year, young shoots grow, and in the second they bear fruit, and this is where their useful function ends. Therefore, all old shoots are cut out at the root without regret. Next, you need to remove some of the young, but weakest shoots, leaving 7-8 of the most powerful ones - they will form a harvest next year.
Having freed the bushes from excess branches, you can begin to cover. Covering, as well as trimming, semi-creeping blackberries is not easy, but it must be done. There are two possible ways covering bushes for the winter: removing them from the trellises and covering them with them. The first method is acceptable if the bush is not very thick and the shoots can be removed. In this case, they are rolled into a circle (like coiling wire), after which they are placed on a board or straw, treated with copper sulfate to prevent possible pests and diseases, and then sprinkled with a thick layer of mulch.
In the second case, if the shoots are difficult to remove from the support, or they break, shelter is practiced together with a trellis. To do this, the structure is removed and laid on the ground along with the plant. Processing of shoots and shelter is carried out as in the first method. As mulch you can use peat, straw, sawdust, dry tops of garden crops, dry foliage of non-fruit trees - in leaves fruit crops may contain pest larvae and fungal spores.
For winters with temperatures of -20–25 °C, covering only with organic mulch is sufficient. For a more severe climate, the bushes are additionally covered with agrofibre, film, roofing felt or other dense material.
To make it easier for blackberries to overwinter, it is recommended to stop watering immediately after harvesting.
Beneficial features
The beneficial properties of blackberries have been known since ancient times, when there were no cultivated varieties of the berry, but they were collected exclusively in natural conditions - in the forest. Even then, traditional healers used the plant to treat diseases such as:
Fresh blackberries have a very diverse chemical composition, due to which, when consumed regularly, they have the following effects on the body:
- support the heart, strengthen the heart muscle, reduce the likelihood of attacks and heart attacks;
- strengthen and cleanse blood vessels, reduce blood pressure;
- relieve inflammatory processes in internal organs, especially the genitourinary system;
- promote the production of bile, accelerate its outflow through the biliary tract, remove stones;
- fight free radicals, cancer cells, prevent the aging of healthy cells;
- restore blood cells, improve its composition and blood circulation;
- normalize digestion and gastrointestinal function;
- have antipyretic and antiviral effects;
- prevent nervous and psychosomatic diseases.
The vitamin composition of Loch Ness blackberries is represented by vitamins C, A, PP (niacin), E, thiamine and riboflavin (group B), as well as beta-carotene. The tart, sour taste is due to the presence of several types of organic acids (malic, tartaric, salicylic, citric). The pulp also contains phenols, tannins and glycosides.
The main value of blackberries is their high antioxidant properties, thanks to which they rejuvenate the body, restore and strengthen it after serious illnesses.
Video “Preparing blackberries for winter”
From this video you will learn what it means to prepare a blackberry bush for winter, what needs to be done in the fall so that the plant quickly recovers, blooms every year and bears fruit abundantly.
Garden blackberries: rules for planting and care
Garden blackberries are a delicious dark purple berry. It resembles a raspberry in shape, but is only much larger than the latter. Many people like the taste of this wonderful berry, but a logical question arises - whether growing blackberries will be too difficult and overwhelming.
After all, some experts in their articles talk about the capricious nature of this beauty. To make the task of growing blackberries on your property easier, in this article we will talk about the features of planting and caring for this plant.
Blackberries are the closest relatives of raspberries, as is clearly evidenced by their external similarity. Many varieties of cultivated blackberries were created thanks to hybrid crossing with raspberries.
The plant has many varieties, and two main types: bushy and erect. The bushy species is a shrub with reclining branches and dark blue berries.
Upright blackberries have characteristic stems that stick up. The berries ripen in August and have a specific bluish coating. Shoots with thorns. This species is most often grown on personal plots. It has a popular name - bramble.
In the video - planting garden blackberries:
Externally, garden blackberries are a hardy and strong shrub, with long shoots (1.5-3 meters), sometimes reaching even eight to ten meters in length in some varieties. The leaves are pointed and prickly, have a rough texture, and are quite large in size. Garden blackberry shoots require support: a fence, a house wall, or other garden paraphernalia can play its role. But it is best to build special trellises, since with their help it will be much easier to care for the plant and trim it. 
The berries of garden blackberries, unlike their wild counterparts, are very large: the weight of one specimen varies from 10 to 15 grams. The size of the berry can be up to 5 cm, and from one bush an experienced gardener collects from 6 to 15 kilograms of them per season.
