Garden blackberry: care rules and yield

Description

Garden blackberry is a perennial, low (up to 1,5 m) shrub of the Rosaceae family (genus Rubus). Depending on the variety, it has erect or flexible shoots with hard thorns, however, thanks to the active work of breeders, the thornless blackberry is now widespread, which is characterized by high and stable yields. The shrub is well leafy, the leaves are trifoliate, 3–5 leaves per petiole, serrated along the edge, light or intense green in color, pubescent on both sides.

Blackberries bloom from the second half of May. The flowers are small (up to 3 cm in diameter), monosyllabic, white, with a pleasant sweet aroma that attracts honey insects. Blackberry garden varieties are prone to abundant flowering, so in spring a flowering bush has a very attractive external description – it is completely strewn with snow-white inflorescences, forming brushes of different lengths.

The blackberry is a prefabricated multi-component drupe that does not separate from the stem, as is the case with raspberries. In the process of maturation, it changes color several times: at first it is green, then it turns red, turns brown, and at the end it becomes dark blue, almost black. A ripe berry is characterized by a description – a dense structure, a uniform color with a matte or bluish coating, however, some hybrids have a shiny surface. The taste of the berry is sweet, even tart, with a subtle sourness in the aftertaste.

Despite the fact that the berry has recently settled in private gardens, its history has deep roots. The description of the first blackberry varieties has come down to us since ancient times, when it was only forest, grew in abundance in forests, meadows, and people collected it in natural conditions. There was no need to cultivate the berry, moreover, it was too prickly.

Currently, interest in blackberries is unusually high, and every year new varieties are being developed for growing in gardens. As a rule, these are hybrids characterized by high productivity, large berry size and excellent taste. In America and some European countries, the berry is cultivated over vast areas, while in our country it still has no industrial value and is grown only in small farms.

Garden blackberries are divided into types and varieties. Depending on the nature of the growth of shoots, the culture is divided into the following types:

• upright;
• creeping;
• semi-creeping – an intermediate form obtained as a result of selection of the two previous species or crossing with raspberries.

Blackberry with erect shoots has smaller fruits, besides, it is very prickly, like a forest one. Creeping species have large and juicy fruits, their shoots are very flexible and can form thickets, which complicates care and harvesting. Semi-creeping varieties are hybrid forms with long creeping shoots that, like lianas, are capable of trailing along supports (trellises). Blackberries of these varieties are thornless, high-yielding, but more demanding on conditions.

Landing technology

Unlike other berry crops, blackberries are planted in spring or early summer so that the seedling takes root and takes root before winter.

First of all, you need to decide on a landing site. Since the berry loves heat and sun, the site should be open to the sun, but protected from wind and drafts. The most successful blackberry grows and bears fruit on loose, fertile, preferably sandy loamy soil. If the soil in your area is heavy, you need to add peat, sand, ash to it – this will increase its drainage properties.

Before planting, the soil is filled with mineral fertilizers and organic matter. If it is planned to plant several seedlings, then the entire area can be dug up and fertilizers can be applied immediately, and if only one seedling is planted, fertilizers are poured into the planting hole. The calculation of fertilizers for 1 plant is as follows: 0,5 buckets of humus or compost, 100 g of superphosphate, 40–50 g of potassium. Potassium is of great importance for blackberries – from the lack of this element, the berry becomes sour and not juicy.

Blackberry planting technology is as follows:

• It is necessary to dig a hole 0,5 m deep and 40–45 cm wide.
• Fertilizers are laid at the bottom of the pit, the description of which is presented above, as well as, if necessary, drainage.
• Add some earth to the fertilizer pit and mix everything thoroughly.
• In the pit, make a small depression (the size of the rhizome of the seedling), in which the young plant is vertically installed.
• Spread the roots and sprinkle with earth so that the lower kidney is no more than 2-3 cm deep.
• Compact the earth, make a shallow furrow around the seedling, into which pour 1-2 buckets of water.
• To prevent the soil from drying out, a thin layer of mulch (peat, sawdust, humus) is laid around the plant.

