Blackberries, Cultivation On The Site And Varieties. Part 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Read Blackberries, cultivation on the site and varieties. Part 1

Blackberry is my favorite

Naturally, each blackberry variety has its own advantages, but they also have disadvantages. So the Thornfrey variet

along with a large number of advantages, among which the main one is the absence of thorns, has very significant disadvantages, for example, weak winter hardiness. Against its background, the cultivar Wilson Earley looks much more interesting

it is winter-hardy enough, but there is another misfortune - its shoots are strongly circumscribed.

As for the taste and mass of fruits, then the undisputed leader is the cultivar

Agavam, whose homeland is the United States. Our variety obtained as a result of sowing seeds from free pollination -

Ufa local … This variety is good for everyone - it has an amazing taste, aroma, high winter hardiness, and therefore we love and respect.

Other, also very common varieties, are at risk due to insufficient winter hardiness for our conditions. These are such cultivars as

Lobular, Izobilnaya, Lucretia, Krasnodar and

Eri. They require mandatory shelter for the winter. The real record holders for winter hardiness in combination with the pleasant taste of the fruits and their large mass include the varieties

Eldorado and

Wilson Earley.

All these varieties are quite easy to purchase in the form of seedlings, because they are available in any nursery, but you can propagate yourself, in this regard, blackberries are close to raspberries.

Blackberry propagation

Blackberry varieties can be propagated by root cuttings and dividing the bush. Erect blackberry is preferable to propagate by root cuttings. To do this, in the early spring or late autumn, root segments are dug out about a centimeter in diameter and up to 10-15 centimeters long. Immediately after excavation, they are planted in grooves, placing them horizontally and placing them at a depth of about 7-8 centimeters.

Creeping blackberries are much easier to propagate by rooting the tops, horizontal layering, and, of course, root cuttings. The creeping blackberry also succeeds well when propagated by green cuttings.

In amateur gardening, a simple method of rooting the tops is preferred; this option resembles reproduction by arcuate layering. The essence of the method is simple and consists in the inclination and arcuate bending of the tops. This operation is performed around the end of August. To do this, it is better to choose a cloudy day, you can do this after a little rain. The shoots are laid in dug holes about 15-20 cm deep and fixed in this position with wooden corners. After this, the pits must be filled up, but it is better to use not ordinary soil for this, but a mixture of fertile soil and humus, it is necessary to fill it up so that the tip of the shoot remains on the surface.

Most often, roots and new small growths appear after 20-25 days. So that young growths do not suffer from frost, it is recommended to insulate them with something for the winter, for example, fallen leaves or any covering material. In the spring, the insulation is removed, the layers are separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place.

Blackberries and creeping layers reproduce well. To do this, the replacement shoots are pinched at the plant, by that time they should have reached a length of about a meter. After that, dormant buds awaken on the shoot, which give powerful lateral growths. Around August, thickenings are formed on these increments, which must be buried in the soil and watered more often. A month later, powerful roots form on these thickenings, and the next year a strong shoot will stretch upward. After that, the shoot with roots must be separated from the mother plant and planted in a permanent place. Used for reproduction of blackberries and the method of horizontal layers, it allows you to get a fairly large number of seedlings, even from one plant.

The essence of the method is to prune the stems within two years at a height of about 15 cm from the soil surface. After that, in the third year, the strongest young growths are laid out radially around the plant and placed in pre-prepared grooves no more than 5-6 cm deep, after which they are pinned with wooden staples and sprinkled with soil.

Young shoots will begin to grow from the buds that are underground, and a new root system will also form. In fact, each bud on the shoot will form a new plant on its own. You just have to dig out the cuttings in the fall and carefully divide it into parts, then planting each one in a permanent place.

Planting blackberry seedlings

By the way, if we talk about planting, the technology of cultivation of blackberries is in many respects similar to that of raspberries, although there are also some peculiarities. Do not forget that most of its varieties are weakly winter-hardy and require shelter, so before laying a plot of blackberries, select a place for it that is reliably protected from the north wind and well warmed up.

It is better to plant blackberry seedlings in spring, in this case you will avoid the risk of freezing of plants in the first winter. Kumanik seedlings must be placed about a meter apart, leaving about two meters between the rows. As for the creeping blackberry, then the distance between the plants should be at least three meters, and between the rows - 2.5 meters.

Blackberries are planted in planting holes, which are dug taking into account the size of the root system of the seedling, but more often their sizes are 40 by 40 cm. It is advisable to add manure or compost to the bottom of the hole, having built a nutritious pillow. It is recommended to cut the aboveground part immediately after planting at a height of 25-30 centimeters from the soil level.

Further care of the blackberry consists in loosening the soil, combating weeds, and also in periodic watering. Do not forget to mulch the soil after watering, blackberries love this very much. It is better to use humus, manure or peat as mulch, the layer should not be too thin, but its maximum thickness should not exceed 4-5 cm.

Closer to autumn, mineral fertilizers can also be applied directly on top of the mulch layer, and after that the soil must be dug to a shallow depth, using garden forks for better mixing. In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers can be added to the fertilizers already applied earlier.

Blackberries on a trellis

As for the very method of cultivating blackberries, it is better to use a trellis for these purposes, the height of which is about two meters. On the trellis, you can grow both erect blackberries and its creeping forms. In the first season after planting, young shoots must be tied to a trellis with a slope to one side. These shoots will bear fruit next year. New shoots, which will appear next spring, are tied to a trellis with an inclination to the other side. After harvesting, the shoots that have yielded a crop must be cut shortly and burned, and the young must be removed from the trellis, bent to the soil and covered for the winter.

Harvesting blackberries

And now it's time to harvest. They usually start picking fruits at the end of August, and this pleasant period stretches for almost a month. Ready for harvest are those fruits in which a small dimple in the center of each drupe is completely filled. It is not worth delaying the collection of berries, fully ripe fruits very quickly lose their marketable properties, being on the shoots. By the way, even after picking, blackberries are stored for a very short time - no more than a day and a half under normal conditions and no more than a week in the refrigerator. Blackberries can be eaten both fresh and processed. They are dried and dried, marmalade is prepared from them, compotes and jelly are boiled, juice is squeezed out and used as filler for cakes and sweets.

Irina Guryeva, Junior Researcher, Berry Crops Department, V. I. I. V. Michurin.

Photo by the author