Recently, garden blackberries, the closest relative of the well-known raspberries, have been especially popular among gardeners. Scientists in many countries began to cultivate this interesting plant at the end of the 19th century, creating hybrid varieties that significantly differed from the wild abundance of fruits and their sizes. In Russia, the first species were bred by I.V. Michurin.
Blackberry general description
This plant belongs to the Rosaceae family. In the wild, it occurs in the form of blackberry thickets in open forest areas, near water bodies. This is a perennial shrub plant with a well-developed root system with developed lateral roots. But the aboveground shoots, like raspberries, are renewed every two years. In the first year of life, from the sleeping buds of the rhizome, stems grow up to three meters in height. Generative buds are formed on them, the basis for future fruiting. Blackberry varieties are distinguished by annual shoots, their appearance. Their colors range from green to brown. They come with spikes and without them, with pubescence and without it. The next year, these branches no longer grow, and from the fruitful buds located at the base of the leaf, shoots are formed with buds collected in the brush. After harvesting, the stems dry out and new young shoots develop in their place.
The blackberry blooms in early summer with white or with a pinkish tint buds, which are located at the top of the shoots in the hands.
Berries are a complex fruit, consisting of many juicy drupes, located tightly to each other on a conical receptacle. They ripen in the middle of the summer season. Like raspberries, it has different blackberry varieties. Photos of them show the differences of the fruits.
Complex drupes are purple, black or dark red, sometimes they have pubescence in the form of small villi located on each small component. Berries are elongated or spherical in shape. Modern large-fruited varieties of blackberries produce fruits weighing up to 25 g, while in the usual culture of this plant they are about 4-6 g.
Blackberry Varieties
Depending on the structure of the bushes, the plant is divided into these types:
1. Kumarnika - blackberry, in which the stems grow straight up.
2. Mildew - a variety with creeping and creeping shoots on the ground.
3. The transitional form, which is characterized by the characteristics of the first two.
The description of blackberry varieties belonging to the first variety indicates the tallness of upright shoots reaching 4 m.This feature must be taken into account when choosing a place for planting; for such bushes, supports are needed so that the branches do not hang down and do not touch the ground. It can be planted in one or two rows near the fence, using a wire trellis. The distance from one bush to another is not more than a meter. Tie the ends of the stems to the upper trellis, and young short processes attach to the lower wire. Such varieties are propagated by root layers.
Kumarnika loves moist soils, because water is necessary for the normal development of stems and fruits. Lack of moisture leads to a deterioration in the quality of berries, they are underdeveloped or they do not tie at all.
Many tall blackberry varieties have winter hardiness, which allows them to grow in the middle band. Unlike creeping species, Kumarnik better tolerates frosts. To do this, trim the tops of annual shoots by several tens of centimeters. Two-year-old branches are cut, as well as weakened, broken young shoots, they are left on the bush up to 8. After this, the stems are tilted to the ground, fixed and sprinkled with foliage.
For the second species (mildew), no props are needed, since the creeping stems are located on the soil. It multiplies due to the rooting of the apical kidneys. When forming a bush, young shoots are bent to the ground and attached with hooks to the soil, after which their tops are trimmed. Soon, branches with fruitful buds form on the stems.
Compared with upright varieties, creeping blackberries have a larger yield, but they are much inferior in winter hardiness. Rosilnik must be closed from frost. In case of violation of such technologies, or when the bushes were released from the mulch out of time, due to insufficient ventilation, the shoots may freeze out or burns develop on them. During a sharp warming in the last days of winter should regularly ventilate the shelter.
The transitional species (half-spreading) has incorporated the characteristics of the two previous ones, therefore, it can reproduce both by layering of the roots, and by rooting of the apical kidneys. It is recommended to hide from frost.
By the presence of outgrowths on the shoots, blackberry varieties without thorns and prickly plants are distinguished . According to the number of crops per season, repair and ordinary cultivars are distinguished.
Blackberry garden: varieties
The hybrids of modern cultivated blackberry are superior to their wild relatives in productivity, enlargement of fruits, greater winter hardiness. However, unlike weed blackberries, garden varieties do not tolerate excess moisture in the soil, which can rot the roots. Lack of light negatively affects the formation of the bush and the taste of the fruit.
Widely used by Russian gardeners, blackberries are garden varieties Izobilnaya, Thorless Evergreen, Thornfrey, Smootstem, Black Satin, Orkan, Black Diamond, Arash, Helen, Lucretia, Jumbo, Agawam, Darrow, Texas.
