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It may seem to the uninitiated that a hybrid of raspberries and blackberries is something completely new, a selection achievement of recent years. It’s not like that at all. It turns out that if you meet raspberries with large berries (in a normal raspberry, a berry weighs no more than 3,5 g), then blackberries have not been without it. For example, the Michurin raspberry variety “Commerce” has blackberry genes, as well as the well-known varieties “Mirage”, “Taganka”, “Stolichnaya”.
Characteristics and differences
Ezhemalina, and this is how the hybrid of these two related crops is now called, received a mixture of the main characteristics of the mother plants, what properties it got more, it resembles that culture more strongly. There are many varieties of blackberries, raspberries and blackberries, all of which have their own differences. Breeders tried to combine the most beneficial and convenient properties of the two plants, and in many ways they succeeded. So the hybrid is often a semi-spreading shrub with shoots that first grow to a certain height straight up, and then bend down or grow parallel to the ground. They are incredibly decorative throughout the growing season – large white or pink flowers can compare favorably in the garden with a modest raspberry bloom, berries (usually bright and not necessarily red) are collected in large brushes, their size speaks for itself.
Hybrids usually bear fruit later than garden raspberries and much longer. Their berries have a richer and more refined taste, they stay fresh longer, which allows them to be transported. The yield of raspberries, of course, loses in comparison with hybrids, they inherited this quality from blackberries. But raspberries gave them frost resistance, which blackberries clearly do not have.
Most hybrids do not produce root shoots, which significantly reduces the time devoted to caring for them. But more importantly, they are resistant to certain fungal diseases that commonly plague both raspberries and blackberries. So the varieties of raspberries “Youngberry” and “Boisenberry” are threatened by powdery mildew and verticillium, and “Loganberry” is completely immune to them. But ‘Youngberry’ and ‘Loganberry’ can get rusty, and ‘Boysenberry’ shows amazing resistance to this very common disease. There are hybrids that are resistant to almost all fungal diseases.
Many varieties of raspberries have small thorns, and there are completely thornless ones, to the delight of gardeners. Unlike blackberries, they are drought-resistant, they tolerate a lack of watering more easily, since the root system penetrates much deeper into the soil.
Raspberry-blackberry hybrids
“Loganberry” is considered the very first hybrid of raspberries and blackberries. At the end of the XNUMXth century, the American breeder Logan was working to develop new varieties of blackberries, and there was an accidental cross-pollination of his varieties with raspberries that grew nearby. The result was a very productive and rather unpretentious variety in cultivation, but the taste of the berries left much to be desired.
This determined the direction of subsequent work, and today we have a creeping bush with more powerful shoots than raspberries. It does not give root offspring (if the roots are damaged, then root shoots appear), the number of replacement shoots is small, but increases with age. Shoots are thorny, grow more than 2 meters. Raspberry berries are elongated, the length reaches 4 cm, and the diameter is 2 cm, the average weight of a berry is 8 g, their taste is pleasant with sourness and raspberry aroma. Ripening early, like regular raspberries. There are varieties (eg ‘Thornless Loganberry’) that do not have thorns, ripen in late summer and have a sweeter taste.
One of the most popular American hybrids, ‘Boysenberry’ is a drought tolerant creeping shrub with large brownish cherry round berries that turn almost black when fully ripe and have a sweet and sour flavor and blackberry aroma. The yield is not very high for a blackberry – up to 5 kg from an adult bush, ripening occurs in July – August. There are thorned and thornless varieties.
In “Tyberry” powerful creeping shoots turn burgundy as they mature, they are covered with rare small thorns. The bushes are completely undemanding to the soil, very convenient for growing, as they are resistant to all known diseases, they tolerate drought very well. Fruiting occurs in August, dark red berries weigh from 5 to 10 grams, sweet and sour with a pronounced blackberry flavor. Its closest relative “Tummelberry” is more frost-resistant, although our climatic conditions still require sheltering such plants for the winter.
