American Cumberland raspberries cannot be called widespread and popular in our country, although the variety is already a hundred years old. However, some features of the unusual raspberry are worthy of attention. For example, black berries, which resemble blackberries in color and taste, are very rich in vitamins and nutrients. In addition, you can get an excellent harvest if you provide Cumberland raspberries with the necessary care and adhere to certain rules when planting.
Cumberland is an American raspberry variety.
Cumberland is a hybrid of raspberries and blackberries. Because of this, there is another name for dark berry varieties - ezhemalina.
The plant is a perennial subshrub with arched long shoots up to 4 m long, with thorns. The leaves are dark green, 5-leafed, slightly rough. White small flowers are collected in thyroid racemes. Blooms in early June.
Cumberland raspberries are almost black in color when fully ripe.
The fruits are round, medium-sized, weighing about 2 g, unripe - red, and ripe - shiny, dark purple, with a white coating between the drupes. The taste is pleasant, moderately sweet, with a slight sourness, with a characteristic blackberry flavor. They contain less acid than red raspberries.
In addition to the color and taste of the berries, Cumberland differs from red raspberries in that it does not produce root shoots and has thicker and longer shoots.
Table: advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Video: first impressions of Cumberland raspberries
Landing Features
When buying a seedling, you should pay attention to the roots. They must be healthy, without stains or growths. The leaves are clean and smooth. The height of the seedling is about 1 m, with 2–3 mature shoots.
When transporting a seedling, the raspberry roots should be covered with a wet cloth.
Exposing the bare root system to the sun is unacceptable, as this threatens its death.
When purchasing seedlings, you should carefully examine all parts of the plant: roots, shoots, leaves
A place for Cumberland raspberries should be chosen that is sunny and protected from the winds. The shade can contribute to the fact that the harvest will be smaller, the berries will be small and unsweetened. In addition, rot can develop in such conditions. You cannot plant raspberries in a damp area - the roots will freeze in winter. Suitable soil is medium and light loamy, chernozem.
Raspberries will feel good if onions or carrots grew in the area before them. Cumberland should not be planted after tomatoes and potatoes, and another variety of raspberry and blackberry should not be placed next to it.
If you decide to plant raspberries in 2 rows, then the row spacing should be at least 2 m. For ease of picking berries, it is better to plant the bushes in 1 row, maintaining 1.5–2 m between plants.
Raspberries can grow in one place for up to 20 years, but by 10–12 years the harvest becomes significantly smaller.
Reproduction
Cumberland raspberries are propagated by apical shoots and seeds.
Apical processes
Cumberland does not produce root shoots, but does an excellent job of rooting the tops of shoots. For this:
- In summer, you need to pour mulch along the row, bend the top of the raspberry shoot to it and dig it down to 10 cm.
- Water 1-2 times a week. The roots will grow from the axils of the leaves, and within a month a fairly strong root system will form.
- For the winter, hill up the seedling and cover it with humus, and in the spring dig it up, separate it from the mother bush, and plant it in a permanent place.
To get a new plant, you need to root the top
Seeds
- Immediately after harvesting, plant the seeds in the garden bed to a depth of 2 cm.
- Mulch with peat or humus and water moderately.
- In the spring, about 50% of the seeds germinate; more shoots may appear during the summer.
- 2-year-old seedlings can be planted for permanent residence.
Plant care
Support
Support is a necessary condition in growing Cumberland raspberries. If you do not provide the bushes with a trellis, then the long shoots will lie on the ground and take root wherever necessary.
Fan trellis for raspberries There are a lot of trellis options, but a fan-shaped one will be convenient for picking berries. To do this, you need to install 2-meter posts on opposite sides of the ridge, and stretch wire in 2 or 3 rows between them.
Due to their length and flexibility, raspberry shoots can be used in garden decoration, for example, to form an arch.
Watering
Lack of water will lead to the formation of small and unsweetened berries, as well as the development of weak young shoots. Therefore, due attention should be paid to soil moisture. Raspberries should be watered generously, once every 2 weeks, and even more often in hot weather and during the ripening period of the berries. During rains, you need to loosen the ground under the bushes, removing the mulch. This will protect the roots from stagnant moisture.
Top dressing
Raspberries will benefit from organic and mineral fertilizing after flowering, during the ripening of the berries and after the first harvest. You can use an infusion of mullein (1 part to 7 parts water) or chicken manure (1:18). To this should be added superphosphate (50 g per 10 liters of infusion) and ash (1 liter per 10 liters of infusion). When applying fertilizers, you need to water the bushes well.