Plant varieties can be either early or late. This variety makes it possible to grow blackberries on the plot at exactly the ripening dates that are most convenient for the gardener. But what are the best varieties of blackberries for Siberia, and what they look like, you can see here.
To top off all the advantages of this plant, it is necessary to add its extremely decorative flowering: the abundant foam of white flowers delights and delights. Flowering occurs annually in early summer or late spring.
Due to the fact that during this period in most regions there are no longer night frosts, the flowers do not suffer, and the blackberry harvest is always abundant.
For cold climate zones, of which there are quite a few in our country, quite a few frost-resistant plant varieties have been bred. Therefore, even in the Far North and Siberia, gardeners have the opportunity to grow tasty and healthy berries.
The cultivated blackberry bush usually produces a bountiful harvest and, despite the statements of some experts, is not very whimsical. Currently, more and more summer residents are choosing this plant for their plots, since the berries, along with an unusually pleasant taste, also have medicinal value.
Let's look at the most popular and frequently found blackberry varieties in garden plots in our country.
One of the most popular and favorite blackberry varieties among gardeners. Very frost-resistant: can withstand cold temperatures down to minus 40 degrees. This is a creeping variety; its bush sometimes takes the shape of a kind of arch.
Garden blackberry Agawam
The berries have a characteristic black tint, but are not too large (from 3 to 5 grams). The yield per bush is 4-5 kg of berries. The variety is highly resistant to pests and diseases. It will also be interesting to know what the best varieties of blackberries are for the Urals, and what they look like.
Upright variety. It has unusual berries: elongated, with shiny skin.
Loganberry
Late variety of universal use. It is a hybrid of large-fruited raspberries and blackberries. It is distinguished by wonderful berries: large, sweet and very tasty. Some specimens weigh 10 grams.
It does not tolerate frost, so growing it in cold climates is problematic. And even if the climate is mild, blackberry bushes of this variety must be covered for the winter. It will also be interesting to see what Black Satin garden blackberries look like
Abundant
A creeping variety with characteristic spiky stems. The plant's berries are quite large (6-10 g), and the yield from one bush is 3-4 kg. Belongs to late varieties, does not particularly favor frosts.
With proper care and good shelter from frost, it can bear fruit for 10-12 years. But you can see what a climbing blackberry without thorns looks like here in the photo.
A strong shrub with creeping thorny shoots. It brings a fairly abundant harvest - from 6 to 10 kg per bush. However, the variety is capricious and does not like frost, so it needs shelter for the winter. But this video will help you understand how the Thornfree blackberry reproduces.
Let's learn how to properly plant blackberries in the garden.
Choosing a place and time
The plant loves sunny meadows: blackberries will also grow in the shade, however, in this case you should not expect a significant harvest.
As for the soil, for shrubs the best option is loam: fertile and with good drainage. For a bountiful harvest, the soil must be light and well loosened.
It is better to plant young seedlings in the spring, after the snow has completely melted and the soil has thawed. But you can plant bushes in the fall: in this case, it is important to carry out the procedure before frost, so that the plant can take root before the ground freezes.
The video shows everything about planting blackberries:
Placing seedlings in the ground
Before placing the seedlings in the ground, keep them in a special solution that promotes their rapid rooting. This preparation can be bought at any garden store, and the microelements contained in it will help the plant roots get used to new conditions in a more gentle manner.
Prepare holes for the bushes in advance. They need to be made 45x45 cm in size and half a meter deep. Between the holes, leave a distance of 1 meter (no less), and if it is a creeping variety, then 2 meters. The distance between rows should be from one and a half to two meters.
Be sure to add compost or manure to the soil and dig the bed thoroughly. In addition to organic matter, it is recommended to add a handful of mineral fertilizers per m2. Such complex fertilizing will optimally prepare the soil, making it suitable for blackberries.
When planting, make sure that the root collar on the main stem of the plant is not too deep: 3-5 cm is enough. After placing the seedling in the hole, the latter must be filled with moistened soil. Surround the bush with a small border of soil and water it thoroughly.
How to properly care
Let's find out the most important points for caring for garden blackberries.
The plant needs regular watering, with mandatory loosening after the procedure. The shrub loves light, airy soil, so loosening should not be neglected. And although the root system of the plant is quite powerful and resistant to drought, blackberries should not experience severe dehydration. And during the ripening of the crop, watering must be increased so that the berries are juicier.
