Blackberry "Black Satin": description of the variety, planting and care

Blackberries are not the most popular culture among Russian gardeners. But nevertheless many people try to grow it, sooner or later almost every farmer puts such experiments.To get the best result, you need to get acquainted with each plant variety as carefully and deeply as possible.

Like a number of other varieties of horticultural crops, the BlackBerry Blackberry was bred in the United States, and more specifically in Illinois. Carbondale breeders have created a unique hybrid, combining the Tornfrey and Durrow varieties that have long proven themselves. Initially, the description of the variety indicated that it was intended for Illinois and California farms. However, the high quality of the plant quickly made it popular, first in European countries, and then in our country. Geometry “Black Satin” berries are a cross between Cumanica and Rosyanka.

The plant is described as semi-decaying, not forming root shoots and not prone to thickening. Shoots develop quickly, they have no thorns. The length of large branches can reach 5 m. At the very beginning of development, they grow straight, but when the length is more than 1.5 m, the branch begins to climb. Ripening, initially green vine becomes more and more brown in color.

In the second year of life, the branches become brown, their thickness increases to 3 cm. On the first day the flowers are pink, but on the second day they become paler, sometimes completely whiten. The berries are developing very actively and can weigh up to 8 g. The fruits are black, differ in satin shimmer, which gave the name to the culture. The taste of the blackberry is attractive, contains both sweet and sour notes.

Crop harvested for a long time, the first berries are removed in August, and the last - in October. Sometimes part of the fruit ripens after the snow falls. Fruiting always occurs only in the second year after disembarkation. Long-term experience of farmers shows that "Black Satin" tolerates frosts of up to -22 degrees. But it is necessary to take into account that even with the “permissible” cooling, the tops of the branches may slightly freeze. therefore for the winter period this blackberry should be covered. But during the vegetative season it can produce up to 25 kg of berries from 1 plant.

Fruits can be used almost as you wish. But to keep the berries for a long time or to transport them over a long distance does not work. They are too soft. As a result of the research work, it became clear that the number of lashes in the blackberry of this variety does not affect the overall yield, but the mass of individual berries may vary significantly. Professionals are advised to use in the treatment of such a shrub rotary trellis. Such devices provide shelter plants for the winter without removing the lashes from the garter.

The reproduction of "Black Satin" by the tips of the shoots is much more promising than the root offsprings. To this end, select high-quality side shoots growing in the lower tier. It is pressed to the ground, and after fixing the bracket added dropwise. This should be done in the middle of July. When autumn comes, the saplings are separated and transferred to permanent places. Landscape designers recommend growing Black Sateen Blackberries in a trellis manner to form exquisite arch-braided shoots.

Fast (up to 7 cm per day) growth of shoots in the initial phase of vegetation requires the formation of a shrub. If this is not done, it will be excessively thickened and will not be able to supply itself with useful substances. Berries, deprived of adequate nutrition, become too small, and sometimes do not ripen at all. The leaves of the "Black Satin" large, painted in bright green. Any sheet contains 3 or 5 segments that have a characteristic notch. Both the base and the tip are always pointed. Count on getting overgrown is not necessary. Flowers in this variety are collected in brushes from 10 to 15 pieces.

The average weight of the fruit is 3-4 g. But those berries that develop at the ends of the shoots, significantly more, can reach 7 or even 8 g. The taste is evaluated contradictory.Russian gardeners treat him much less favorably than suppliers of seed. The fact is that the berries that have reached technical maturity are in fact not very good in taste. It is simple (sweet and sour, without a special "highlight"), the flavor at this moment is also quite weak, but when the berries are gaining sugar, when their smell increases, they lose strength and become unsuitable for transportation.

The bloom extended in time is the norm for this variety. Seeing that on one hand, green fruits coexist with ripe berries and ovaries, there is no need to worry. "Black Satin" differs from its related "Tornfrey" a little earlier maturation. The difference reaches 10-15 days. In some regions of Russia, fruits can be harvested at the end of July, in others - from the first days of August. In the northern part of the country, up to 15% of the fruits will not have time to ripen, even if the agricultural machinery meets the most stringent requirements.

If suddenly frosts began earlier than the entire crop was harvested, the branches, along with berries and flowers, are cut and dried. In winter, these blanks are put in tea or brewed for medicinal purposes. It is noted that vitamin supplement prepared in this way is better in taste than simple blackberry leaves, and the concentration of nutrients is higher. The characteristic of the variety suggests that it should grow in a heated greenhouse. The only exceptions are those areas in which there are no temperatures less than -12 degrees in winter. In such places, the blackberry grows without shelters, it will turn out to collect all the harvest. If the weather turns out to be too bad, the number of fruits sent for processing will sharply decrease.

"Black Satin" is recommended to land in a well-lit place, but it requires protection from penetrating winds. It is also necessary to make sure that the soil is light and fertile in the selected area. If signs of high humidity are found, it is impossible to plant the plant without drainage. Stagnant water is extremely negative impact on him. Experts believe that spring planting is better than autumn; but if you have to plant blackberries in the fall, the following simple tricks will help avoid the danger:

• you will have to cover the seedlings so that they survive the winter;
• the planting pit should be 50% filled with mature compost; this circumstance must be taken into account when preparing for garden work;
• you need to prepare a support, then to tie the lash.

