Summer Blackberry Care Guide for a Great Harvest
Housewives use ripe garden blackberries to make cakes, jams, preserves, jellies, smoothies and pies. Tasty and beautiful berries look appetizing on the holiday table and are rich in vitamins and microelements. Every year more and more gardeners plant berries on their plots - these are summer residents not only from the southern, but also from the northern regions of the country. In this article we will look in detail at how to care for blackberries in the summer so that there is a good harvest, and what care nuances to follow.
Features of summer blackberry care
Summer care of berry bushes is the key to a tasty and rich harvest. Blackberries need regular watering and fertilizer; they love loose soil cleared of weeds.
Basic rules of care:
- alternate root and foliar feeding;
- when watering, pay attention to weather conditions;
- carry out sanitary and formative pruning annually;
- loosen the soil once a week;
- carry out preventive treatments against diseases and pests.
What conditions do blackberries need in summer?
Blackberry bushes love warmth, so gardeners plant them in warm areas protected from the wind. The soil should be light and nutritious, well illuminated by the sun's rays. The plant prefers fertile soil, a mixture of sandy and loamy soils.
The recommended humidity is about 85%; the berries ripen well at a temperature of +24°C.The plant is not frost-resistant, so at the end of the season, summer residents carry out additional care measures - pruning and covering for the winter.
How to care for blackberries in the summer for a good harvest
The culture is unpretentious in care, but if simple agrotechnical rules are not followed, it will not please you with a good harvest.
Watering
Blackberries require regular moisture. The roots of the shrub are located deep underground, so before the procedure, gardeners loosen the soil to a depth of 10 cm. This helps water penetrate deeper into the soil and stay in it longer.
It is recommended to use liquid that has been previously heated in the sun. Watering with cold water from a spring or well provokes the spread of dangerous fungi and infections, which makes the bush sick.
Water the blackberries as the soil dries out. A lack of water is just as dangerous for a plant as an excess. The bush especially needs moisture during flowering and ripening of berries. The procedure is carried out in the morning or evening. It is also recommended to first remove all weeds - they take away some of the moisture.
When watering, pay attention to weather conditions. If the summer is dry and hot, up to 10 liters of water are spent on one bush; if it rains often - up to 6 liters.
Trimming
Blackberries are pruned annually, starting from the first year after planting. First of all, dry and diseased shoots are removed - they are shortened to the ground. Be sure to remove frozen, broken and weak branches; a crop will not form on them anyway. At the end, shoots that are too long and those that grow in a chaotic manner are removed.
Experienced gardeners recommend leaving 4-6 fruiting branches on one bush. The tops are trimmed to keep the bush compact and well-groomed.
When carrying out the procedure, gardeners follow the following recommendations:
- in the first year, the top and side shoots are removed, leaving a height of about 30 cm from the surface of the earth;
- in the second year, sanitary pruning is carried out in the spring, and the buds of the side shoots are pinched in the summer;
- in the third year, shorten the tops of the lateral shoots by 40 cm;
- in the fourth year, young branches are separated from fruit-bearing ones, and fan or wave pruning is chosen.
Inexperienced summer residents are afraid to prune shoots, thinking that this will only harm the yield and shrubs. But this is not so: it is better to remove old branches in a timely manner, without waiting for them to dry out on their own.
The very next year, new fruit-bearing shoots will grow in their place, which will increase the yield. Pruning also reduces the likelihood of diseases and insect pests.
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Top dressing
Blackberries love root and foliar fertilizers. They saturate the soil and shrubs with nutrients that strengthen the plant’s immunity and increase productivity.
When fertilizing, observe the amount of elements introduced. An excess or deficiency leads to the fact that the bush weakens, the berries grow small and tasteless.
In June, the plant is fertilized with organic fertilizers containing nitrogen. They stimulate the development of berries and strengthen the root system.
Summer residents use an infusion of bird droppings. To prepare, take 10 liters of water and 1 kg of rotted droppings and leave for a week in a warm place. Then dilute 1 liter of infusion with 5 liters of clean water and water the bush at the root. Fertilizer should not get on shoots, leaves and fruits.Instead of infusion, you can use dry fertilizer - compost. 1 kg is placed under each bush.
2-3 weeks before fruiting, the plant is sprayed with mineral fertilizers. These are products that contain a complex of essential microelements: phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, boron.
Summer residents use Novofert, Aminozol, MicroMix. The fertilizer is diluted in water according to the instructions. Complex compositions make the berries larger and juicier, and improve their marketability.
Protection from diseases and pests
Blackberry diseases are divided into fungal, viral and infectious. Rust, powdery mildew, purple spotting, and gray rot are often found on bushes.
To prevent the appearance of diseases, the bush is sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture (10 g of substance is required per 1 liter).
If symptoms of diseases occur (dry leaves and shoots, spots, deformation of fruits), professional treatment methods are used - the drugs "TiovitJet" or "Topaz". They combine the properties of a fungicide and microfertilizer and have a rapid contact action.
