Planting an elderberry black on a plot of seeds or cuttings

Contents of the Article, fruits. Black elderberry planting is often carried out with a decorative purpose. This culture can be found in the nature of temperate latitudes. Well-groomed shrub pleases the eye with numerous branches, large dense foliage, it blooms beautifully and magnificently. Elderberry bush is useful to plant in the garden or in the country, the smell emanating from it deters rodents and insect pests. Large clusters of black elderberry look bright and unusual in landscape design. Ripe berries have long been used in traditional medicine, they are used to make jams, syrups, juices, make wine, eat fresh, and dry.

Culture Description

Black elderberry belongs to the adox family, its closest relative is viburnum. Small shrub grows quickly, the maximum height can be 8-10 meters. Blooming lush, it falls on the period of spring - the beginning of summer. Small flowers are collected in inflorescences, their color may be white, cream or yellowish. The fruits are small, many of them, the color of the berries is black with a purple tint, inside there are 2 or 4 bones. Harvest can be collected in late summer - early autumn.

Elderberry is widely known for its beneficial and medicinal properties, in folk medicine all parts of the plant are used - roots, leaves, flowers, berries.

In various parts of the plant there is a whole complex of biologically active elements. Among them are tanning and resinous substances, essential oils, organic acids, vitamins, sugars, carotene. For the food industry, natural dyes - anthocyanins, which are part of elder fruit, are of particular value.

Choosing a Place

Elderberry is unpretentious, drought-resistant, but loves moisture and light. The shrub grows equally well in home gardens, summer residences, within the city. On darkened areas, the plant loses its attractiveness - the branches rush into growth, thinning, the foliage falls and thins. Bush elderberry without problems side by side with fruit, ornamental, flowering plants, if they do not cast a shadow on him. The soil under the shrub should be selected with a weak acidic environment. To reduce the acidity in the soil can make lime, dolomite flour. This should be done before planting in the ground.

Planting Elderberry Black

Elderberry planting occurs in a black spring. The prepared plant can be planted in open ground in the fall after the leaves begin to fall off. Embark on the landing better in warm weather. In the first days, daily watering and frequent loosening is recommended.

The flowering of a young elderberry bush usually begins in the second or third year of life.

Proper black elderberry planting:

• a month before planting, the selected site should be cleared of weeds, potash phosphate fertilizers, humus or compost should be applied;
• two or three year old seedlings are the optimal choice for achieving rapid plant rooting;
• the hole under the seedling is dug a depth of half a meter, the bottom is loosened, about half a bucket of water is added;
• prepared seedling sprinkled with fertilized soil and lightly tamped down, pressing on the soil with his hands;
• he deepened so that the radical neck remained above the ground in a free form;
• watering a new plant is best done in a few hours, when the ground will settle a little;
• if the sapling is not high, then it is left free, if it is tall, then it must be tied to a peg.

Rules for the care of elder

Planting and caring for black elderberry is not a big deal, as long as the plant lacks light and moisture, weed grass does not clog it. Bushes grow rapidly without assistance. If this is undesirable, then even at the time of planting, the well should be limited to iron, slate or construction mesh.

Urea solution is used as a nitrogen fertilizer for planting black elderberry, as well as a fungicide to protect the plant from pests, destroy unwanted insects, fungi, mold in the upper soil layers, in the root system.

Rules and features of black elderberry care:

• in the spring to prevent burns; the main trunk and skeletal branches are colored with lime;
• if after the winter some branches were broken or dry, they are cut, the cutting places must be treated with garden pitch;
• twice a year( best in spring and autumn) dry fertilizers are scattered around the trunk, watering is carried out with liquid formulations for the nutrition and development of the plant;
• growth enhancers and mineral supplements are needed for weakened, slow-growing shrubs;
• when the weather is warm( in mid-May - early June), the shrub should be disinfected from pests;
• molding bushes pruning is recommended before the appearance of color - in the month of June or July;
• watering of the bushes is carried out as necessary, and it is necessary to ensure that water does not stagnate in the root part;
• to preserve moisture, it is recommended to mulch the soil under the bushes using wood chips, sawdust, peat;
• it is useful to periodically loosen the soil, clean weeds, make organic dressing - compost, urea, manure, chicken manure;
• at the end of flowering is repeated treatment with fungicides from harmful insects, powdery mildew, ticks.