"Black Satin" should only grow where the depth of groundwater is at least 1 m. Ideally, they should be 1.5 m below the surface. It is unacceptable to grow this variety near other berry and solanaceous crops. They can also be a source of dangerous infections. If there is the slightest opportunity to maintain a distance of 50 m, it is imperative to use it.

Demanding to soil is relatively small, but still it is necessary to improve the quality of the land before landing. To do this, in all landing pits put the following components:

• 10 kg of organic matter;
• 0.12–0.15 kg of phosphate compounds;
• 0.04–0.05 kg of potash supplements.

More organic matter needs to be added to the sandy soil. To improve the quality of heavy loams, use sand. The ideal soil is one that gives a weak acid reaction.Alkaline soil is optimized by introducing red peat, and very acidic soils are treated with lime. It is quite easy to buy Black Satin seedlings. However, it is recommended to contact them in nurseries or in proven retail chains. Choosing a plant, check, or a smooth bark, whether there are any damages on it, and also it is necessary to evaluate the development of the root system. Container blackberries need to be watered on the day before planting, and if the root is open, it is soaked.

Farmers should remember that Black Satin produces vigorous bushes. This property of the variety, helping to collect quite a lot of berries, complicates the shelter of adult plants for the winter. Shoots practically do not bend, they are easier to break than to lay neatly. Often struggling with this, "bringing up" the bush. The essence of "education" is that he is not allowed to form long straight shoots.

Seeing that the branch has grown to 35-40 cm, it is bent to the ground and fixed. Allowed to grow up to 120 cm, then free and set on a horizontal trellis. Shortly before the onset of cold weather, curved branches can be easily removed and put under the covering fabric, but an alternative option is also possible. The American approach involves the formation of a small bush. To do this, follow these steps:

• in late June or early July, you need to pinch the tops of annual growths (at a height of 110 cm);
• in the spring, before the buds come to life, the shoots growing on the side of the main trunk are normalized;
• during normalization, they remove branches that grow below 45 cm above the ground, and all the rest are pruned to 40 cm;
• in September and October, the shoots that stopped fruiting are cut off.

But it is important to eliminate the other extreme - excessive moisture. Since blackberries, like any other plant, consume a lot of substances from the soil, their deficiency needs to be replenished. Top dressing is carried out in the third year of bush development. In the spring, nitrogen is introduced into the ground, consuming 5 kg of humus and 0.01 kg of urea per 1 square meter. m garden In the fall, 0.1 kg of superphosphate and 0.025 kg of potassium salts are used for the same area.

Any blackberry, including the Black Satin variety, has a common disease with raspberry, so you should avoid planting these close biological crops directly next to each other. Otherwise, if one shrub gets sick, a kind of “epidemic” will break out in the garden. "Black Satin" has good immunity to typical blackberry diseases. The main danger for him is gray rot, provoked by a special type of mold fungi. The shrub may be infected, starting from the flowering stage. If the spring is damp and cold, the inflorescences sometimes fall sick entirely.

When gray rot develops in the next phases of the growing season, the fungus acts mainly on the ovaries and the fruits that form from them. It is easy to recognize the disease: the affected berry looks like a slightly rotten, in addition, powdered with grayish fluff. Fighting this disease is much harder than avoiding infection. Prevention rules are as follows:

• exclude contact of the lower branches with the soil;
• periodically thin out the bush so that it is aired;
• quickly harvest;
• they get rid of the berries that started to rot, even if the time for picking fruit has not yet come;
• all diseased parts of the blackberry are immediately cut off and burned;
• after the end of winter, when the flowering has not yet begun, the bushes are treated with Bordeaux composition in a standard concentration of 3%.

The Black Sateen variety can suffer not only from microscopic fungi, but also from blackberry ticks.Such a name, as well as the small size of the insect itself, should not set up farmers in a benign manner. If you do not take adequate measures, you can sometimes lose 50% of the crop. Mite is fundamentally different from the bulk of agricultural pests. This creature does not seek to winter in the ground or to shelter from the cold under the bark.

In the cold season, the mite lives inside the kidneys. When it comes to heat, it comes out of anabiosis, moving to groups of flowers, and then to the berries. The affected part of the fruit does not have time to ripen. It will remain reddish until the end of the season. Suppress the mite helps insecticide "TIOVIT Jet", recommended for spraying vineyards.

"Black Satin" is estimated ambiguously gardeners. Therefore, the final decision to cultivate whether it should be taken very carefully. Some farmers say that this variety can grow for a long time, and a limited number of bushes is enough even for a large family. But at the same time care takes a lot of time and effort. Others say that fresh berries are not very tasty, and they have to be allowed to juice and homemade wines.

To learn how to plant a blackberry, see the next video.