Pests include mole crickets, blackberry aphids, and weevils. Insects appear due to weeds, contaminated soil, and dense plantings. For preventive purposes, shrubs are sprayed with a soap solution (300 g of grated laundry soap is required per 10 liters of water).
In medicinal applications, the drugs “Batrider” or “Herold” are used. They are characterized by high speed of impact and efficiency. Treatment is carried out in dry and windless weather no earlier than 3 weeks before harvest.
Loosening
Loosening makes the soil more airy and lighter. If you do not loosen the soil, a soil crust forms, which prevents the access of oxygen to the root system.Because of this, diseases develop and insect pests appear.
Loosen the soil throughout the summer, using a garden hoe or chopper. The depth of loosening is 5-7 cm, the procedure is carried out after watering and rain. It is not recommended to loosen blackberries under the leaves; it is better to retreat 15 cm from the bush. Loosening is especially required in the hot summer, when the soil is dry.
Mulching
Mulching is required to retain moisture. Under a layer of mulch, the soil remains moist, which prevents the roots from drying out. Hay, grass, and sawdust are used as mulch. Mulching also fights soil erosion and prevents pests.
Mulch also performs a decorative function - the tree trunk looks well-groomed and neat, and less weeds grow.
How to properly mulch the soil:
- Choose a dry and windless day.
- Loosen, dig up the soil and remove weeds.
- Lay the mulch in an even layer without compacting it.
When mulching blackberries in the summer, it is recommended to use only dry green materials, for example, grass clippings from the lawn.
Reproduction
Blackberries are propagated by seeds, layering or cuttings. The last method is the most popular and simplest. In late autumn or early spring, dig up the entire root system of the bush and divide it into parts. For planting, young cuttings no more than 3 years old are used. Store them in a plastic bag in a dark and dry place.
The thickness of the cutting should be about 1 cm, length - 15 cm. Planting material is inspected for the presence of diseases and pests. The cuttings should be free of stains, rot and other symptoms of infection.
Next, the cutting is disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate, dipped in a clay mash and placed in a planting hole.The cuttings are placed in holes in rows to a depth of 10-12 cm.
Preparing for winter
After pruning in August, the blackberries are prepared for winter. The shoots are treated with a solution of copper sulfate, and as the temperature decreases, they are tied and bent to the ground.
The plantings are insulated with wooden boards, hay and mulch - all this will help the blackberries not to freeze. A covering material is laid on top - dense polyethylene or agrofibre.
Gardeners recommend using wide Agrospan or Lutrasila canvases. Non-woven synthetic materials allow air and moisture to pass through and at the same time protect blackberries from freezing and damping off. Shelter is especially required in cold regions of the country.
Nuances of summer care depending on the type/variety of blackberries
Bush, climbing, and thornless blackberries are grown in the gardens. Bush raspberries are similar in appearance to raspberries; when caring for them, it is important to pay attention to pruning and shaping. Every year, gardeners carry out formative and sanitary pruning so that more large and juicy berries grow on the shoots.
Bush blackberries bear fruit on two-year-old shoots; plant height reaches 2.5 m. Delicious varieties of bush blackberries - Ruben, Apache, Gazda.
Climbing blackberries are called “dewberries.” It has long shoots that spread along the ground. The stems of climbing blackberries are formed, and the remaining tips are pinched annually. Gardeners also regularly inspect shoots to notice insects that easily hide inside the bush.
Once every 2 weeks, climbing blackberries are treated with Tanrek. It protects the plant from aphids and whiteflies and has a long-lasting effect. Frost resistance of dewberry is low; the plant requires mandatory shelter for the winter. Popular varieties of climbing blackberries are Abundant, Oregon, Texas.
Depending on the growing region
When growing in the northern regions, summer residents pay attention to complex mineral supplements, which are necessary to strengthen the immune system. Thanks to them, shrubs get sick less often. During the summer, the plant is fertilized 2-3 times - before and after fruiting. Double superphosphate, urea, and potassium salt are used. Apply the complex in dry or liquid form under the bush, then sprinkle with earth.
If blackberries grow in regions with high humidity, loosen and mulch the soil once every 3-4 days. This keeps the soil light and nutritious, protects against pathogens and insect pests. The amount of irrigation in such regions is reduced.
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Useful tips
The berries ripen in July or August, depending on the ripening period.
To make the harvest tasty, gardeners recommend:
- in the second year after planting, tie the blackberries to the trellis;
- pick berries immediately after ripening;
- for planting, choose slightly acidic or neutral soil;
- make a layer of mulch no thicker than 5 cm;
- do not plant blackberries next to raspberries;
- for spraying and fertilizing, use folk remedies - nettle infusion or eggshells;
- carry out pruning with sharp pruning shears.
Conclusion
Caring for blackberries in summer is simple; The main thing is to follow the basic recommendations. The berry does not like waterlogging, so when watering, pay attention to the condition of the soil. If it is still wet, the procedure is postponed to another day.
Blackberries are fertilized with organic matter and minerals, alternating root and foliar methods. Urea, superphosphate, and potassium salt are used.Every year the bush is pruned and shaped, and preventive procedures are regularly carried out to protect against diseases and pests.