Elderberry responds well to pruning. In early spring or late autumn, shoots can be cut almost to the ground, then the growth process is activated, the plant will quickly and fully recover.

Vegetative reproduction of elderberry

The elderberry is propagated by black cuttings. The vegetative method is considered the fastest and most reliable, preserving the varietal characteristics of the crop. To do this, you can use above-ground shoots, rhizomes, plant parts.

How to propagate a black elderberry:

• in June or July, before flowering, should be cut with a sharp knife a few shoots that are 10-12 cm long;
• The best breeding material is green shoots of the first year of life;
• on prepared cuttings should be left for 1-2 sheets, the rest cut off;
• stored cuttings until 1: 1 is planted in a wet sand / peat mixture.

To speed up the rooting of the cuttings after planting, they can be covered with foil. Under the film creates an atmosphere of high humidity, which has a positive effect on the process of formation of roots. For the flow of fresh air in the film is necessary to make holes. A week later, the film is usually removed. At first, abundant and frequent watering is recommended. After a half or two months, the plant becomes completely independent.

A high percentage of survival rate( within 95-98%) show stem cuttings of black elderberry.

How to grow a black elderberry in the country:

• for propagation by cuttings use young, non-woody shoots, which are 2 or 3 years old;
• the middle part of the shoot is buried in the groove, from above it is mulched with sawdust or old manure;
• at large, only the upper part of the shoot remains, approximately 20-30 cm;
• if you make elderberry abduction at the beginning of summer, then by the fall the sprout will have roots;
• for wintering the plant is best left in the form of uncut trimming;
• next summer, a rooted escape can be dug up and transplanted to another location.

The division of the shrub into parts for breeding purposes is recommended in the autumn. To do this, choose an adult plant, mainly large shrub. The separated part of the elder can be immediately landed at a permanent place, or transplanted into a container for a while. In open ground from the container the plant is planted in early spring. To plant bushes in this way is possible only once per season in order to preserve the health of the parent plant.

Generative reproduction of elderberry

For breeding, black elderberry seeds can be used. In this case, the specific features of the culture can be irretrievably lost. The advantage is that the generative method allows you to immediately get a lot of black elderberry seedlings ready for planting.

Under natural conditions, elderberry seeds are distributed by birds and animals that eat the fruit and secrete them to the external environment. Passing through the digestive system of a living organism, the seed coat is slightly damaged, which improves their germination in open ground. Black elderberry seed stratification is a process of special violation of the integrity of the seed coat in order to increase their germination.

On an industrial scale, for stratification, seeds are treated with sulfuric acid, rubbed with coarse-grained sand. Seeds thus prepared are sown in a moist nutrient substrate and are expected to germinate. Plants are abundantly and often watered, mulched, in the winter season they must be harboring. Landing in open ground is carried out in about a year.

Proper trimming of bushes

Sanitary cutting of elderberry takes place in spring and autumn. Every 5 or 6 years, the main branches of the bush are cut almost to the ground. After that, the plant is quickly restored, new shoots quickly grow in place of the cut branches.

How to cut black elder correctly:

1. In the spring, pruning is usually carried out with the removal of broken and dry shoots.
2. In severe winter, an elderberry can freeze slightly, in which case it is recommended to prune the shrub to the root.
3. It is recommended to cut the main branches of elder once every 4-5 years, leaving only a quarter of them.
4. Pruning is especially needed for adults in fruiting bushes, the plant is quickly restored, renewing itself naturally.

Diseases and pests of elderberry

All varieties of elderberry have one common feature, they emit special aromatic substances into the environment. These excreta prevent the attack of small rodents and insect pests on the plant itself, as well as on plantings located near it. The shrub is distinguished by its vitality and endurance; it rarely hurts. It easily gets on with different cultures, well adjoins to coniferous and deciduous breeds. For the prevention of diseases and pests, it is recommended to periodically spray insecticides. The optimal time for preventive treatment of shrubs is early spring and autumn, after the flowering process is completed. A solution of blue vitriol, karbofos can be used for this.

Planting black elderberry provides the decoration of the infield, provides a versatile use of the fruits and parts of the valuable plant. It is easy to grow and care for shrubs; reproduction occurs in several ways, so you can choose the most suitable one. Broths and infusions of elderberry help people cope with many diseases.