The appeal of blackberry cultivation is high and stable yield. The rich chemical composition of the fruits of shrubs make them particularly important for human diet. This is a worthy alternative to the garden raspberry and an opportunity to diversify culinary preparations. With proper planting and care, taking into account all the biological features of , the blackberry will bear fruit for at least 10 years .
Table of contents
- When is it better to plant a garden blackberry - in the summer, autumn or spring? Selection of terms
- Preparing a place for planting a seedling: where is it better to plant, in the sun or in the shade?
- How to plant in open ground
- How you can and should take care of the bush in the garden - tips from agricultural engineers
- The golden rule of care is pruning
- Garter prickly bush
- Fertilizing and dressing is the key to a good crop
- When you need, you need a good harvest
- Winter Shelter
When is it better to plant a garden blackberry - in the summer, autumn or spring? Timing options
The yield potential and benefits of blackberry fruit are much wider than those of its closest relative raspberry. However, gardeners do not seek to plant and grow this magnificent shrub in their plot.
This is due to the fact that plant varieties cultivated from the southern forms have been cultivated for a long time. They are difficult to take root in the planting region and led to a massive disappointment gardeners.
The situation changed after had new relatively winter-hardy varieties that are able to withstand temperatures as low as -30 C.
Therefore, for growing in the middle lane or more northern regions( in Siberia and the Urals) it is important to acquire modern varieties of breeding.
For growing blackberries in the middle lane or more northern regions, you need to acquire varieties of modern breeding Despite this, in the northern regions, the cultivation of blackberry is somewhat limited to .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 a loss of quality in ripe fruit.
Autumn planting of blackberry has more advantages and is most optimal in the middle and southern regions. After planting shrubs followed by a period with a stable and cool temperature, high humidity will contribute to the development of roots, until the temperature of the soil does not fall to -4 ° C.
Blackberry leaves the state of relative dormancy very early and the bushes rooted in the fall will immediately begin to develop a vegetative mass.
In the fall, the choice of varieties and seedlings with a fresh root system is much more, and they cost less than the planting material sold in spring.
Articles that may be of interest to you:
- Description of the Blackberry variety Black Sateen.
- A complete description of the blackberry variety Agaveam.
- Why are there many flies on a blackberry and what to do with them?
When spring planting, the plant does not have time to take root because of too rapid warming and the start of sap flow, after which the active growth of shoots begins.
Weak root system is not able to provide the necessary nutrition, increasing vegetative mass. This greatly weakens the shrub and affects the overall development.
Spring planting is preferred in the northern regions of and if the blackberry variety is characterized by poor winter hardiness.
In the autumn, the plant should be planted at least 20-30 days before the first frost, in the spring before bud break, when the air temperature rises to + 15 ° С.
For growing in the backyard plot planting material must be purchased in reputable nurseries .The best survival rate differ annual seedlings with two stems, the thickness of which is not less than 0.5 cm in diameter.
An important criterion is the formed kidney on the roots of .The optimal length of core roots is not less than 10 cm.
Preparing a place for planting a seedling: where is it better to plant, in the sun or in the shade?
To grow blackberry, choose , a place well-lit by the sun and protected from the north winds. In the shade, young shoots of plants will grow poorly, stretch out, the fruits become shallow and lose taste.
A good option - landing along the fence, where the bush will be protected from the winds, and the stems from damage. In this case, you need to retreat from the fence at 1 m, so that the plant is not much shaded. Shrub is better located on the south or southwest side of the site.
Breathable and well-drained soil is needed to plant blackberries. Ideal for loam with a humus layer of at least 25 cm.
For planting blackberries, choose well-lit areas, loamy, well-drained soils Groundwater deposition at the site should not exceed 1.5 meters. If these indicators are violated, the roots of the plant will be in the damp and cold, which significantly affects the hardiness and yields.
To plant a prickly bush, you need to prepare a landing area in advance. All weeds are removed, plant waste is destroyed, preventive spraying from pathogens and pests is carried out.
The salted, rocky, sandy and swampy areas of the are not suitable for growing blackberry.
Highly depleted soils need to be fed with the necessary macro elements. For this, the plot is dug up to a depth of 30-35 cm, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied.
How to plant
in open ground Planting pits and substrate are prepared for 15-20 days before planting in open ground.
Blackberry root system is more powerful and penetrates deeper than other berry crops. Therefore, the pits need to do more voluminous. The best option is to adhere to the parameters 40x40x40 cm .
Organic matter and minerals must be added to each well:
- compost or humus 5 kg;
- superphosphate 120 g;
- potassium sulphate 40 g.
The nutrients are mixed with fertile soil and the resulting substrate is filled with a hole 2/3 volume.
A shrub is planted vertically by an with a root collar 1.5-2 cm deep. .In light sandy soils, they are buried up to 3 cm.
Blackberries are planted vertically with the root of the collar 1.5-3 cm deep, covered with substrate and watered with Blackberry roots are placed in the fossa, straightened and covered with substrate. In this case, the pit is not completely filled, leaving a distance of 1-2 cm to the level of the soil.
