How to propagate blackberries with cuttings at home: in autumn, spring, summer, video

Propagating blackberries from cuttings is one of the most common ways to increase the number of shrubs on the site. The method can be used by any novice gardener with certain skills and equipment.

Pros of propagating blackberries from cuttings

When breeding a culture, its various parts should be used: rhizome, stem, and even a leaf. The vegetative method implies the ability to grow blackberries from cuttings. This method allows you to recreate an instance that is identical in characteristics to the parent.

The method does not require large financial investments and physical effort. With a successful outcome, cuttings make it possible to quickly propagate the plant on the site.

A culture grown from a cutting has a weak immune system, so it is not recommended to use it during subsequent reproduction.

Features of blackberry cuttings depending on the variety

This breeding method has its own characteristics. It cannot be applied to all varieties of blackberries.

Propagation of the thornless species by cuttings is not recommended. As a result, the gardener will receive a bush with thorns. With lignified or green cuttings in thornless varieties, seedlings often die during such propagation.

Remontant blackberry is able to bear fruit twice a year. Cuttings should be carried out in the summer, and finished seedlings should be transferred to the site in August or September. Young bushes can please the harvest next year after reproduction.

Standard and common blackberries lend themselves very well to cultivation with lignified shoots. For successful growth and development, proper care should be provided to the seedling.

When to Harvest Blackberry Cuttings

There is no specific time frame for harvesting planting material. Spring propagation by cuttings should be completed before the buds open. The rhizome is separated at a later date. If you need to germinate “green” cuttings, then the optimal time is summer. The finished material is transferred to a permanent place in September.

Blackberry varieties that lend themselves well to cuttings are best propagated in the fall. When choosing a period for the procedure, consider the following nuances:

1. Spring preparations cannot be stored for a long time. They need to be immediately identified to a new place of residence and covered with a layer of mulch. All work on propagation of the culture should begin in early spring, and be completed before the leaves bloom.
2. Summer shoots are cut in July and immediately placed in greenhouses with high humidity. They don’t keep for a long time.
3. Autumn shoots are lignified, they can be cut, prepared and stored until spring. The room should have humidity up to 95% and temperature up to + 4 °C.

The quality of seedlings and the harvest in the future depend on the literacy of the procurement of material.

How to cut blackberries

You can work with different types of cuttings for propagation: green, root or lignified. Each of them has a number of features in the preparation.

Gardeners fail in the following cases:

1. Deadlines for grafting were not met, or the manipulation of variety propagation was incorrectly performed.
2. Incorrectly carried out the transfer of seedlings to open ground.
3. The plant is not properly cared for. Culture is capricious until it is fully established.

Propagation of blackberries by root cuttings

This method is recommended for creeping varieties in which root suckers are poorly developed. You can also use cuttings for breeding upright varieties.

To grow blackberries, you should follow the algorithm:

1. In late autumn or early spring, dig an adult shrub as carefully as possible.
2. Divide it into parts or cut off the roots so that they are no closer than 60 cm from the plant.
3. Ready seedlings immediately transfer to a permanent place or leave for the winter.

To save the root cuttings, they should be placed in wet sand. Move the container with future shrubs to the basement.

Offspring can also be stored in wet sawdust in a cool room.

Propagation of blackberries by green cuttings

In June-July, you can work with green blackberry shoots. The procedure is recommended to be carried out during the summer pruning.

This method is well suited for varieties such as Thornfree, Black Satin, Thornless Logan. Worse take root and poor growth show next spring Smutstem and Dirksen Thornless.

Propagation of blackberries by green cuttings occurs as follows:

1. In July, cut the shoots on which several buds have survived. It should be borne in mind that the upper third of the shoot is suitable for rooting, but the last two buds must be removed.
2. The ideal cutting should have two leaves, each of which is located at the top. Cut off the lower leaf plates.
3. Ready seedlings are planted in pots or cups. Fill them with soil mixture, which includes peat and baking powder (sand or perlite).
4. Transfer the containers to a greenhouse or under a film to maintain a humid climate. Water the potted soil regularly.
5. After 25-30 days, when the root system is formed, transfer the blackberries to a permanent place on the site.

To increase the chances of rooting, it is recommended to treat the shoots with a root formation stimulator: Kornevin or Heteroauxin

Propagation of blackberries by lignified cuttings

Gardeners who did not have time to cut the shoots in the summer can prepare everything in the fall.

How to propagate blackberries with lignified cuttings:

1. Trim branches 20-30 cm long.
2. Dig them in the area until spring so that they protrude 10 cm above the ground.
3. After the snow melts, dig up the cuttings, renew the sections on them and lay them out in rows, keeping a distance of 5-10 cm, and again sprinkle with earth.
4. Water, remove weeds before germination. As soon as they appear, place arcs with a film over the seedlings to provide the plant with a high level of humidity.

