This culture is classified as weakly winter-hardy and is rarely grown in the northern regions. But if the blackberry variety for the Urals is chosen correctly, then you can safely breed early berries of fragrant tasty fruits.

Frost-resistant blackberry varieties

Nurseries in Yekaterinburg offer local gardeners the best frost-resistant plants:

  • Agavam is a long-known variety in Russia, capable of withstanding frosts down to -40 degrees. Plants are resistant to rust and anthracose. The yield is average (up to 4 kg per bush with a berry weighing 3 g), but stable;
  • Chester Thornless is considered a promising variety for harsh regions. Its shoots are thornless, the yield is average. Withstands cold temperatures up to -30 degrees and requires shelter for the winter, but it will perfectly take root in Siberia;
Chester Thornless variety

Chester Thornless variety

  • Darrow is another representative of a frost-resistant variety that is popular with Ural gardeners. Calmly withstands air temperatures down to -35 degrees, but shelter is recommended in a harsh winter.

Varieties such as Black Satin, Thornfrey, Izobilnaya are medium-resistant, but they do well in cold regions when grown under shelters.

On a note. In order for blackberries to take root in Siberia, planting and care are carried out with strict adherence to the rules of agricultural technology. This protects the shrub from freezing and ensures good yields.

When is it better to plant

When growing berry crops, one should take into account the peculiarities of the local climate. In the regions beyond the Urals, winter comes early. This prevents the bushes from rooting normally during the autumn cultivation of the plantation. Therefore, it is recommended in Siberia to plant blackberries in spring with seedlings.

It is allowed to carry out planting work in the fall in heated greenhouses, where the sprouts will remain until the end of winter. As soon as the ground warms up enough in the spring, the seedlings are transferred to a permanent place in the garden.

Where to plant on the site

Despite the family relationship with raspberries, blackberries are more demanding when it comes to choosing a place. Culture needs plenty of sun (especially when growing blackberries in Siberia) and protection from the winds. The depth of the underground streams should also be taken into account - waterlogged soils are not suitable for the plant.

To grow a good blackberry plantation in the Urals and Siberia, you will have to take care of the fertility of the site. Over-acidified and heavy soils are not suitable for culture. The best conditions are black soil, but loams with a high humus content will also suit.

Note! Experienced gardeners manage to grow good crops on depleted soils, properly feeding

When choosing a place for a blackberry, the neighborhood with other cultures is also taken into account. Trees located nearby will shade the berry, which will negatively affect the quality of the fruit and can lead to diseases of the bushes.

The best neighbor for blackberries is raspberries - these crops have good compatibility. The main thing is to maintain a distance between plantations of at least 1.5 m so that the shrubs do not interfere with each other's development.

Important! In order to avoid diseases of blackberry bushes, they cannot be planted near vegetable gardens. It is not recommended to use former vegetable beds - fungal spores and larvae of pests remain in the ground after their predecessors.

Pre-planting works

Before planting seedlings is planned, gardeners carry out preparatory activities in the fall:

  • unnecessary plants are removed from the site;
  • all rhizomes are uprooted;
  • weed perennials are destroyed.
Autumn site preparation

Autumn site preparation

The final stage of pre-planting work is the digging of the entire area allocated for the berry. The depth is maintained on a full shovel bayonet. Fertilizers are spread evenly over the garden bed (15 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium sulfate, a bucket of humus - for each square meter) and looted into the soil.

Training

With the arrival of spring, preparatory work continues, which they begin immediately as soon as the snow melts. The further development of plants will depend on these activities.

Site preparation

The holes are prepared 7-10 days before planting the seedlings. Since the blackberry root system is actively developing, the pits should be spacious enough. The best option is considered a parameter of half a meter for the depth of the hole and its width.

If fertilizers were not applied to the soil during autumn work, this can be done now, but in a different amount. 0.100 kg of superphosphate, 0.050 kg of potassium fertilizers, 5 kg of compost are added to each portion of the soil extracted from the hole. Two-thirds of the resulting mixture is poured back into the pit, covered with a small layer of fertile soil.

Preparation of seedlings

When purchasing seedlings, they pay attention to their condition. The roots are checked - they should be well developed, firm, slightly moist and free from signs of disease. Damaged roots should be cut, and the cut points should be sprinkled with activated carbon or treated with ash.

Selection of seedlings

Selection of seedlings

If the shoots are acquired with a lump of earth, it is recommended to slightly pry the bark on the shoot. In this way, they check whether the stem is overdried. Seedlings with closed roots are dipped into the holes along with the ground, after having thoroughly moistened it.

How to plant blackberry seedlings

Blackberries are planted in pits in an upright position, carefully distributing the roots over the earthen tubercle. Sprout the sprouts in such a way that the root collar is buried no more than 2 cm or is level with the soil surface. They also work when planting bushes in trenches.

The planting scheme depends on the type of culture:

  • the gap between erect plants is kept within 0.7-1.5 m;
  • for creeping types of space, more is needed - from 2.5 to 3 m;
  • if the dews are planted denser, then you should take care of the arrangement of supports for the shoots;
  • regardless of the type of blackberry, the row spacing is maintained at least 2 m.

