Strawberry Black Prince

At the moment, there are a huge number of varieties of strawberries, which are intended for certain purposes of the conditions. Possesses certain taste and aroma qualities. In general, you will hardly surprise anyone with garden strawberries, and sometimes you want something unusual and different. Strawberry Black Prince belongs to just such a variety. He quickly won the hearts of summer residents, thanks to his unusual appearance of berries. The fruits have a beautiful dark burgundy color with a glossy surface. What kind of variety it is, how to grow it and what kind of care is required - in detail in this article.

Strawberry Black Prince - variety description

strawberry black prince

This variety appeared relatively recently, and at the moment it is not yet very popular among gardeners in different countries. The Black Prince strawberry was bred by Italian breeders.

The variety is quite versatile, it can be grown both in small summer cottages and household plots, and on large farms.

In terms of ripening, the Black Prince strawberry belongs to a mid-season variety. The first fruits appear in the second half of June.

Harvesting can be carried out until the onset of autumn, since the fruiting period for this variety is quite extended in time.

Remarkably, the size of the berries is almost the same. The fruits harvested at the beginning of the season do not differ in size from those harvested at the end.

Four to five years after you have planted your strawberries, they are quite powerful and spreading bushes that sometimes even resemble planting a tomato or potato.

The leaves of the Black Prince are medium in size, have a rich green color, and a corrugated texture.

This variety has rather powerful tall peduncles. Quite a lot of ovaries are formed on them. The first green fruits appear in early June. While the berries begin to ripen en masse, the peduncles, under the weight of the fruit, can lie on the ground.

Strawberry Black Prince especially at first gives quite a lot of tendrils, which are intended for the propagation of your plants. Over time, this property is lost and antennae become smaller over the years. Be sure to remember this, otherwise you can be left without planting material.

Let's say a little about what the fruits of the Black Prince strawberry variety are themselves.

They have a rather dark burgundy color. The fruits of the Black Prince have a fairly large number of seeds. They are also dark in color, located on the surface of the berry. For this reason, the texture of the berries may seem a little prickly.

The berries are large in size, in their weight they can even reach fifty grams. The texture of the berries is dense, resembling a truncated cone in shape. Inside the strawberry is a deep red color, there are no empty spaces and veins.

The quality of the berries is at a high level, the taste is sweet, dessert, with a refreshing slight sourness. The aroma is bright and characteristic.

As for the use of the Black Prince berries, it is considered universal. The fruits of this variety are good for fresh food, but at the same time they are well suited for preparing various sweet dishes and preparations. This variety makes alcoholic beverages such as wine and liqueurs well.

As for the yield of the Black Prince, this variety can be safely called a high-yielding variety.

During its extended period of fruiting, one plant can produce about 1.2 kilograms of fruits of high taste and aromatic quality. It is worth noting that the older your plant is, the higher its yield level.

Those who grow strawberries on an industrial scale highly praise the Black Prince variety. This is due to the fact that with the proper level of care, about twenty tons of berries can sometimes be removed from one hectare!

Black prince strawberry variety: features

strawberry black prince

The Black Prince strawberry variety has not only an interesting appearance, but also a host of other positive qualities that distinguish this variety from all the others. Let's consider the main ones:

1) Black Prince strawberries have excellent taste and aroma. This variety gives good results in terms of yield.

2) This strawberry differs from the others in that it can be grown in the same area for ten years! And at the same time, with age, the yield and quality of berries does not deteriorate, but rather, on the contrary, improves.

3) The fruits are quite dense in texture, keep their shape well and do not suffer from excessive juice separation. These factors make this variety excellent for storage. The berries of the Black Prince can lie quietly for a couple of weeks.

4) This variety tolerates transportation over long distances, which makes it very suitable for commercial purposes.

5) The Black Prince copes well with winter temperatures, for example, -20 degrees for strawberries are not very scary. Strawberries tolerate frosts quite calmly in spring.

6) This strawberry has strong immunity and is resistant to major diseases and harmful insects.

However, with all the positive features, there are some disadvantages of the Black Prince variety, although there are not so many of them:

1) The soil where your Black Prince strawberry grows should always be slightly moist. This is due to the fact that this variety does not survive dry weather and lack of water.

2) There are some difficulties associated with the fact that with age, the bushes of the Black Prince stop giving a mustache. This makes it difficult for plants to reproduce.

How to plant strawberries correctly

A very important factor in obtaining high yields is the correct selection of the place for your strawberries. Here are some guidelines:

1) Plant your plants in light soil. It must be sufficiently nutritious and fertilized. Clayy heavy soil will not allow you to get a large amount of sweet strawberries.

2) The site must be well lit by the sun. It is also necessary to have protection against drafts and cold winds. Strawberries are a crop that cannot tolerate areas where groundwater is too close.