Video “How to plant a blackberry”

In this video, a plant expert will talk about how to properly plant and care for blackberries.

Features of care

In general, the blackberry is unpretentious, but its cultivation has some features. In addition to the basic care, which consists in watering, loosening the trunk circles, removing weeds and periodic top dressing, the culture needs additional measures that directly affect its yield.

First of all, this is pruning shoots. It is carried out in early spring starting from the second year of life. When the stems reach a length of 100-120 cm, they must be shortened by 10-20 cm. This procedure allows you to increase the growth of lateral processes and thereby increase the productivity of the crop. In addition, when pruning, weak, diseased, and also old two-year-old shoots are necessarily removed – the berry will no longer ripen on them.

Blackberries are fed from the second year of life. During the season, fertilizers are applied several times. In early spring, to speed up the growing season, you can add humus (5–6 kg / 1 bush) and a little saltpeter (40–50 g). As soon as the bush blooms, it is necessary to feed it with potash fertilizer or a complex mixture (superphosphate). Before the onset of cold weather, tree trunks are mulched with humus and compost.

Periodically, the soil around the bush needs to be loosened – this will provide air and moisture access to the roots. As for watering, they are necessary for the plant in the first year of life, and then they need to be watered as needed – blackberries are a moisture-loving crop, but if the soil in which it grows is excessively wet, then root rot can occur.

For the winter, garden blackberries need shelter. If the winter temperature in your region does not exceed -20 ° C, then you can get by with a dense layer of organic matter. The culture loves slightly acidified soil, so it is better to use peat, sawdust, needles as mulch. In regions with a harsh climate, in addition to mulch, the bushes must be covered more reliably: with agrofibre, roofing felt or other insulating materials.

Reproduction

The culture has a high ability to reproduce. An ordinary garden berry, like a forest berry, is capable of rapidly reclaiming a site itself, forming dense thickets on it.

There are several ways to propagate blackberries, but it all depends on the variety:

• creeping blackberries can be propagated by horizontal or apical layering;
• bush propagated by offspring, cuttings, dividing the bush.

To propagate the culture by apical layering, you need to bend the young shoot and dig its top to the ground. It is better to do this in the spring, while the buds have not yet blossomed – in this case, the top will quickly release the roots, after which it will be possible to separate the shoot from the bush.

When propagating by horizontal layering, the principle is the same, only the shoot is sprinkled with earth along the entire length. As a result, the roots sprout in several places, simultaneously forming several bushes. Then the shoot is divided into parts and the seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place.

Offspring are young shoots sprouted from the root. For separation and transplantation, only shoots that have reached a height of 10-15 cm are used.

The process is very simple: you just need to separate the process along with the root from the bush and transplant. It is better to transplant in June or early July, so that the seedling has time to take root in a new place before frost.

By dividing the bush, varieties that do not give shoots are propagated. To do this, you need to carefully dig a bush, divide it into several parts so that each has well-developed roots, and then plant it in a new place. The method is recommended to apply in the fall.

Cuttings are used if it is necessary to propagate valuable varieties with high taste and commercial characteristics. The process is a bit fiddly, but overall easy. At the end of June, small (10–12 cm) cuttings should be cut from the upper part of the shoot, on which there are several buds or leaves. With the lower cut, put them for several hours in a solution that accelerates the growth of roots (Kornevin, Heteroauxin), and then plant them in a garden bed or in small cups under a film. For successful germination of the roots, it is necessary to maintain high humidity. As a rule, seedlings take root within a month.

There is another way to propagate blackberries, which is used very rarely – these are seeds. Yes, some varieties retain their valuable varietal traits well through seeds. For example, forest blackberries often propagate in this way under natural conditions, but since there are easier and more affordable methods of propagation in the case of horticultural crops, the seed method is practically not used. 

Video “Reproduction of garden blackberries”

This video will introduce you to a very easy way to grow climbing blackberry seedlings.