Having finished with the planting of seedlings, the land around the bushes is well tamped and watered abundantly (½ bucket for each plant). Then the trunk circle is mulched with dry sawdust, peat, etc. layers of 8-10 cm, and the shoots are shortened to 5 cm.

Post-plant watering

Post-plant watering

Follow-up care

It is important after planting blackberries in the Urals and caring for them. With improper agricultural technology, not only will there be no harvest, but the plants themselves may die.

Watering

Do not hope that blackberries are drought-resistant crops. In the first year after planting, the plant should be watered abundantly so that it can root well and give the required number of replacement shoots. In subsequent years, water is watered, based on weather conditions, using drip irrigation during hot seasons, as well as during ripening of berries.

Top dressing

If the plantation is grown on fertile soils, the fertilizer that was applied during planting will last for 3 years. Then you should refresh the food by doing spring feeding.

On dining soils, the site is fertilized annually, adding chlorine-free potassium fertilizers (20 g) and phosphate (100 g) under each blackberry bush in the fall. In spring, compost or humus is scattered over the plantation - up to 8 kg / sq.m.

Trellis garter

Depending on the variety, blackberry shoots can reach large sizes, and you cannot do without support here. The trellis should be taken care of in advance, while the bushes are still small.Along the rows in the bramble, at a distance of 6-10 m from each other, pillars are dug in, on which, as the shoots grow, the rows of wire will stretch.

Blackberries on a trellis

Blackberries on a trellis

The first one is laid at a level of 1 m from the ground, the subsequent ones - evenly every 20-40 cm.

You can fix branches in 3 different ways:

  • in a straight upright position, covering each shoot between 3 wire rows;
  • a fan-shaped garter allows the branches to grow more freely and provides ultraviolet access to the fruit;
  • distribution of stems horizontally along the wire in different directions at a height of 1.5 m from the ground.

As for the creeping blackberry, each farmer independently decides how much the trellis is necessary for the plants.

Pruning

The first shortening of the bush occurs at the time of planting the seedlings. In the fall of this year, all shoots are cut off completely, preparing the bush for winter.

In subsequent seasons, pruning is carried out according to the following principle:

  • after harvesting, only the current shoots are left, removing last year's and damaged ones;
  • in the spring, they carry out a sanitary cutting of frozen stems and shorten the replacement shoots up to 2 meters in kumanik and up to 3 meters in sundews.

Spring pinching of the tops of replacement stems that have grown to a length of 0.8 m is also carried out. This procedure is performed in May or early June.

Shelter

In Siberia and the Urals, all blackberry varieties require shelter for the winter if shoots are left for fruiting next year. The stems of each bush are tied together and carefully bent to the ground. Shoots are covered with foliage, peat or spruce branches. With the onset of winter, it is recommended to cover the blackberries from above with a good layer of snow.

Shelter blackberry spruce branches

Shelter blackberry spruce branches

Note! If the variety is frost-resistant enough and adapted for the northern regions, you can simply cut off all the shoots, leaving short stumps. In this case, they will not need shelter.

The experience of Siberian gardeners

Thanks to breeders, blackberries in cold regions became available not only to industrial farmers - Siberian summer residents also actively began to squeeze it. Experienced gardeners are ready to share their secrets with beginners, leaving feedback on the technique of growing crops.

Oleg: “I live in Chelyabinsk, where the climate is not very favorable for berry crops. But over the years of dacha practice, he developed his own tactics in agricultural technology. I believe that frost-resistant varieties (such as Agavam) should also be sheltered for the winter. This will help to avoid various force majeure and will have a positive impact on the next year's harvest ”.

Anna: “My husband and I are engaged in growing raspberries and blackberries in large volumes (we are farmers), so we have planted several varieties of crops. Over the years, we came to the conclusion that the best blackberry varieties for the Urals are Agavam, Darrow, Triple Crow, Oregon, Eldorado. They tolerate our winters well and even on not quite fertile soils produce tasty large berries ”.

Nikolay: “I would like to share my experience as I carry out the propagation of blackberries in Novosibirsk. I have specially planted uterine bushes of frost-resistant varieties on my site. Each plant is located in the center of a square with sides of 3 m (it is easier to work with the side shoots this way). Over the summer, several offspring grow near the bush, which in September I cut off from the mother plant and transplanted into flowerpots. The sprouts are overwintered in the greenhouse. In early or mid-April, blackberries can be planted in a permanent place, carefully passing them along with the earth from the flowerpot. "

Side offspring

Side offspring

Lyudmila: “I want to share my bitter experience in growing blackberries. After the first winter, I was in no hurry with the opening of the bushes - I waited for the weather to improve. As a result, the awakened buds pererereli, and I was left without a crop. Now I try to open the bushes before the buds swell, and immediately carry out the formation. "

So that blackberries in the Urals do not get sick and give big yields, planting and cultivation are carried out competently. With a lot of effort, even in a harsh climate, you can pamper your family with delicious fresh fruits.