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Raspberries are loved by both adults and children. And there is a reason! An amazing dessert taste and undeniable benefits are the calling card of this berry. But here’s the problem – you can’t enjoy it for long. From the beginning of fruiting of the earliest varieties to the end of the latest, a little more than a month passes. But there is a way out. Over the past decades, many raspberry varieties have been bred, which are called remontant. What does it mean? Such raspberries bear fruit twice: first, at the usual time on the shoots of the previous year, and then at the end of summer – the beginning of autumn, annual shoots give berries.
Remontant raspberry varieties have their own characteristics in care and their own advantages. What are they?
Advantages of remontant varieties
- They are not afraid of any frost, as there are no shoots left for the winter.
- Caring for them is easier – they do not need to bend down and cover for the winter.
- Annual shoots do not grow tall, so they do not need a garter.
- There is nothing to hibernate pests and pathogens.
- They are not damaged by either the raspberry-strawberry weevil or the raspberry beetle, since they simply have nowhere to lay their larvae. Eliminates the need for pesticide treatment.
Modern domestic remontant varieties have time to give up most of the crop before frost. They have been bred in the last 40 years, and the main merit in this is Academician, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Ivan Vasilyevich Kazakov. Thanks to him and his colleagues, many amazing remontant varieties have appeared that are fully adapted to our climate. Among them is a raspberry variety with a speaking name – Elegant, a description and photo of which will be presented below.
Raspberry Elegant got into the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 2005 and is recommended for cultivation in the central region, but, according to gardeners, it grows well wherever raspberries can exist. Raspberry seedlings of the Elegant variety are propagated by many nurseries, you can also order them in the online store with delivery by mail. They are engaged in the distribution and sale of seedlings of NGOs Gardens of Our Country, Gardens of the Urals, agro-firm Poisk, Sibsad.
Variety description
- bears fruit on annual shoots in late August and September. The remontant raspberry variety Elegant in the middle lane completely gives the entire crop until frost.
- bush grows up to 1,8 m, sprawling;
- thorns are concentrated at the bottom of the shoots;
- fruiting of raspberry varieties Elegant occurs at half the length of the shoot;
- there are up to 7 of them on a bush;
- raspberry berries of the Elegant variety have the shape of a blunt cone, shiny, bright red in color, well separated from the stalk;
- they taste very good with a harmonious combination of sugars and acids;
- the weight of raspberry berries of the Elegant variety is on average about 4-6 g, some are pulled by 8 g; subject to all the rules of agricultural technology, the berries are aligned by weight;
- they do not tend to crumble and rot and are able to hang on a bush for up to 2 weeks;
- from one raspberry bush of the Elegant variety, you can collect up to 2,7 kg of first-class berries, and with good care, up to 4 kg.
- Berries have a dense texture and withstand transportation well.
- Raspberry Elegant is good both fresh and in jam or compote.
To complete the description and characterization of the Elegant raspberry variety, you need to add that this variety is unpretentious, responds well to care and is disease resistant.
Raspberry farming
All remontant varieties of raspberries require careful care and compliance with the rules of cultivation. Their productivity and the ability to fully return the berries before the onset of frost depend on this. Raspberry variety Elegant is no exception.
Site selection and predecessors
Raspberries drastically reduce yields when grown in the shade, it is especially important to choose a sunny site for remontant varieties such as Elegant. Any shading delays the flowering and ripening of raspberries, therefore, you can simply not harvest the entire crop before frost. The site should be protected from the north winds and well warmed up by the sun.
The area flooded with water during the melting of snow is not suitable for raspberries categorically. It is impossible for groundwater to stand high – raspberry roots will dry out in a couple of years. But too high and dry area is also a bad option. Raspberries love moisture, and will inevitably suffer from a lack of it when planted in a dry place.
It is best to plant raspberries of the Elegant variety in areas where perennial and cereal grasses have grown before. Planting after legumes that enrich the soil with nitrogen also gives good results. It is quite acceptable to plant a berry bush after vegetables, under which a lot of manure was applied. But after potatoes and other plants of the nightshade family, it cannot be planted – they have common diseases and pests. For the same reason, the place that the strawberry plantation occupied will not work either.