When to sow basil in open ground in the spring, and how to do it correctly, you should follow the link.
But how to grow basil from seeds for seedlings, and what results can be achieved, is indicated here.
It will also be interesting to learn about how rhubarb is planted as seedlings: http://gidfermer.com/sadovodstvo/ovoshhevodstvo/reven-posadka-i-uxod.htmlе
But how to grow rhubarb from seeds at home is described in great detail in this video.
The plant also needs regular pruning of branches. The procedure is carried out in autumn and spring. If in the fall they remove old branches that will no longer bear fruit, then in the spring they cut off those branches that did not survive the winter. But the information at the link will help you understand how to prune garden blackberries in the spring.
On the video - how to properly care for the bush:
In the spring, it is imperative to install trellises next to the bushes: you will tie the shoots to them when they need support.
As for feeding, the plant does not need organic matter in the first 3-4 years of its life. And starting from the fourth year of life, begin to add organic matter (manure, compost, humus) to the root. Under one mature plant It is necessary to add a bucket of nutrient solution one time.
Mineral fertilizer is universal. Before use, the granules must be diluted with water. The following types of mineral complexes are suitable for blackberries:
Diseases and pests
Blackberries are quite unpretentious, however, and they have their own “enemies”. The most dangerous disease for the plant is rust. This disease sometimes claims up to half of the entire berry harvest. The disease manifests itself by covering blackberry stems with orange-brown spores: sticky and unpleasant. If the bush is not treated, rust will lead to rotting of the stems, and then to the death of the plant.
Rust is contagious, and control measures must begin as soon as symptoms are noticed. It is necessary to spray the plant with a special fungicide, remove and destroy the affected parts, water more often, and remove weak branches. And the most effective folk remedy To help cope with the scourge, spraying with garlic tincture is possible.
In addition to rust, blackberries can also be threatened by anthractic disease, a common disease with raspberries. This disease appears as purple spots on the leaves that eventually become cankers.
In the case of this disease, the diseased bush must be dug up by the roots and burned. Blackberries and raspberries cannot be planted in the space left after it: only vegetable crops can be planted.
Shelter for the winter
Some plant varieties survive frosty winters quite well. But there are also those that require mandatory shelter. The branches of the plant should be very carefully tilted towards the ground, covered with leaves or special agrofibre, and then secured.
How to cover blackberries in winter
Don’t forget to hill up the bush next to the rhizome: the procedure will help the root system not to freeze in the harsh winter. If the winter turns out to be frosty but snowless, hilling the root may save the plant’s life.
Reproduction
Garden blackberries can be propagated both vegetatively and by seed. The second option can be carried out from spring until frost. A universal method of propagation for all types and varieties of plants is by cuttings. And also a method of dividing the bush.
For an upright growing species, propagation by cuttings (roots) is important. To implement this method, it is necessary in the spring to dig up the roots of the plant, surrounded by a 10-15 cm earthen ball. Then the separated root cuttings are planted in a previously prepared place, deepening 5-7 cm into the soil. For creeping species, the method of propagation by apical layering is best suited.
We looked at the features of growing garden blackberries. As you can see, it is not so difficult to grow this wonderful plant on the plot, which has outstanding nutritional, beneficial and decorative properties. Thanks to our recommendations, this will be much easier.
Blackberry. Fundamentals of agricultural technology. Classification. How to plant and grow? How to care? When do blackberries bloom and bear fruit? (10+)
How to grow blackberries
Blackberry- an unpretentious and very interesting berry plant for gardeners. This shrub plant is grown much easier and faster than other similar ones. Blackberries bear fruit within a couple of years after planting in the soil.
Similarities with other berries
Blackberries, or rather their berries, are similar to raspberries. Main similarities, content of sugars and acids, as well as vitamins of group P (in 100 g of berries, 500-1000 mg)
Composition of blackberries
Blackberries are valuable because fructose gives the berry its sweetness. Thanks to this, blackberries are used in healthy eating. Read more about how the body absorbs fructose
Blackberries contain such vital vitamins (A, B, C, E, K, P, PP).
Use in folk medicine
In order to get rid of intestinal disorders (diarrhea), you need to eat unripe blackberries, and if, on the contrary, then ripe ones. The berry is also capable of strengthening capillary walls and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
A decoction of the roots is used for throat diseases, to normalize liver function, and for a diuretic effect. Blackberry leaves stop bleeding and diarrhea.
