Blackberries: how to grow wild berries on your site
Blackberry - what a berry
Blackberries are considered a relative of raspberries. There are more than two hundred types of this berry. The most famous in our country are the gray blackberries and the nessa blackberries.
Blackberries are divided into two forms: erect (kumanika) and creeping (dewdrop). The erect form of the blackberry forms root suckers at a time when the creeping form cannot produce them. And they give shoots in about the same way.
It usually bears fruits on the shoots of which for two years, they begin to dry out after all the berries are ripe. Blackberry flowers are pollinated by themselves, attract bees and thus have additional pollination.
Blackberries have a rather extended flowering period. As the first berries ripen, after that new buds may appear again.
Blackberry fruits are varied in shape and color. The color of blackberries can be black, purple and red. It produces more crops than raspberries.
For treatment, not only blackberries are used, but also roots, flowers and leaves. Blackberry leaves and fruits are insisted, then used as a sedative, anti-inflammatory and hemostatic agent. A decoction of dry berries will make a very good diaphoretic and diuretic.
Blackberries are processed at home in a similar way to raspberry recipes.
More than three hundred varieties of this berry have been bred abroad. Of course, many of these varieties do not have sufficient resistance to winter and cold weather. Not so long ago, varieties were obtained that do not have thorns on the stems, it is very convenient to cover them for the winter.
This will give in the future a large harvest of fragrant berries. If you have several blackberry bushes on your site, then you will enjoy the fruits for almost half the summer. Usually the last berry picking is carried out at the end of September.
Blackberries differ in growth among themselves, there are erect and creeping varieties, the taste, size and shape of the berries are diverse for everyone. There is also a difference in yield, winter resistance and ripening periods.
If you decide to plant blackberry bushes on your site, then allocate very lighted areas for them. Of course, the bushes can withstand a slight darkening if their growth period is protracted and the bushes do not have time to prepare for winter. If the bush grew in the shade, then this will not affect its taste and the size of the fruit in the future.
This berry needs a fertile and well-drained soil, planting it on such soil, it will please you later with a good yield. You can shoot up to five kilograms of berries from a bush.
In order for the harvest to be good, it is necessary to provide it well with moisture, but not to overdo it, otherwise it will suffer from an excess. If the winter time is very cold, then the bushes may freeze a little. Of course, not all varieties freeze, some can endure frosts up to thirty degrees.
Blackberries are usually planted in spring or autumn. They dig holes, the size is selected for the bush that is planted. Add manure to the bottom of the hole. After the seedling has been planted, cut it at about thirty centimeters high and water it. The average distance between bushes is up to two meters, and between rows up to two and a half meters.
Blackberry bushes are considered tall plants. They can grow up to three and a half meters in height.
To get a good harvest, it is necessary to properly form the blackberry bushes. The easiest way is fan-shaped, it is formed in one or two directions. Shoots must be tied up as they grow.
Blackberry bushes need to be watered in dry weather, loosen the soil and remove weeds.In the spring, do not forget to feed the bushes with mineral fertilizer and mulch with rotted humus.