Bumbleless Blackberry
At present, productive varieties that have several positive qualities at once are widely used. This is the excellent taste of berries, and large fruits, and the absence of thorns on the shoots. Varieties of blackberries without spikes have been bred for a long time by breeders, as this feature allows for safe berry picking and time saving. Thornfrey, Loch Ness, Ruben, Navajo, Chester, Helen, Natchez, Arash, Leader Joseph, Asterina, Jumbo are considered the best.
In Russia, the first such product was Thornfree grade blackberry. His breeders received in the 60s of the last century.
Garden blackberry without thorns of the Loch Ness variety is a plant bearing fruit from the end of summer until the first frosts. Such a winter-hardy variety was bred in Sweden. Berries of medium size, weighing about 5 g, black with a glossy finish, with excellent taste, can withstand transportation and storage.
Another great frost-resistant plant is garden blackberry without spikes of the Navajo variety. This is another late high-yielding hybrid, in which the fruits reach 5 g, with excellent appearance, black and glossy finish, with a pleasant taste and suitable for long-term storage.
If you compare the productivity of non-studded varieties of blackberries and raspberries, the advantage will be on the side of the blackberry. Both of these plants begin to bear fruit in the second year of shoot life. The annual stems of the blackberry are shortened to increase branching, as a result of which the yield of the bush increases, and the old two-year-old shoots are removed.
High yields are explained by late flowering, during which buds in May frosts are not damaged. The best blackberry varieties produce berries for about a month, which increases its productivity.
The roots of the blackberry have a rather deep location, which allows you to get moisture from the deeper layers of the soil and withstand a dry period. It grows on almost any soil, but prefers land with low acidity, which is easily permeable to water and air. Excess moisture is detrimental to plant growth.
Blackberries are rich in minerals: iron, sulfur, phosphorus, calcium.
Repairing grades
A variety of blackberries are plants that bear fruit in the first year of planting, at a time when other varieties have already departed from fruiting. These are repair varieties. Such plants do not need to be covered in the autumn in order to preserve the bush until the next season, because the fruits give annual shoots.
Among gardeners, it is considered a high-yielding, well-pollinated blackberry repairing varieties of Ruben. Her fruits appear on the stems of the first year. With thick, durable shoots growing up to 2 meters, this blackberry does not require backwater, and due to a well-developed root system, it can grow on any soil. Ruben is very resistant to adverse factors such as lack of moisture in the soil, summer heat or shading.
The first large fruits weighing up to 14 g begin to ripen at the end of summer, and then another two months you can collect a wonderful crop of juicy, fragrant berries, until the first frosts.
Fruit branches do not have spikes, which facilitates harvesting, but there are small outgrowths on the stems themselves.
When the berries are all harvested, the shoots are cut at ground level. Such pruning protects the bush from freezing in winter and prevents diseases from developing. The fruits of next year will be free of harmful chemicals that are commonly treated with bushes to prevent disease.
Blackberry Thornfrey
Thornfrey is a blackberry variety bred by Maryland American breeders in the 1960s. This hybrid is popular among gardeners and implemented on an industrial scale gardening.
The Thornfrey variety is a variety of large-fruited dewdrops with late fruiting. It has creeping shoots without spikes, reaching a length of 5 meters. The tops of the stems are trimmed for better branching, which allows you to get twigs strewn with large black berries, starting in mid-summer, for 30 days. The leaves of this plant are complex, dark green in color, composed of five leaf blades.
Such a blackberry has inherent qualities that allow it to develop resistance to various diseases and insect pests. If you use the basic rules of agricultural technology, dewdrops, then this variety gives few shoots and pleases gardeners with its abundant flowering in early summer.
For many Blackberry Thornfrey lovers, the drawback is the abundance of sweetness and the lack of acidity in the ripe, fragrant berry, which becomes inelastic and difficult to store. To avoid this, the fruits are picked in advance, then they are not so sweet, but the smell is practically absent. Thornfree blackberries have elongated berries, weighing up to 6 g, they are collected in a brush, which can have up to 40 fruits.
Such plants are planted using rooted tops. Bushes in winter without shelter can freeze, so the shoots are laid on the ground, and then covered with earth or mulch from leaves.
Blackberry Black Satin
Black Satin Black Satin was also bred by American breeders in Maryland, but already in the 70s of the last century as a result of crossing three different hybrids, one of which is Thornfrey. Therefore, he possesses certain qualities of an ancestor.
Blackberry varieties (photo presented in the article) Black Satin belongs to the intermediate type, since the durable, studless shoots first grow up 1 meter, and then go down and spread along the ground. Young stems are initially green, and as they get older they become yellow or even brown in color, grow up to 4.5 meters in length. The stiffness and strength of such shoots prevent bending and bush formation.