You can plant blackberry cuttings when bushes with 2-3 real leaves grow out of them.

There is another way of propagation by lignified shoots:

1. In February-March, the cuttings cut in autumn are placed in the water with the top down. Pour the liquid into the container so that it covers the lower kidney. Add water as it evaporates.
2. As soon as the roots appear, prepare a separate pot for the cuttings. Pour fertile soil into each of the containers. Move the seedling there.

As soon as the roots appear, you can immediately plant the stalk in open ground, and not in a pot, if weather conditions allow

How to plant blackberry cuttings

Knowing how to root shoots is not enough. In order for the plants to take root safely after the breeding procedure, they must be correctly positioned on the site. It is possible to determine whether a blackberry stalk is ready for planting by the degree of development of the rhizome. The lobe should consist of 5-7 branches 10-15 cm long. The length of the aboveground part of the stem is at least 2-3 cm.

In autumn, blackberry cuttings should be rooted before the onset of frost, and in spring – after the snow melts and the soil warms up. Young plants are placed in pits or furrows, deepening in such a way that the root goes underground by at least 2 cm. Then fill it with soil, making sure to fill all the voids.

It is not recommended to bend blackberry roots when planting in a hole.

Compact the soil around the bed with a bush, putting more effort on the periphery and leaving loose earth around the crop trunk so that it gets air access.

The harvested material can be placed on the site in the garden not germinated. To do this, it is laid in furrows to a depth of 8-10 cm, and then sprinkled with earth. Planting is important to water abundantly.

It is necessary to separate the cuttings after propagation only after young bushes with a good root system have formed.

After successful propagation by blackberry cuttings in the fall, when the plants have grown strong and grown, you can decide on the future place of residence of the shrub. Most often, gardeners plant the plant along a hedge to create a living fence.

The bed is best placed in a sunny, wind-protected place, on a southern or southeastern slope.

The soil should be fertile with good drainage. Loamy or sandy loam soil, chernozem is preferred. It will not thrive on clay soil. The optimal acidity of the soil mixture is 5,7-6,5 pH.

Blackberries do not tolerate soil salinity and excess calcium carbonate.

Suitable planting hole dimensions are 40 cm deep and 40 cm in diameter. You can simply prepare a hole whose dimensions are twice the container in which the seedling is located.

To prepare a nutritious soil mixture, you need to mix the following components:

• humus;
• the top layer of earth left after digging a hole;
• sand (if the site is dominated by sandy soil);
• potassium and phosphorus supplements.

From mineral fertilizers, it is recommended to add 30-40 g of superphosphate and 20-30 g of potassium sulfate. From organic dressings, 100-200 g of bone meal or wood ash is suitable.

Mix all components thoroughly in order to subsequently cover the seedling with the resulting soil mixture during planting.

Work algorithm:

1. Place it in a hole, straighten all the roots.
2. Deepen the root neck by 2-3 cm.
3. Carefully fill the seedling with the prepared soil mixture, compact the earth around the trunk.
4. Form a hole for watering, moisten the ground: at least 10 liters for each bush.

It should be borne in mind that it is important to leave a distance of 1-1,5 m between upright varieties, and 2,5-3 m between creeping ones.

Further care of seedlings

From competent care depends on how the shrub will develop in the future after reproduction. The first year after planting is especially important.

If the stalk did not have time to grow, then it is left without pruning. In the case when a young shrub has grown a green mass, and it has been transplanted, then it is necessary to shorten the shoots so that 25-30 cm remain before the developed bud.

The next step is mulching. This allows you to keep moisture in the soil, to avoid abundant growth of weeds and the formation of an earthen crust. As mulch it is recommended to use sawdust, peat. They need to be laid in a layer of at least 3-4 cm.

An alternative material that can be used as mulch is bark.

No less important for the growth of blackberries and watering after propagation by cuttings. Since the root system is not powerful, the soil should be moistened abundantly, but rarely. The shrub is very fond of water during fruiting, so during this period you need to carry out the procedure more often.

Both erect and creeping blackberries need support in the second year after planting. This procedure allows the shrub to form competently, evenly receive sunlight, which reduces the risk of developing fungal diseases. You can tie a blackberry to an arch or trellis.

In many regions with a cold climate, the plant needs shelter after the breeding procedure. To protect against frost, you can use any improvised means. A layer of mulch is a good cover. You can use peat, sawdust or spruce branches. The use of agrofibre, fabric is widespread. If in winter the temperature drops below -25 ° C, then cover the shrub with a film from above.

The preparation of the crop for winter after successful reproduction includes pruning of plants, their protection from pests. Shoots should be tied and bent to the ground, and then covered.

Conclusion

Propagation of blackberries by cuttings is an interesting way to grow a crop in your area. The choice of time for the breeding procedure is at your own discretion. With the right approach, the gardener can get a strong young shrub as early as next year. For abundant fruiting, the plant should be given proper care.