Contents
At the beginning of the century, American breeders pleased the Black Magic blackberry remontant variety, which in matters of fruiting will please the owner. The gardener may not cut the shoots in the fall after harvesting, and they will delight him with an early, albeit small in number, harvest in May – June. And he may also not worry about sheltering for the winter and limit himself to only one collection of fruits at the end of August, unless, of course, he is afraid of early cold weather.
Variety description
The Black Magic blackberry is a pronounced kumanika, that is, its shoots grow steadily upwards, they reach 1,5 meters in one year, and in two – at least 2,5, and the description of the variety from the manufacturer promises a growth of 1,7 m per the first month after spring awakening. Thorns grow on the shoots, but they are not too aggressive in the fruiting area, and there are no fruit branches at all, so they do not interfere with harvesting. The bushes are usually quite compact, powerful branches do not need supports, but they are still tied up to separately direct the shoots of the first and second years, and the shoots that have become heavy from the fruit can simply get mixed up. The bush forms up to 10 replacement shoots.
Blackberries of this variety are characterized by an early and very fast start of vegetation. So, flowering on the shoots of the second year begins in the twentieth of April, and on new shoots – already in late June – early July. Each brush contains from 7 to 12 large white flowers, they are well pollinated even in the hot summer. Oval large berries weigh 6-7 g, fully ripe are black and glossy. The yield for the first year of fruiting, according to the characteristics of the creators, is up to 1 kg on the shoots of the first year and up to 4 kg on the shoots of the second year, after 3 years these figures double. Such productivity makes it possible to grow Black Magic for commercial purposes, which is what farms in Europe and America are successfully doing.
The berries have a very pleasant rich taste with blackcurrant sourness, it is called dessert with a good balance of sugar and acid. In autumn, with the onset of cold weather, sugar content drops, but this does not make the taste worse. Berries are often eaten fresh, thanks to their taste, but they are suitable for making desserts and preserving, after a gradual decrease in temperature to +3 degrees, they can be stored for several days without losing their shape, quality, taste. The berries are soft, but dense enough, do not flow, easily separated from the stalk, transportable, they are better stored in a wooden than in a plastic container.
The frost resistance of this variety is weak, but it shows immunity to some fungal diseases, which greatly facilitates its care.
Landing technology
If winter comes late, promises to be snowy, then you can start planting seedlings in October. In the Moscow region, the Middle lane and to the north, it is better to plant blackberry bushes in the second half of April.
When planting single bushes, it is necessary to leave up to 2 m between them and other plants. When a trench planting (in rows) is formed, then 8–10 shoots per 1 linear meter are calculated, and at least 2 meters are left between the rows.
The place must be chosen open, but preferably sheltered from strong winds. In the shade, the bush will also grow, but the ripening of the fruits will slow down for a week, perhaps they will be less sweet. A pit is dug up to a depth of 50 cm, compost or humus, superphosphate, and potassium salt are laid along with the earth. All this is laid out in a slide, the roots of the seedling are carefully straightened, they fall asleep so that the roots do not wrap up, do not wrinkle. The earth is tamped, watered, after which the kidney, located at the base of the stem, should be a couple of centimeters below ground level. After that, it is desirable to mulch the ground around the bush.
blackberry care
The beauty of remontant varieties is to free the gardener from such a troublesome business as pruning some shoots, hiding other shoots – cut everything at the root, cover with agrofiber and forget until spring. You can do this if you want to get only one late harvest, then from the second half of August for 5–6 weeks you can enjoy a delicious berry if the weather allows all the ovaries to ripen.
If you want to get an early friendly harvest in May – June, and then still feast on a berry at the very end of summer (when all the other berries have not only departed, but managed to be forgotten), then you will have to cut the shoots of the second year in the fall, and shorten the young ones to 1,5, 7 meters and lay them on the ground under shelter for the winter, as they do with ordinary, and not remontant, varieties. In protected ground conditions, cultivation from the very beginning involves obtaining two crops per season, and in open ground, the owners do not always go for it. This is not so easy to do, given the powerful straight-growing shoots that need to be somehow bent, laid, covered. Some gardeners from the very beginning of growth, shoots are taught to grow parallel to the ground in order to make it easier for themselves in the fall. Of the replacement shoots, 8–XNUMX pieces are left with normalizing pruning.
Blackberries love moisture and fertilizers, if you do not infringe on it in this, then it will not stint on large tasty berries. You need to water generously, but do not allow stagnation of water at the level of the roots and thickening of the bush – this can threaten root rot and fungal diseases, although this wonderful variety is resistant to many of them. He will also endure periods of drought, but if they drag on, this may affect the quality of the berries.
They are usually fed along with watering, but in early spring, dry complex fertilizers with an excess of nitrogen can be scattered right around the bush – melt water will bring them to the roots. When the earth warms up, and the bush begins to grow rapidly, you can add humus, a solution of slurry (diluted 1 to 10) or bird droppings (1 to 20), nitroammophoska, saltpeter. Blackberries respond well to foliar feeding, here you can use ready-made preparations “Kemira” or “Plantafol”. After the beginning of flowering, potassium should lead in the mineral complex.
Around and between the bushes, weeds must be removed in time, it is advisable to loosen the ground under the bushes after watering, and dig in the aisles, leaving no chance for weeds, as well as pathogens that hide in them. Plant debris should not be allowed to lie near the bushes.
Although upright bushes do not really need support, it is better to tie up the shoots, so you can control their location, direct young and last year’s shoots in different directions, arrange the bush so that the branches do not obscure each other.
The Black Magic variety is easy to propagate, which is important at the high cost of planting material. Young shoots of the current year can be cut into cuttings with a pair of buds and rooted, and ready-made seedlings can be planted next year. You can divide the uterine root into cuttings, for this you need to take adult (at least 3 years old) roots, 5–7 mm thick. It is even easier to plant root offspring.
Advantages and disadvantages
The undoubted advantages of this variety include the quality of the fruit and high productivity. Repairability, no matter how you use it, is also an excellent quality. Compared to other modern varieties, Black Magic shows good resistance to some of the most common diseases, such as leaf rust. It is very convenient that summer weather does not have a noticeable effect on flowering and the formation of ovaries – the harvest can be plentiful both in cool summers and in hot weather. The blackberry will not dry out, even if you forget to water it, this variety is generally very tenacious, but the lack of moisture or nutrition can somewhat spoil the taste of the berries.
The disadvantages (and how without them) include the presence of spikes, although not a very large number, but they are. Low frost resistance makes it necessary to cover the shoots for the winter, and this is very difficult to do – straight-growing powerful shoots do not want to bend down to the ground or curl up, they cannot be wound either. This becomes a problem for the owner who wants to get two crops. An alternative is to cultivate the shoots of one year, completely cutting them off after harvest.
Another disadvantage is associated with late ripening – with the early arrival of cold weather, part of the crop is lost. But in strong sun, the berries can bake, so it is better to shade the ripening fruits from too strong sun.
Video “Description of blackberry Black Magic”
The author of this video shares his personal experience of growing Black Magic blackberries.
