Few of us have seen red raspberries in our eyes. But there are black berries. And this is also a raspberry.
This kind of raspberry culture is as interesting as the "traditional" representatives. Black raspberry berries are not very well-known, since at the mention of black berries, many have an association with blackberries.
Raspberries are considered to be red or yellow fruit. In fact, the color of raspberry fruit can be the most diverse - from white and yellow to rich black.
Blackberries are not so easily removed when collecting. This is the main difference between black raspberries and blackberries.
Black raspberry is very healthy because of its vitamin and chemical composition. These berries contain useful substances and compounds more than in ordinary raspberries and blackberries.
The concentration of vitamins C, PP, group B, as well as carotene and pectin substances in these berries is the color of the night sky above the surface. In addition, through the consumption of black raspberry, you can saturate your body with iron, copper and manganese.
Often, black raspberries are used to make jam and jams, since the products made from black raspberries have the same anti-cough effect as red raspberries. Also, black raspberry jam is useful to take because of the inherent anti-sclerotic effect of this product.
Black raspberry contributes to the elimination of cholesterol from the body, and also prevents fats from blocking blood vessels, which can reduce pressure. More recently, scientists have found that black raspberry helps to remove radionuclides from the human body better than blackberries and black currants.
The yield of black raspberry is much higher than that of red. With proper care and timely, correctly executed spring pruning, 10 brushes are tied at each shoot, each of which forms 10-15 berries. From one bush you can get from 4 kg of fresh black raspberries.
Black raspberry semi-shrubs are perennial. On them are formed annual and biennial shoots, which have the shape of an arc, and reach a length of 2.5 m. Each stem is covered with spikes, which should not be forgotten.
The roots dig into the ground at a depth of about 1.5 m. In the 30-40 cm upper layer, the roots concentrate most of all.
On all annual shoots there is a patina of gray or lilac color, and biennial shoots are dark brown. The structure of the leaves is complex, they are odd-pinnate. Young shoots are formed from the buds at the base of the biennial stems. Flowering begins in mid-June. The flowers of the black raspberry bushes are small, pollinated by bees.
Black raspberry comes into fruiting in August - September.
Fruits of black raspberry - difficult stone fruit, round, average sizes. Initially, the berries are red, but by the time they are fully ripe they become black.
On the surface of black raspberry there is a patina of gray color, the skin shines, the structure of the fruit is dense. The taste is sweet, there is a weak blackberry flavor.
Black raspberries can hang on the shoot for a long time and not crumble.
This type of raspberry can withstand a greater drought than its “sister” - red raspberry, but withstands lower temperatures.
But breeders have already managed to create such varieties of black raspberry, which can withstand a drop in temperature to -30 ° C.
The black raspberry is very well developed immunity against various diseases of this culture. Insects - pests also do not touch these bushes.
Planting black raspberry bushes
Under the black raspberry you need to choose a place where a lot of light is concentrated during the day and the wind does not "walk".
Ground water in that place should not rise above the mark of 1.5 m, since too close moisture can damage the raspberry bushes. It is impossible to plant raspberries where tomatoes, potatoes and other solanaceous plants used to grow.
The most suitable moment for dropping raspberry seedlings is early spring, since in this variety of berries the growing season begins early.
Between adjacent bushes you need to do an interval of 0.6 - 0.8 m, and the spacing should be about 1.5 - 2 m. You need to plant bushes into pits with a depth of 30 - 35 cm, and a width of 40-50 cm.
Black raspberry is not demanding on soils, but fertile sandy loams and loamy soils are best suited to it. If on your plot a large proportion of the land is of medium fertile podzolic soil, then during planting the pit should be fertilized.
You need to make humus or compost in the amount of half a bucket per hole. Also, 200 g of superphosphate and 70-80 g of potassium sulfate should be added to each well.
Instead of standard mineral fertilizers, ordinary wood ash can be used. In one pit you need to add 500 g of this material.
Make these dressings with the top soil layer. To do this, when digging a hole, the top 20 cm of soil should be kept, which should be mixed with fertilizers later.
After planting, each seedling should be thoroughly watered, and the soil around it should be covered with a layer of organic mulch - peat, manure, rotted sawdust, chopped straw or mowed grass.
Care black currant requires minimal. Black raspberry water required, as it develops and shoots young shoots very quickly.
If the plant lacks moisture, the yield will be low, the berries will dry, and the young shoots will be weak. In the case of dry weather and high temperatures can not feel sorry for the water black raspberries.
To get a rich harvest of black raspberries, should be properly formed bushes. Young annual shoots grow to a length of 2.4 - 2.5 m, so they should be shortened to 2.1 - 2.3 m to prevent their further growth. This should be done at the end of June.
After you pinch the tops of these shoots, the stems will start branching, and as a result, 6 - 10 lateral shoots will form along the entire length of the central shoot. You can not be late with this procedure, because the sooner you shorten these shoots, the faster the side branches will grow, which will have time to form before frost hits.
The second time to cut the black crimson bushes will be in late autumn, at a time when you will remove two-year-old shoots, which were berries. This procedure should be carried out in early November, when the plant has already fallen asleep for the winter, but the temperature has not yet been established outside.
If there are frosts at night, and you do not cut the bushes in time, the stems will become brittle, freeze and break. By this time, the lateral branches will reach a length of 1–2 m.
All side stalks should be cut to a length of 30 - 50 cm. On one plant you can leave no more than 10 - 12 of the thickest, most powerful and healthy shoots. All others should be cut as close to the ground as possible.
In early spring, when the snow begins to conceal, and the temperature outside will no longer be very low, you will need remove those shootswhich for some reason were damaged during the winter. At the same time, the bushes will need to tie up to the trellis.
To bushes actively fruited, they need to give a lot of extra power in the form of dressings. The main fertilizer of black raspberry is considered a mullein or bird droppings infusion.
Feeding can be done independently. To do this, mix mullein with water in a ratio of 1: 7, or use bird droppings instead of mullein.
In the second case, water will need 18 times more than litter.
Also, the solution must be added superphosphate (50 g per 10 l) and ash (1 l per 10 l).
The first time you will need to fertilize immediately after the bushes ottsvetut, and the flowers themselves will quickly crumble. The second time feeding should occur at the time of active growth of the berries, that is, when they gain weight and juice. And for the third time, the bushes will have to be fed after you harvest.
Black raspberry is not only pleasant to eat, but also very profitable to grow. After all, you just buy such strange, at first glance, berries.
