Blackberry is a branchy subshrub with elongated or erect stems of the Rosaceae family, growing throughout the Northern Hemisphere. This crop has a strong root system that can penetrate deep into the ground, so it does not freeze through even during harsh winters. Also, due to the full occurrence of the central root, the plant can easily withstand short droughts. And now many are wondering how to grow blackberries?
Care
Culture is quite demanding to care, because with inappropriate care of the plant, not only its appearance can be aggravated, but also the yield can be significantly reduced. Blackberry is considered a warm and light-loving crop. He loves the earth with a neutral and slightly acidic reaction. The soil for planting it should not be dense, and weeds should be removed between the rows. During numerous flowering, it is important that the earth is damp, but water should not be allowed to stagnate. The plant does not tolerate wetlands and flooded areas, and blackberry care can be much more complicated.
After rain or watering, the soil needs to be furrowed to a depth of 8 cm, while trying not to break the small roots. row spacingit is necessary to mulch with loose organic mixtures. If the blackberry is growing in moist, poorly drained soil, it is not recommended to cover.
Crop Watering
The plant is said to be drought tolerant, but it prefers moisture. In view of this, it is not necessary to allow the drying of the earth, especially the ripening of fruits. The above-ground part of the crop suffers greatly from prolonged drought: young shoots do not have time to sprout properly, already planted buds begin to fall off, and existing berries dry and fall off.
In addition to stable soil moisture, caring for blackberries requires some moisture from the air. In this regard, during a period of long-term drought, bushes should be sprayed in the evenings.
Young bushes in the first year of life after planting should be constantly watered, keeping the soil moist. Watering is done only with warm, settled water by the drip method. At the end of summer, irrigation is reduced to a minimum, and in late autumn, up to 30 liters of water must be poured under each bush so that the plant does not freeze in winter.
Feeding
Like all other garden crops, blackberries need a balanced diet. Enhanced absorption of nutrients occurs at the stage of active formation, growth and flowering. This is around May-July when the blackberries bloom. Reproduction also falls within this period. During this period, the bushes are also fed with mineral fertilizers. However, one should not oversaturate the culture, because this may adversely affectyield and condition of bushes.
At the blooming stage, the plant needs potassium, so you need to add any potassium supplement or water the shrub with an ash mixture (200 g of ash per 10 liters of water). In the season of fruit filling, foliar fertilizer is carried out with complex mineral organics, the leaves are sprayed with a solution with the addition of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus. Any top dressing is applied to the ground only after it has been wetted.
How to add organics
The blackberry, the description of which we have given, grows in one place for about 10-15 years, therefore, after planting in the 3-4th year, organic fertilizers (peat, compost, rotted manure) must be applied annually, as well as fertilizing diluted chicken manure during flowering.
Organics are usually added to the autumn digging, for which the aisles are loosened and applied per 1 sq. m. no more than 5 kg of manure, mixing it with 40 g of potassium sulfate and 30 g of superphosphate. In the spring, as soon as the first ovaries are born, the plant is fertilized with any nitrogen supplement (urea or ammonium nitrate). But at the end of the summer, mineral fertilizers should not be given - this can lead to the rapid development of the crop, and the bushes will not be able to properly prepare for wintering.
Pruning blackberries
In the spring, even before the buds appear, the branches that are broken off and dry after the winter are cut off from the plant, as well as the tops of the sprouts stuck by frost to the first he althy ovary. The bushes of the initial year of formation are subjected to doubleshortening: in May, to activate the growth of lateral stems, the upper part of the shoots is cut off by 5-7 cm, and in July, the tops of those branches that have grown in length more than 50 cm are cut by 8-10 cm. Of these, only 6-8 of the most durable shoots are retained, others are simply removed.
How to prune mature shrubs
In adult bushes, in addition to broken and frozen stems, in the spring all weakened shoots are shortened, leaving 5-10 he althy shoots on the bush. Lateral branches are cut in such a way that they have 8-12 ovaries. Blackberry pruning is also conditioned by the fact that during the vegetative phase it is necessary to remove the root shoots that have formed over the summer, keeping only those that have grown since spring (they will bear fruit next year).
Spring branches should be shortened in autumn at a height of 1.8-2 m. In addition, it is required to cut off all diseased stems, it is important to cut out all shoots of the second year after they have finished fruiting.
Blackberries: reproduction
Experienced summer residents use several methods of plant breeding.
- Top layers. This method is ideal for propagating spreading varieties. In the period from July to August, paths 30 cm deep are made next to the original bushes and the non-lignified tops of the shoots are laid out there. After that, they are covered with soil. Before winter, the sprouts should take root, but not sprout. With the advent of spring, seedlings can be detached from the mother culture and planted in a permanent place.
- Root cuttings. From the end of September to mid-October, you need to completely dig out the bush and remove all branches, and cut the root system into blackberry cuttings (up to 1 cm thick and 7 cm in length). Harvested raw materials are stored in sand, peat in a cool place. In the spring, as soon as the soil warms up, it will be necessary to make recesses up to 15 cm deep and place the root parts there every 20 cm. Then fill the planting material with damp earth and water well. During the summer, constant loosening, watering and weeding is carried out. He althy seedlings should appear in early autumn. Up to 300 new plants are acquired from one mature mother bush.
- Root shoots. Any blackberry shrub can produce up to 20 young shoots from the root each year. In the period from May to June, when the branches reach 15 cm in length, you should choose strong stems, carefully separate them from the main bush and then immediately plant them in a permanent place. Such an event can be performed in the fall, however, the bushes may not survive the winter, and blackberries will not grow.
- Reproduction by dividing the bush. This method is used only if the culture does not allow shoots. The shrub is dug up and divided into 5-6 parts, in each of which 2-3 he althy young branches are kept. The resulting raw material is planted in a permanent area.
- Seeds. Most of the varieties, when seeded, are able to contain maternal indicators to the maximum. Seeds are usually harvested at a stage of sufficient maturity and placed in the winter for the winter.cool room for stratification. In March, the seed material is taken out, soaked for several days in a growth stimulator or melt water, and then planted in containers up to 8 mm deep. Seeds are constantly watered and stored at a temperature of 20 degrees. You can plant plants in open soil after the formation of 4 leaves. A blackberry grown in this way (its reproduction was described above) begins to yield crops only in the 4th year.
Cultural diseases
To regularly be satisfied with abundant fruiting, it is required to control the he alth of the bushes, to prevent the presence of weeds in the aisles, prolonged stagnation of water or drought. Major blackberry diseases:
- Anthracnose - affects berries, can be found from the end of spring, causes uneven and slow fruit development.
- Rust is a disease that destroys young leaves and stems. Outwardly looks like brown spots, reduces yield by up to 60%.
