Blackberry Giant: description and characteristics of the variety, planting, care and cultivation

Judging by the few reviews of gardeners and the advertising of Becker Bis LLC products posted on the official website, the Giant blackberry variety has a large number of advantages, the main of which is abundant yield. It is alarming that the claimed description and photo of the berry bush correspond to the Black Bute blackberry.

The article was written based on information from the forums and from the supplier's company page.

Description and characteristics of blackberries

Remontant blackberry varieties bred in America are distinguished by the presence of thorns. Blackberry Giant is the only variety that combines remontantness with the absence of thorns.

The culture vine grows up to two meters, so the shoots need support. Decorative branchy and flexible shrub that blooms from the first days of summer until September, is used in landscape design.

White flowers are large (4 cm in diameter), like the fruits. If berries weighing 10 g are harvested from bushes of large-fruited varieties, then berries weighing twice as much grow on bushes of the Giant variety. The length of blue-black berries, ripening in July, reaches the size of a palm (6 cm), the shape is elongated, pyramidal, rounded at the end. The pulp is juicy, with a characteristic aroma of blackberries.

The fruits have a balanced sweet and sour taste and a vitamin-mineral complex that is not inferior to raspberries. The body's daily need for ascorbic acid is covered by 10 blackberries of the Giant variety.

Fruiting, starting from the second year of the life of the culture, lasts from July to September. The plant is suitable for growing in regions with winter temperatures down to -30° C.

Fruits are included in the diet fresh, frozen or dried. Housewives use berries in cooking, cook compotes, jam, jam, add to pastries.

Pros and cons

From the advantages of the Giant blackberry variety, gardeners note:

• harvesting twice a season;
• abundant fruiting - up to 30-35 kg of berries per plant;
• easy maintenance;
• frost resistance;
• lack of thorns, facilitating crop care;
• resistance to transportation, preserving the original appearance of the fruit;
• late flowering time to prevent bud death from return frosts;
• dessert flavor;
• benefit for the body;
• universality of use;
• large berries.

The minuses of culture include demanding irrigation. For the development of powerful shoots, ovaries and the formation of juicy fruits, a lot of moisture is required, which the roots of the bush cannot provide on their own.

Specifics of growing variety “Giant”

Pre-planting land preparation, site selection, seedling, planting technology are quite simple and similar to activities carried out with other varieties of large-fruited blackberries.

How to choose seedlings

It is recommended to choose an annual seedling with developed roots no less than 10 -15 cm long with a growth zone. Blackberry Giant is purchased online from a single supplier or from gardeners who have managed to propagate the crop.

A high-quality planting material should have two shoots 40-50 cm high with green leaves, whole without deformation, dry areas of the bark.

If the shoot under the bark is green, then the choice was made correctly. Brown color indicates that the bush has dried up and must be culled .

When is the best time to plant

Blackberries of the Giant variety with an open root system are planted in March-April before the start of sap flow. Plants purchased in a container take root well in the fall a month before frost.

Selecting and preparing a landing site

Wetlands blown by the winds are not suitable for growing blackberries. The better the sun exposure, the sweeter the fruits, although the culture develops well and bears fruit in partial shade. A suitable location is along the fence on the south side of the garden plot.

Giant blackberries are not planted in the place where plants belonging to the pink family - raspberries, strawberries, rose bushes were previously grown.

The culture does not impose special requirements on the soil, but does not tolerate heavy, non-drained substrates. The best option is fertilized slightly acidic loam.

The landing pit is prepared in advance, at least a month in advance. If planting is planned for spring, a hole for blackberries half a meter deep and 40 cm wide is dug in the fall.

The upper fertile layer is combined with half a bucket of compost, 15 g of potassium s alt and superphosphate in the amount of 30 g.

How to plant?

If blackberries are planted near a fence or wall of a building, they retreat 1 meter from them. Between the bushes maintain a distance of at least two meters. In case of choosing a site not near the fence, first install a support next to the planting pit.

A seedling an hour before planting is stimulated to root formation with Kornevin by placing the shoot in a solution of the product.

Giant blackberry planting algorithm:

• straighten the roots in the pit, eliminating creases, wrong direction;
• fall asleep plant gradually, shaking occasionally to avoid voids;
• surface compacted;
• make a near-barrel groove, pour a bucket of water into it;
• place mulch around the seedling.

The root neck of the culture when planting is buried in the ground by no more than 3 cm.

The nuances of blackberry care

According to gardeners, caring for the Giant blackberry is not burdensome. Standard activities are carried out, including irrigation, fertilizing, tying vines. For full development, normal fruiting, the culture is protected from diseases and pests, winter frosts.

Irrigation regime and fertilizing rules

If the Giant blackberry lacks moisture, the bushes drop flowers, ovaries or already formed berries. Plants of the first year of life especially need irrigation.

Culture is watered regularly, making sure that the top layer of soil does not dry out. It is recommended to spray the aerial parts of the blackberry, which require moisture, with warm settled water in the evenings in the summer, with insufficient rainfall.

Irrigation is suspended after the autumn harvest. For the last time in a season, bushes are irrigated before shelter for the winter.

Every fourth year, when planting blackberries, organic matter is introduced into the soil.

Watering mulch, including humus, peat, replenishes the soil with nutrients. If the bushes do not mulch, then complex mineral fertilizers (Ideal, Nitrofoska) are suitable as an alternative.

