Blackberry Black Butte: variety description, pros and cons, planting and growing

Today there are new varieties of blackberries with interesting properties. Consider the description and main characteristics of the Black Butte blackberry, its pros and cons. Growing features, planting dates, care technologies. Protection from common diseases and pests. How to propagate the culture in households, when to harvest the berries and how to store them.

Botanical description and culture characteristics

Black Butte bush is small, moderately sprawling, consists of 4-6 stems. The height of the shoots is 3-4 m, they are flexible, creeping, covered with black thorns.There is no root growth. The peculiarity of the hybrid and the main advantage is large-fruitedness, the plant produces fruits weighing 10 g (when intensive cultivation is used - 20 cm), 5 cm long.

Ripe blackberry with shiny skin. The fruits are cone-shaped, the taste is sweet, with a barely noticeable sourness. Productivity - 3.5 kg per bush.

Pros and cons of blackberry Black Bute

Pros and consearly ripening;large fruits;rich taste;transportability of berries, duration of storage;self-pollination;drought resistance.average winter hardiness;average yield;the presence of thorns on the shoots.

Features of growing plants

The shoots of the Black Butte variety are not erect, they need to be tied up for stability. The traditional way of growing is on supports.

Timing

Blackberry seedlings are planted in the spring, when the leaves have not yet blossomed, or in the fall, when they have already fallen, but a month before the onset of stable cold weather. If the seedlings are grown in pots, they can be transplanted even in summer, provided they are regularly watered.

Choosing a seat

Blackberries grow in open, sunlit areas or in partial shade. Reduces yield in shade. A plot with a culture is located near buildings or fences, to protect it from the winds.

Blackberry Black Butte loves light, soft, loose, but nutritious soil. Light loams with a good humus layer are selected for it. There must be at least 1.5 m to the aquifer.

Selection and preparation of planting material

Blackberry seedlings suitable for planting should have he althy, fresh and strong roots. The bark of the shoots is smooth, elastic, green. The preparation of blackberries is simple: the day before planting, the roots are cut with secateurs, soaked in a solution of a root growth stimulator. This will allow the plant to take root sooner.

Plant pattern

The distance between adjacent blackberry seedlings should not be less than 0.8 m in a row. Aisles are made at least 2 m wide. With this placement, the bushes will receive sufficient nutrition area.

For each blackberry seedling, a planting hole is prepared with a diameter of at least 0.7 m and the same depth. A drainage layer is placed in each, covered with a mixture of earth with humus and ash. They lower the blackberry roots, straighten them, fill the free space with earth to the root neck.They compact it, water the planted plants and cover with a layer of mulch from straw, old hay, sawdust.

How to care for a crop

Black Butte Blackberry needs watering, fertilizing, annual pruning and shelter for wintering. Culture loves moderately moist soil, not dry, but not wet. It does not grow well in dry conditions, the leaves of plants wither, the fruits remain small and not juicy.

In wet roots suffer from rot. When the berries begin to pour, be sure to water the plants so that moisture gets into the fruits.

Fertilize the bushes 3 times a season: early in the spring, after flowering is completed, and during the growth of the ovaries. Use organic and mineral fertilizers. From organic matter, they fertilize with humus or compost, ash, use s altpeter, urea, superphosphate and various potash fertilizers.

Wintering

In autumn, Black Butte bushes are pruned, the fruiting stems are removed, dry, with traces of damage or disease.The bushes cleared of excess are covered with agrofiber, the near-stem zone is covered with a layer of mulching material. If there is no agrofiber, you can cover the plants with spruce branches, dry leaves. The mulch should completely cover the ground and shoots. In the spring, when the snow melts, the covering layer must be removed.

Diseases and pests of the variety

Like other crops, blackberries can be affected by fungal diseases. In order not to wait for their appearance, the bushes are sprayed with agrochemicals at a preventive rate. This will reduce the chance of infection spreading and infecting plants. The same goes for pests. When they multiply, it will be necessary to spend more money and time to get rid of them. Preventive treatment will facilitate further care of the bushes.

Methods of reproduction

The bushes are propagated by rooted shoots. At the beginning of summer, they are bent to the ground, sprinkled with earth and watered all summer long so that the root system has time to form.Separated from the mother bush in the fall or next spring and transplanted to a new site. In the future, the cuttings are looked after as adult plants.

Cleaning and storage

Black Butte fruits can ripen in late June in the southern regions, if the plant grows north - in early July. The fruiting of the variety is long - you can stretch the picking of berries for almost 7 weeks due to the fact that blackberries do not bloom at the same time.

Ripe blackberries are black and shiny. They are incredibly delicious when eaten fresh. Suitable specimens for storage should be dense, not overripe. They are placed in baskets or boxes lined with paper with a layer of no more than 5 cm. They are placed in the cellar, in a cold, dry and dark place.

Blackberry Black Butte - a new variety with large berries. It can be grown in ordinary home gardens, the propagation technology and the complex of care work are not difficult. The variety is unpretentious, but requires growing on trellises, which, however, will not surprise an experienced gardener.

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