In case there are no other options for planting strawberries, then it is imperative to make your beds tall. Plus, lay a good drainage layer at the bottom of them.

3) It is necessary to prepare the site in advance. To do this, you need to make a sufficient amount of organic fertilizers, as well as process with peat-humic fertilizers.

For these purposes, preparations such as Fitop and Flora are well suited. In this way, you can make the composition of your soil more balanced.

Do not plant your strawberries in close proximity to crops such as eggplant and potatoes.

4) Beans, carrots, cereals, peas, garlic, onions give a good neighborhood of strawberries. These crops can be planted between your strawberry rows.

Now is the time to talk about how to plant the Black Prince strawberries correctly. In principle, if you have the desire and patience, you can grow seedlings using the seed method.

However, this is rather long and difficult. Where it is more optimal to purchase seedlings. But just remember, it is better to do this in specialized stores or nurseries.

Do not purchase planting material from dubious private traders, as you can run into a low-quality product.

When planting, be sure to take into account the property of this variety to grow quite strongly. The distance between plants should be at least fifty centimeters.

Let's go directly to the stages of planting strawberries Black Prince:

1) After you have dug your landing site, you need to make planting holes. Pour 500 milliliters of water into each of them. The water should not be cold.

2) Dip your strawberry seedlings into the hole and straighten the roots. After that, gently sprinkle with soil on top.

3) Leave the heart above the ground. The height should be about one to two centimeters.

4) Next, compact the ground well. There should be no empty airspace.

5) Then water your plants with water and lay a layer of mulch on top to keep the moisture longer. For these purposes, experienced gardeners most often use straw or sawdust. Cut, not yet dried grass is also suitable, but provided that it has not yet formed seeds.

At the stage, while your seedlings are still small and not matured, it is imperative to water regularly. For convenience, you can install a drip irrigation system, as a rule, this is not too difficult.

Further care of strawberries

This strawberry variety is not the most capricious, but still there are some rules and recommendations for care. Let's start with how to properly water and loosen the Black Prince variety.

Among the disadvantages, many gardeners note the lack of resistance of the variety to dry weather and lack of moisture. For this reason, it is imperative to water the plants.

At first, young seedlings must be watered every laziness, preventing the soil from drying out. The same watering regime must be organized also during flowering and formation of berries.

A very important point is the condition: during flowering, the Black Prince strawberries need to be watered exclusively under the root system.

It is imperative not to overdo it with watering. Stagnant water can lead to root diseases. With too much watering, the quality of the fruits is lost, their taste deteriorates, and the storage period becomes much shorter.

It is recommended to make furrows between rows for irrigation and fertilizing. Watering should be done only in the evening, after the sun's rays are not so aggressive.

After each watering, it is convenient to loosen the soil. It should not form crusts, otherwise the root system will not receive the required amount of oxygen. In addition to loosening, be sure to remove weeds from your beds.

Now let's talk about how to properly feed the Black Prince strawberries. For these purposes, both methods of fertilization are used: root and foliar.

If you fertilize plants by leaves, then reduce the concentration of your dressings by half than with root applications. You can also use dry fertilizer by scattering it on the surface of the ground.

Many experienced gardeners and farmers recommend watering the plants well before feeding, in about thirty minutes.

A little about when you need to feed Black Prince strawberries:

1) Fertilizers are applied for the first time in the spring. For these purposes, fertilizers are used that contain a large amount of nitrogen. This is necessary for your plants to grow the necessary amount of greenery.

Many gardeners use ammonium nitrate, urea or ammonium sulfate for this. Be sure to read the instructions before use.

2) The second feeding is carried out during the formation of buds and ovaries. Nitrogen fertilizers are contraindicated during this period, as this can kill your future harvest. During this period, plants need phosphorus.

In order to replenish the reserves of this element, you can use a solution of wood ash.It contains all the necessary elements for plants to grow and develop normally.

3) When the period of ripening of the Black Prince strawberries comes, then the time comes for the third feeding. Here you can use fertilizers in a complex based on minerals. Those gardeners who prefer natural folk remedies often use green herbal infusions.

When you have harvested all the berries, it's time to prepare your strawberry bushes for wintering. Here's a rough plan of action:

1) Be sure to remove old foliage and also remove the layer of mulch.

2) Weed your beds, at the same time loosen the soil for better aeration.

3) Apply organic fertilizing. You can use humus, compost, peat. With this fertilizer, you need to cover the bare roots of plants.

4) Before the cold temperatures hit, cover your bushes with a layer of earth. This is necessary for safe wintering. You can partially transplant the plants into large containers, and then you will have strawberries even in the winter.

5) If the climatic conditions are such that winter frosts reach a level lower than -20 degrees, then cover your plantings well. Otherwise, your plants are guaranteed to freeze out.

Variety black prince - strawberry: photo