For flowering, the formation of ovaries use a mixture consisting of:

• 2 tbsp. l. ammonium nitrate;
• 1 tbsp l. potassium sulfate;
• 100 g ammonium nitrate;
• half a bucket of humus.

It is useful to feed the culture with an ash solution prepared from a glass of ash and a bucket of water.

Tie bushes

The fragility of shoots from the wind or the severity of the crop, the uneven illumination of the sun's rays force gardeners to tie the Giant blackberry bushes.

Recommended and safe material for tying vines - twine made of nylon threads or polyethylene.

Experimentally developed several effective garter methods:

1. If one bush is grown, then a single support is enough - a firmly standing metal pole.
2. When tying with a bunch in the center of the bush, a stake is driven in, vines are tied to each other and to a support.
3. Fan garter involves deepening a stake between young blackberry bushes and tying the extreme branches of neighboring bushes to it.
4. With the trellis method, a structure is constructed consisting of poles dug in every 3 m with two rows of wire stretched transversely (1 and 1.5 m from the ground).

When performing the event, it is recommended to tie up the blackberries so that the shoots are less in contact with the wire or twine due to the risk of damage to the bark.

Preparing blackberries for the winter period

The biennial vegetation of the Giant blackberry variety involves pruning the fruit-bearing branches of the current year after harvest, which increases frost resistance. In addition to biennials, weak shoots damaged by diseases and pests are cut out. Annuals are shortened by a quarter, leaving at least 1 cm above the upper bud.

Follow-up activities in preparation for winter include:

• getting rid of plant debris under the plant;
• pouring 30 liters of water under each bush for frost resistance of the root system;
• mulching bushes with sawdust, hay, peat;
• processing with copper sulphate.
• liberation from the twine of tied vines.

Blackberries are insulated after the first frost. The liana is tied in bunches, carefully bent down, and the position is fixed with staples. There should be a layer between the ground and the shoots - boards, roofing material, cardboard, mulch.The culture is insulated from above with covering material.

Processing plants from diseases and pests

The following pests attack the Giant blackberry:

• raspberry and blackberry aphids;
• spider web, raspberry, blackberry mites;
• weevil;
• caterpillars;
• stem gall midge.

To protect the crop from insects in the fall, the soil is shed with Aktara's solution, in the spring the bushes are treated twice with Aktofit, Fitoferm or Akorin until leaves appear. It is effective for sleeping buds to spray blackberries with hot water, wrapping the bushes with a film for 2 hours. It is recommended to remove fallen leaves, damaged parts of the crop, cut the shoots in the fall under the root, leaving no stumps.

From fungal diseases, anthracnose, rust, spotting affect the culture. They fight diseases by treating the bushes with the preparations Fundazol, Topaz, Topsin M. Helps prevent infection and the development of spores. Preventive spraying in the spring with Bordeaux liquid, sanitary pruning.

With a shortage or excess of trace elements, various types of chlorosis appear in the culture, the structure of the leaf plates changes. The solution to the problem is rationing and timely top dressing with complex mineral fertilizers.

Breeding methods

The seed method of propagating blackberries of the Giant variety does not guarantee the preservation of varietal characteristics. Full fruiting occurs only after 5 years.

More often culture is bred in vegetative ways, faster, more reliable:

1. Layers

In August, lateral annual shoots are laid in pre-dug grooves. On both sides, the branches are fixed with hairpins, sprinkled with a substrate, without touching the top. Next, water, mulch. Young plants are planted in a permanent place next year in the spring.

2. Tops

The top of a 1.5-meter annual blackberry shoot is bent over and buried in a hole 30 cm deep, folding it into a ring or half ring.A month later, the root system is formed and young shoots appear. Before preparing for winter, the shoot of the mother plant is cut off, leaving a 30-centimeter segment. A full-fledged seedling is being transplanted next spring.

3. Cutting

In autumn, cuttings are cut 40 cm long. Until spring, planting material is added dropwise to the soil. In April, the cuttings are planted one at a time at a distance of 10 cm from each other, stretching a film on top, fixed on metal arcs.

In a greenhouse, plants develop until they grow on shoots of 3 leaves. The bushes are removed from the ground and planted one by one in containers for growing.

The Giant blackberry is propagated by green cuttings taken from the tops in summer. The further algorithm of actions is the same as for stem cuttings. Or they take a 15-centimeter segment of the shoot with two buds in the fall, put the cuttings in a glass in the spring, filling it with water, covering one sleeping bud.After waking up, a shoot with roots grows out of it, which is later transplanted into the ground.

4. Offspring

In spring or autumn, strong root offspring 10-15 cm long are selected.

5. Division

This method involves digging up a blackberry bush in autumn or spring, dividing the root into pieces with 2-4 shoots.

Harvesting and storage of crops

For own consumption, Giant blackberries are harvested fully ripe. The crop is harvested in several stages from July to September in small containers that do not require shifting before processing. If transportation is planned, the fruits are picked slightly unripe.

Unwashed, laid out in a container in a single layer, the berries remain fresh in the refrigerator for up to four days.

The chemical composition of fruits prepared for processing and beaten with sugar with a wooden spoon remains unchanged for up to three weeks.

Blackberries are stored frozen for up to a year. The berries are dried, homemade preparations, liqueurs are made.

Blackberry Giant - a variety with ideal properties. Gardeners are attracted by fantastic yields, giant fruit size, winter hardiness, and unpretentiousness in growing conditions.

Recommended