“Sunberry” and “Youngberry” are late-ripening hybrids with spikes, dark red, darkening as they ripen, berries. Fruits can be harvested until frost, can serve as a true decoration of the garden, suitable for creating hedges.
Michurinsky hybrid “Texas” gives 6 kg of delicious dark red berries per bush, productive for at least 15 years. Berries of red color are usually sweet and sour, and as they darken they become more and more sweet, the sourness almost disappears, only the blackberry aroma remains. He is not afraid of either harsh winters or cool rainy summers, long (up to 4 meters) creeping shoots grow well and bear fruit in the Middle lane. Among the shortcomings are sharp spikes and the fact that the berry does not separate from the stalk even when fully ripe.
Up to 10 kg of berries from one bush gives “Darrow”, its berries are small, up to 4 g in weight, purple-red, sweet and sour. Its upright shoots reach 3 m, but the weight of the fruit can still bend them, so it is better to tie them to the trellis. This hybrid shows amazing frost resistance, but gardeners consider its berries not the most delicious.
To date, there are many varieties of blackberry, the difference between them can be significant, which gives a great choice. You can choose for every taste. Most importantly, hybrids are unpretentious, they can be grown by the most inexperienced novice gardener. And the berry, although it differs in taste, size and color, is invariably useful for all varieties.
Video “Ezhemalina Taiberi”
Growing Taybury raspberries is not difficult if you use the advice of the author of this video.
Reproduction of hybrids
All hybrids show excellent seed germination, but far from all seedlings grown from them retain the characteristics of the parent plant variety. Therefore, it is easier to propagate the raspberries by cuttings or layering.
During the autumn (or summer) shortening of shoots, small segments of twigs with one or two buds are rooted in pots or directly in the garden (in spring and summer), and then in the spring they are transferred to a permanent place of growth. You can root lignified cuttings, they take root perfectly.
Young shoots can be dug in spring to a depth of 20 cm, pressing down on top or pinning the shoot itself, watering this place all summer, and by autumn they will take root in several places, all that remains is to cut the shoot into several young plants, transplant. But transplanting is best done in the spring of next year, and until that time do not cut off the layers from the mother plant. To speed up this process, before burying the shoot under some buds, the bark is slightly scratched, this will allow the roots to grow faster.
Sometimes gardeners divide the roots into root cuttings, and then plant them separately, from each such cutting, if there is at least one root bud, a new plant will grow. To do this, in the spring they take roots 5–7 cm thick, cut them into pieces 10–15 cm long and plant them separately.
Advantages and disadvantages
Most hybrids are less whimsical and demanding in relation to soil, irrigation and fertilizer regime than pure varieties of raspberries and blackberries. Actually, this is what breeders achieve – ease of cultivation, advantages of fruiting. Therefore, over time, they become more and more popular, because resistance to fungal diseases, frost resistance, and the ability not to lose crops during drought or too rainy summer are of great importance for cultivation.
The undoubted advantage of many varieties of blackberry was the absence of thorns. Such a scourge, traditional for raspberries, as a large number of root shoots, causes a lot of trouble for gardeners, and many hybrids are free from this drawback.
Of considerable importance is the size of the berries and the size of the crop. All hybrids are superior to raspberries in these indicators. An extended fruiting period or its transfer to the end of summer and autumn is also in many ways more beneficial than getting the entire small crop in June. Many hybrids have made it possible to store and transport ripe berries for several days, which is important for summer residents, as well as commercial cultivation.
The presence of thorns, susceptibility (after all) to certain diseases, frost resistance insufficient for our climate can be considered traditional disadvantages.
Most importantly, keep in mind that real seedlings of licensed varieties are very expensive, and you can often buy the wrong varieties from dishonest sellers.
Video “Ezhemalina Cumberland”
Watch an overview of the natural Cumberland raspberry-blackberry hybrid and learn about its characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