Types of blackberries
There are two types of blackberries: brambles and dewberries. Brambles reproduce exclusively by rhizomes, or, to be more precise, by their shoots. This plant reaches up to three meters or more in height. This species includes the following varieties (Kittatini, Lawton, Erie, Wilsons Early, etc.)
Dewberries have creeping long shoots. The following varieties belong to the dewberry family (Izobilnaya, Texas, Thornfree and Smutstem - famous for their lack of thorns).
Flowering and fruiting of blackberries
Depends on the type and variety of blackberries, as well as the soil and climatic conditions in which the plant grows.
Blackberries that were planted using rhizomes or root shoots of buds do not bear fruit the first year, but the next year they produce color and berries on the side branches, then they die. Flowering and fruiting of blackberries in brambles is a little faster than in dewberries. Pollination of blackberries occurs due to their own pollen, so the gardener does not have to bother with planting different varieties blackberries, one will be enough.
Blackberries are famous for their high yields; even raspberries are inferior in terms of fruiting volumes. So some varieties such as Izobilnaya, Eri, Lautona, produce fruit weighing 3g.
Cumanica, unlike dewberries, is more winter-hardy and can tolerate frosts down to -20 with a low probability of damage to the plant; dewberries, although more susceptible to frost, are easier to prepare for winter by covering them.
Methods for planting blackberries
There are several ways to plant blackberries in the ground. The first is due to the shoots of the root system, the second is the planting of seeds.
Bramble can be easily propagated using root cuttings; a more effective and sure way is to dig up a rhizome in early spring, the diameter of which is 6 mm and the length is 10-16 cm, then it is planted in a horizontal position in the place where the blackberry will grow in the future.
The method of planting dewberry consists of rooting the ends of a bush shoot, the length of which should be at least 30 cm. To do this, you need to make a groove 20-25 cm deep, then lower the end of the shoot and sprinkle it with soil. Subsequently, up to 4 young plants appear on the sundew, which will be ready for planting in the ground. The appropriate time for planting is the second or third ten days of August; this is done with the aim of overwintering the young shoot in the ground. During this time, the sundew will have a good root system, and in the spring it will be ready for planting due to the separation of the rhizome from the mother plant.
Seed planting of blackberries will be no worse than those listed above. Suitable soil for such seeds is peat soil or sandy soil with sufficient moisture. In order to plant the plant in a prepared permanent place in the spring, you should plant the seeds in trays or pots 3-4 months before. The temperature at which plants are kept in trays should be low, approximately +2 to +5 degrees. The soil condition should be sufficiently moist, but the soil should not be over-watered. Then, after keeping the trays in a cold state, you should change the room where the temperature will be +20 degrees, thus, all the conditions for germination of the plant will be met.
After the formation of the second leaf of the previously planted sapling, it can be planted individually in pots, or in an already prepared permanent place in the spring in already sufficiently warmed soil. A plant from seeds begins to bear fruit in the third or fourth year after planting in the soil.
Timely soil care
As mentioned above, the soil should be peaty or slightly moist sandy, but in no case should the soil be swampy or too sandy. Every spring, a good gardener should have one not unimportant tendency - fertilizing the soil. Due to the annual renewal of the aboveground part of the blackberry bush, the soil is depleted and loses its nutrients. The most optimal and best fertilizer for autumn period is manure; for the period of active growth, the best option is mineral fertilizers. It must be remembered that with active growth and fruiting, blackberries need to be watered frequently.
When it reaches more than 80 cm, the plant should be pinched around the beginning of June, this way the plant will bloom more intensely and later bear fruit. After collecting the fruits, you need to trim the shoots and straighten the bushes, leaving 3-4 strong shoots.
To prevent blackberries from getting sick, you should carefully choose a planting site in uncontaminated soil. Diseases of blackberries are the same as those of raspberries: shoot anthracnose, leaf rust, and stem cancer. To treat anthrocnose and rust, spray the plant with 3% Bordeaux mixture. Stem cancer is caused by mechanical damage to the plant, through which bacteria enter the damaged areas, so you need to very carefully cultivate the soil near the plant.
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Blackberries are considered one of the most unpretentious berry crops, capable of producing a harvest in any conditions. There is nothing surprising in this: until quite recently it was a wild shrub, and its natural habitat (and this is most countries in the northern hemisphere) taught it to survive and bear fruit in any conditions. However, with the transformation of blackberries into a garden plant, some owners of personal plots who grow them sometimes complain about their low yield, or even lack of fruitfulness.