The ripened fruits appear faster than that of the related Thornfrey variety, and already in early August you can start harvesting large black berries with an excellent sweet and sour taste resembling mulberry and a faint aroma of blackberries. Complex drupes come off hard from the receptacle, but overripe fruits, due to their softness, are quite simple to pluck.
The shape of the berries resembles an elongated cone with a rounded end, weight - 5-8 g, which is slightly more than Thornfrey. Complex drupes are collected in tufts in the hand. Black Satin Blackberry yields a high yield, from the beginning of summer to the first frosts.
With good care, this hybrid can become maintenance. This property manifests itself at the end of summer in the form of regrowth of fruit branches with buds from the lower buds on young stems. Well developed resistance to pathogens of various diseases. In winter, the bushes require shelter, as they are susceptible to freezing.
Blackberry with spikes
The best blackberry varieties with spikes are the well-known Agaves, Darrow, and Texas.
Agaveam is an American hybrid. Young stems of green color grow straight, and only their upper ends are lowered down. The branching shoots of annual bushes become purple or brown, covered with spiky processes and a fluff of glandular villi. Leaves with the next arrangement, divided into 3 plates, also have needle-like outgrowths.
Complicated fruits of this variety consist of large drupes, and the berries themselves are also large - up to 6 g by weight, black. Their taste is sugary and sweet. The stems are not covered for the winter because of the inability to bend them to the ground.
Darrow is another American variety of Kumar. Its upright shoots are strewn with thorns, the length of which reaches 3 meters. Very high-yielding and winter-hardy variety of blackberries. The fruits are elongated, with medium weight, black, glossy, sweet with a slight acidity.
Texas is a Michurin variety obtained as a result of selection selection of seedlings of the Logana variety. The hybrid belongs to mildew, creeping shoots are covered with spikes and fluffy plaque. The huge berries of this variety - weighing about 9 g - taste good thanks to the sweet and sour notes. The color of the fruit varies from dark red to black, there is a coating of wax. Texas bushes do not tolerate severe frosts.
Blackberry varieties for Moscow region
When choosing blackberry varieties for the Moscow region, one should take into account such a characteristic as winter hardiness. Therefore, the description of blackberry varieties should indicate their ability to tolerate frost. If you do not pay attention to this, then you can waste your time and energy.
In the Moscow region and in the Moscow region, gardeners are especially popular with blackberry varieties such as Thornfi, Agawam, Ufimska Urea, Wilsons Earley, Loch Ness, Thornless Evergreen, Darrow, Flint, Chester, Smutsem, Izobilnaya. These species have medium or high resistance to frost. In the conditions of the Moscow region, the ambient temperature can reach quite low values, which very negatively affects the condition of the bush in the spring and further harvest. Despite the high winter hardiness, almost all of the above varieties require shelter in late autumn.
Among hybrids with spikes, the Agawam variety is suitable for this region, which is distinguished by its special resistance to cold, high productivity, the absence of diseases, and also a beautiful view.
Flint is another hardy variety. The shoots of this plant reach medium size, covered with spikes. This is a large-fruited variety, black berries with a blue tint, weigh about 5 g, spherical in shape, with a wonderful smell and taste of blackberries. Compared to the Agawam hybrid, yields are slightly lower. Not affected by diseases and pests. In leaving, Blackberry Flint is very unpretentious.
Thorless Evergreen is a frost-resistant variety; the bush leaves for wintering without dropping leaves. Powerful shoots spread along the ground, without thorns, although there are plants with thorns. Very productive variety, bushes are literally studded with fruits. From the twentieth of August to the end of September, sour-sweet berries of black color with a glossy finish are picked, they weigh up to 3 g. One of the disadvantages of this variety is the maturation of large seeds, which impair the taste of the fruit.
In the conditions of the Moscow Region, it is better to cover the blackberry shoots of Thornless Evergreen by laying it on the ground and covering it with sawdust or foliage.
Wilsons Airlie is another winter-hardy straight-growing variety with small spikes; shoots reach two meters. It is an early hybrid; harvest begins in the middle of summer and lasts until the beginning of autumn. The fruits get black-violet, oval, not very large, up to 2 g by weight.
Variety Abundant, although not winter-hardy, is popular among gardeners in the Moscow region. The founder of this variety is the Russian breeder I.V. Michurin. Creeping stems of powerful bushes are covered with hook-like spikes. This late variety gives a high yield of large berries, the weight of which reaches 10 g, sweetish-sour taste. To protect against freezing, the bushes are covered.
Blackberry cultivation in Ukraine
Garden blackberry is becoming increasingly popular. Varieties Ukraine buys abroad. In some southern regions of this country, where the climate is milder and frosts are not severe in winter, farmers began to grow high-yielding species of blackberry on an industrial scale. The area under it occupies up to 200 hectares of land. , , , . , . , . , , .
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