Thus, under each bush will remain a notch , which will promote rational moistening of the blackberry.
Then the surface of the substrate should be compacted and should be watered with a seedling of 5-6 liters of water. After the spring planting of the blackberry plant for 40-50 days you need to ensure regular watering. After soil compaction, the trunk circle is mulch with sawdust, peat or straw.
Planting blackberries:
How can and should be taken care of the bush in the garden - tips agrotechnikov
Blackberries are more drought-resistant and unpretentious to care than raspberries. The only disadvantage of the culture is the relatively low winter hardiness and cold resistance. Therefore, you need to care for the plant with regard to its biological features.
With proper care and preparation for winter, blackberry will grow and delight with a high yield of , in terms of which among berry crops it is second only to grapes.
Golden rule of care - pruning
Throughout the life of the blackberry you need to control the density of the bush and make the forming pruning .
These events include:
- Removal of inflorescences in the first year of growth .This is done to stimulate the development of the root system.
- In the second year after planting, the stems should be shortened, leaving a height of 1.5-1.8 m. The procedure is carried out in the spring before bud break. Sections should be made above the kidney.
- After each winter, you need to cut off the frozen areas of stems to a living bud.
- In summer, at the beginning of June, the shrub is thinned out by the .At the same time young shoots are removed, leaving an average of 6-8 strong stems for creeping varieties and 4-5 for erect. Tops of young shoots are cut by 5-8 cm.
Pruning is necessary for blackberry: this is how bush density is controlled and bush shrubs that have frozen over winter are cleaned. Shrub blackberry is a bush with biennial fruiting cycle. The first year the stalks of the plant develop, grow wood and form fruit buds. The next year they bear fruit and only in rare cases can they form new fruit buds.
Agrotechnics advise removing the biennial shoots that have sprung up, thereby stimulating the development of new growth and thinning the bramble's crown, it will only look better.
Garter of a prickly bush
For creeping types of shrubs, you will need an trellis with 3-4 rows of wire with a distance of 50 cm between them. Annual shoots are directed to the center of the shrub, tying to the topmost wire.
Before the onset of cold weather, young shoots are removed from the support and make shelter for the winter.
The stalks of upright blackberry varieties are tied to the trellis with a slight bias to one side. With the growth of new shoots during the growing season, they also need to tie up. This time, the bias is made in the opposite direction from the fruit-bearing branches.
Fertilizer and dressing - a guarantee of a good harvest.
Every spring, the blackberry needs dressing with nitrogen fertilizers, which will stimulate the growth of annual shoots - this is another golden rule. To do this, 50 g of ammonium nitrate are introduced under each bush, sealing it to a depth of 10-15 cm.
Every 3-4 years, the shrub in the garden should be fed with and other macro elements. This procedure is carried out after harvest. Based on 1 m2 in the soil under the plant make:
- compost or humus 10 kg;
- superphosphate 100 g;
- potassium sulphate 30 g.
Blackberry needs fertilizing with ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, humus It should be remembered that nitrogen fertilizers are applied only in the spring .Also, this mineral is found in large quantities in pig manure and chicken manure.
Blackberry fertilizer measures can be combined by spraying 1% Bordeaux liquid, which will inhibit the development of microorganisms. For additional prevention of diseases, the area under the bushes should be cleaned of fallen leaves.
When to water, do you need to loosen?
The deep-lying, compared to other berry bushes, blackberry root system makes the plant drought-resistant .But this does not mean that the plant should be left without irrigation and not watered.
Especially we need watering during the filling of fruits and when setting hot weather. At this time, the wide leafy plates of the plant evaporate a large amount of moisture.
Several times during the growing season of the , it is necessary to loosen the soil under the bushes to a depth of 10 cm , simultaneously removing weeds.
It is especially important to carry out the procedure in autumn, at the end of August, in September. The looser the soil is, the less it will freeze through the soil in the root layers.
Winter Shelter
Shrubs need shelter before the winter season. For this , the plant stems bend to the ground .This is important to do until the air temperature drops to -1 ° C.Otherwise they will lose elasticity and will break.
For this, the branches are tied in bunches, bending down to the ground and fastening with hooks. Erect 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 are tied to the tops of the stalks by the weights , under the weight of which they gradually bend down to the ground.
Regardless of the frost resistance characteristics, all blackberry varieties need shelter for the winter .To do this, you can apply:
- hay or vegetable tops;
- roofing felt;
- sawdust;
- peat or humus.
Blackberry shelter for the winter:
The most dangerous time for a blackberry is the snowless start of the winter .Therefore, you need to cover the plant before the onset of the first cold weather, and in the winter to pull snow to it. Blackberry stalks are not prone to heating, so the plant can 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 active development on the shrub.
Blackberry fruiting is uneven and can cover a whole month. The fruits of the shrub are characterized by good transportability and long shelf life at low temperatures.
The leaves and roots of the plant have bactericidal, sedative properties and will occupy a worthy place in the home collection of herbal remedies.