What is the reason for this behavior of an unpretentious and hardy culture and is it possible to do something about it?
Reasons and details
The most common reasons for blackberry crop failure (or poor fruiting) are:
- Varietal features. The fact that the yield of a particular crop directly depends on its variety is a well-known fact. In the case of blackberries, it manifests itself as follows: all its varieties available today (and there are about three hundred of them, or even more) are divided into erect, semi-erect and creeping. The first two can form clusters with many medium-sized berries, the total number of which will amount to kilograms. Creeping species are initially characterized as slightly fruit-bearing, but their berries themselves are larger than those of other species. It should be said separately about hybrids: their yield is also insignificant, but their taste is superior to other varieties.
- Violation of the rules of agricultural technology - primarily covering for the winter and pruning. Blackberries are afraid of frost, and if they are not protected from the winter cold, the shoots will freeze, and in the most severe cases, tissue necrosis may occur around a bud that does not have frost resistance. Naturally, there can be no talk of any harvest in this state of affairs. As for pruning, you should remember its main rule: you need to cut only old, fruit-bearing branches. If you shorten new shoots or do spring pruning, the plant will not be able to produce a harvest - at least this year. For the same reason, it is recommended to prune old branches only in the fall.
- Irregular or insufficient watering during ripening of berries, due to which they can become small and dry, and the yield can decrease. The worst case scenario is also possible, in which the berries may not ripen at all.
- Absence of flower buds on a green vine. The reason for this could be any - for example, the lack of shelter for the winter, which we already talked about a little higher - and the result will be that the empty vine will interfere with the fruiting of other shoots.
- Landing in an inappropriate place and, most importantly, on inappropriate soils. The first refers to an insufficiently lit area of land, and the second refers to carbonate soils. If blackberries grow on them, sooner or later their roots will reach the lime, and eventually the crop will begin to dry out. It can be determined that the cause of crop failure was the soil, and not infectious chlorosis, by the following signs: yellowing of the leaf blade while maintaining the natural color of the veins, absence of damage and necrosis of tissues and veins, mummification of berries directly on the branches.
- Unsuitable or unstable climate. Even in their natural habitat, which is not particularly soft, blackberries may not have time to ripen. The fact is that it itself requires not only a warm, but also a long growing season and usually begins to bloom a month later than its long-cultivated relative, the garden raspberry. In the middle zone this is the beginning of July. It takes at least two months for the berries to ripen, and thus, in the best case scenario, blackberries begin to bear fruit in early September. And although it is still warm at this time and “Indian summer” is ahead, unstable weather is quite possible, due to which the blackberries simply will not have time to bear the harvest. It is also possible that the variety you chose was not originally zoned for your area.
How to deal with crop failure
For your blackberries to bear fruit, you need little: just follow the rules for growing them and all the nuances inherent in this process, and avoid what we talked about above. For example:
- When watering the plant, you should remember that moisture should not get on the berries, and the fruiting clusters should not touch the ground. If this happens, the berries will become infected with gray rot, and then the harvest can be forgotten for a long time.
- When caring for blackberries, it is necessary to apply various types of fertilizers that have a beneficial effect on the yield and taste of the crop. The type of fertilizing is individual in each case and depends not only on the variety, but also on the season, the soil on which the crop grows, etc.
- When deciding to grow blackberries in your garden, you should carefully choose the variety. It should not only produce a harvest that suits you, but also be suitable for your area. Unfortunately, experts have not yet developed varieties that would be both large-berry and abundantly fruit-bearing, so when choosing, you must rely not only on the recommendations of experienced gardeners, but also on your own preferences.
- When planting bushes, you should follow simple recommendations: plant the plant in a well-lit area (slight shading is acceptable); bushes should be arranged in rows, and the distance between them should be chosen depending on the variety; Fruiting branches must be tied to supports approximately two meters high.
- If the blackberry is unlucky and it turns out to be planted on carbonate soil, the situation can be corrected by foliar fertilizing with iron chelate and adding a weak solution of iron sulfate to the root. It is also recommended to apply more manure in the fall or compost in the spring on such soils.
If you follow all these tips, then for many years you can provide yourself with a stable harvest of excellent and very healthy berries - and, as you know, in one place blackberries can bear fruit for 12 to 15 years, depending on the variety.
