Black raspberries: cultivation and care
Raspberry is a unique crop of its kind, with amazing taste, aroma, as well as healing and even cosmetic properties. This plant is now grown in almost every garden plot, and recently gardeners have become increasingly interested in non-traditional raspberry varieties. And it is black raspberries that are of particular interest to summer residents.
The growing demand is justified - black raspberries have many characteristics that are advantageous in comparison with their close red-fruited relative. One of these advantages is that after ripening, the berries can hang on the branches much longer without falling off.
This is a perennial shrub plant with compound odd-pinnate leaves. It has curved arched branches, the height of which sometimes reaches up to three meters. The bush is covered with thorns. The color of one-year-old shoots is bluish or purple, and two-year-old shoots become brown.
The flowering of the crop starts around mid-June. The inflorescences have the shape of a shield. During the flowering period, the bushes simply attract bees and various insects that swarm around them and pollinate.
Small flowers form berries, which are a complex rounded drupe. The berries are of average size for raspberries. At the first stage of ripening, the fruits turn red, and then acquire a black color with a characteristic bluish coating with shine.
Black varieties of raspberries (Cumberland or Ugolek) taste like blackberries - just as juicy, sweet and sour, and for the variety Tarusa raspberriesneed timely care and proper cultivation.To get a good harvest of this crop, black raspberries need proper care and cultivation. In principle, the basic rules for caring for the plant are similar to those that apply to common raspberries. Let's highlight the main ones:
use of healthy planting material (it is best to buy seedlings in nurseries or specialized institutes, so as not to have problems with raspberry diseases in the future);
- application of agricultural technology rules;
- correct timely feeding of the plant;
- following the rules of watering (black raspberries, like any other variety, do not like stagnation of water, but need a sufficient amount of moisture);
- for planting it is necessary to select areas that are well illuminated by the sun;
- avoiding thickening of plantings and spreading of bushes across the site;
- timely pruning of bushes and treatment against pests and diseases;
- ensuring proper wintering of the crop;
- timely treatment of diseased bushes (severely affected bushes are completely removed and burned).
How to plant black raspberries
How to plant black raspberries? Are there any special techniques that must be followed?
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the location for the plantings. The area should be well lit, but sufficiently protected from cold winds. Groundwater in the selected area should not be less than 1.5 meters.
It is important to note that black raspberry varieties do not like the soil on which nightshades previously grew, because this increases the risk of the crop becoming infected with the well-known verticillium wilt (a disease that is difficult to treat and also inhibits the growth and development of the plant).Along with all of the above, it should be clarified that it is better to plant Coal away from common red raspberries. Close proximity will not benefit both crops, although classic varieties are less capricious and have stronger immunity to various diseases and pests.
The plant is usually planted in the spring. The best time is at the very beginning of spring, as soon as the snow melts from the area, since the growing season for this crop begins very early.
Seedlings are placed at a distance of 50 - 70 cm from each other in a row, and the beds must be spaced at least 2 meters from each other.
Pits for plantings are prepared in advance. They should be approximately 50 cm in diameter. The following fertilizers must be added to each hole:
- compost or humus - up to 8 kg;
- superphosphate – 200 g;
- potassium sulfate – 80 g;
- mineral fertilizers or wood ash – 0.5 kg.
After planting, seedlings must be well watered, and the ground around them must be mulched with peat, straw with manure, grass or sawdust.
Caring for black raspberries
What care should be provided for black raspberries? The next year after planting, the crop will need to be tied up. Long hanging branches must be tied. For these purposes, special posts (8-10 cm in diameter) should be mounted in a row. They need to be installed at a distance of 10 m from each other. On these posts you need to fasten the wire in several rows (2 - 3 is enough).
In spring, the shoots are shortened to 50 cm in height and tied to a trellis. This pruning reduces the number of berries on the shoots, but this is compensated by an improvement in the quality of the fruit and a significant increase in their size.
How to prune black raspberry bushes
To ensure proper care of black raspberries, it is imperative to trim the shoots after harvesting. Plant residues are removed from the site and burned.
In the spring, the bush needs to be given the correct shape. To do this, you need to know how to properly prune black raspberry bushes:
- shrubs are pruned in such a way that no more than 10 strong shoots remain;
- at the same time, damaged, diseased and thin branches are removed.
How to water correctly?
When caring for raspberry bushes, watering is one of the main points. The crop especially needs sufficient moisture if drought occurs during the growing season. If the plant does not have enough moisture at the time of harvest ripening, this will not only lead to a decrease in fruit quality and weight, but can also lead to the development of replacement branches. This suggests that the harvest will be rather scarce and of low quality.
The first watering is done before flowering begins, the second - as the ovaries appear, and the third - when the fruits begin to ripen. Before wintering, the bushes also need irrigation.How are black raspberries propagated?
Black raspberries are propagated by green cuttings and by rooting the upper parts of the branches. At the beginning of autumn (the first days of September), the tops of the branches that hang down to the soil stretch out and acquire a specific whip-like shape. This period of crop development is considered to be the most favorable for laying layering. For these purposes it is necessary:
- dig small holes (no more than 10 cm deep);
- carefully bend the shoots and lower them into the holes;
- pin and fill with soil on top;
- leave part of the top free by 1 - 2 cm.