Soil preparation and planting
Raspberries can grow on soils of almost any mechanical composition, except for heavy, clay, but almost all plants do not like them. But it will give the biggest harvest if the soil meets the following requirements:
- loose, well-conducting air and moisture;
- fertile, high in humus;
- have a neutral reaction, the permissible limits of soil acidity are from 5,8 to 6,2.
The ideal soil for raspberries is rare, but you can improve it yourself: add peat and sand to soil with a high content of clay, and clay and humus to sandy poor soils. If the soil reaction is acidic, you will have to lime it, but a few months before planting the bushes.
How to prepare the soil for raspberries, given that this shrub has a branched and superficial root system? It is not enough to fill the planting holes themselves with fertilizer and fertile soil. The entire area of the raspberry plantation needs improvement in fertility. And soil preparation begins in the spring, since the best time for planting remontant raspberries of the Elegant variety is autumn. For every sq. m of soil for digging must be made:
- 2-3 buckets of fully mature compost or manure;
- about a glass of mineral fertilizer containing a complete set of trace elements;
- 0,5 liter jar of ash.
Such preparation does not exclude the introduction of fertilizer and humus into the planting holes.
The timing of planting raspberries of the remontant variety Elegant is somewhat different from those for ordinary raspberry varieties. This is due to the biological features of its development. The outflow of nutrients and the growth of roots in it occurs at a later date than in non-remontant varieties.
It is important to decide on the planting scheme, since in each case the distance between plants will be different.
- With an ordinary planting between bushes, it is permissible to leave about 0,9 m, and between rows – up to 2,5 m.
- If a group of a small number of plants is planted, which can be arranged in the shape of a square or a triangle, it is enough to provide a distance of 70 cm between the raspberry bushes of the Elegant variety.
Landing technology:
- dig a hole at least 30 cm deep and at least 35 cm in diameter for planting each seedling;
- with an ordinary landing, it is more expedient to dig a trench 35 cm wide and 40 cm deep for the entire length of the landing;
- prepare a mixture for filling the pit from the top layer of soil, a bucket of humus, a glass of ash, art. spoons of superphosphate and the same amount of potassium sulfate;
- a low mound of the prepared mixture is poured at the bottom of the planting pit, a seedling is installed, carefully straightening the roots;
- fall asleep seedling so that the root collar is strictly at ground level. It is possible to deepen the root neck only on light sandy soils, but not more than 4 cm.
- watered at the rate of a bucket or two per bush:
- with pruning raspberry seedlings Elegant, you should not rush. Shoots have a lot of reserves of nutrients that must go to the roots;
- in order for the raspberries to successfully overwinter in the year of planting, the ground around the bushes is mulched with a layer of humus of about 10 cm, in the spring it will need to be distributed over the entire area of the raspberry.
Further Care
Remontant raspberries of the Elegant variety require careful care, so there is no place for weeds in raspberries. Weeding and loosening are mandatory activities.
Raspberries are very sensitive to lack of moisture; drying of the root layer should not be allowed. Water the shrub regularly, especially in hot and dry weather. In order to retain moisture in the soil longer, plantings are mulched, not forgetting that the thickness of the mulch layer should not be large so that replacement shoots can break through from under the ground.
Top dressing bushes begin in the second or third year. At the beginning of the growing season, raspberries of the Elegant variety need fertilizers with a high nitrogen content; in the second half of summer, full complex mineral fertilizers are preferred. The frequency of fertilizing depends on the fertility of the soil, and the norms are indicated on the packaging with fertilizer.
Raspberry variety Elegant is very fond of organic top dressing. They are carried out with a fermented infusion of mullein or bird droppings. For the first – the ratio of water and fertilizer is 1:10, and for the second – 1:20. Such top dressing should be combined with watering with clean water.
An important point is the correct pruning of the remontant raspberry Elegant. According to gardeners, with a two-year culture, it is not possible to get a full-fledged autumn harvest. Usually, fruiting is formed during the one-year cycle of plant development.
When to cut off fruiting shoots? They do this in the fall, but as late as possible to allow the roots to fully accumulate nutrients. It is possible to carry out pruning after freezing of the soil and even when the snow falls.
All rubbish is removed from the site or incinerated.
You can watch the video on the features of growing remontant raspberries:
Repair raspberries are a great chance to extend the use of this tasty and healthy berry for a whole month or more. Caring for her is no more difficult than for a regular one. There are many varieties suitable for growing in most regions, among them is Elegant raspberry.