Also, do not forget about foliar feeding. A solution of urea (10 g per 10 liters of water) or boric acid (same proportions) is suitable for this. It must be applied with a spray on the leaves and always in the evening in dry weather. Frequency - once every 2 weeks (while changing solutions). In spring or autumn, when digging the soil, add 5 kg of organic matter per 1 m2.
Video: features of growing remontant Cumberland raspberries
Trimming
At the end of June, when the length of the shoots reaches about 2 m, they are cut to a height of 1.2–1.5 m. The growth of side shoots begins - each bush produces 4–10 pieces, the plant becomes more magnificent, but lower.
Without pruning, raspberry shoots can grow up to 4 m In mid-autumn, new shoots are pruned to approximately 30–50 cm.
In autumn, raspberries are untied from the trellis and cut at the root, leaving 4–5 of the strongest annual shoots on the bush. Then they are bent to the ground using special brackets. Since the variety is quite frost-resistant, no additional shelter is required. Snow cover will provide good protection.
For the winter, raspberry shoots are bent to the ground In the spring, the raspberries are raised again, branches damaged by rodents and broken are cut off and tied back to the trellis.
Disease and pest control
Gardeners note that Cumberland is more resistant to diseases and pests than red raspberry varieties.
Table: how to deal with diseases and pests
| Diseases and pests | Signs | Prevention measures | How to fight |
| Raspberry beetle | The larvae damage the berries. |
|
Spraying with a solution of the drug Fosbecid (5 ml per 5 liters of water). |
| Aphid | It feeds on leaf juices. | Spraying with a solution of Nitrafen (300 g per 10 liters of water). | |
| Weevil | Damages ovaries and leaves. | Use of the drug Iskra-M (1 tablet per 10 liters of water). | |
| Gray rot | Gray spots appear on the leaves, brown spots on the fruits. |
|
|
| Anthracnose | Brown spots with a red border form on the leaves. The shoots dry out and the ripening of the berries stops. | Use of drugs Topaz, Fitosporin (according to instructions). |
Black Cumberland raspberries are not often found in our gardens. However, it is worth taking a closer look at this berry bush, the fruits of which are similar to blackberries. The main distinctive feature of Cumberland raspberries is the color of the berries - black, shiny with a purple or burgundy tint, each berry weighs about 2 g, the yield per bush is 6-8 kg. The ripening speed is average. But the differences don't end there. Let's consider the advantages and disadvantages of this black-fruited raspberry variety.
Benefits of Cumberland Raspberries
- Sweet taste and special aroma.
- Good yield.
- The variety is universal (great for canning and freezing).
- Berries are rich in vitamins.
- Frost resistance - does not require shelter in winter.
- Resistance to pests (raspberry mite).
- The fruits are not interesting to birds.
- Even ripe fruits do not soften when harvested.
- The berries do not wrinkle during transportation.
- Does not produce root shoots and does not turn into a weed.
Disadvantages of Cumberland Raspberries
- The presence of large seeds in the fruits.
- The shoots are noticeably prickly than ordinary raspberries.
- Cumberland bushes are very dense.
- Bushes need to be staked or pruned to make harvesting easier.
- Propagated only by cuttings and layering.
Planting Cumberland Raspberries
Aronia raspberries produce their maximum yield in the third year after planting. It is important to choose a place for planting Cumberland raspberries that is sunny and protected from the wind. When grown in the shade, the harvest will be significantly smaller, the taste of the berries will not be as sweet, in addition, the plant in such conditions may be subject to various diseases in the form of rot. Chokeberry raspberries grow best on fertile medium loamy and chernozem soils. Despite the fact that the Cumberland variety is quite cold-resistant, planting in a damp area is unacceptable - the raspberry roots will freeze in winter.
When planning planting, you should pay attention to undesirable neighborhoods. It is not recommended to grow black and red raspberries next to each other, or in place after red raspberries; Cumberland raspberries grow poorly next to blackberries. Do not plant chokeberry raspberries after tomatoes and potatoes. It is preferable to plant Cumberland after onions, carrots,.
The most favorable time for planting Cumberland raspberries is spring, after possible frosts have stopped; however, this variety germinates well when planted in summer and autumn.
The seedlings are planted at a distance of one and a half to two meters from each other in holes 40 to 50 centimeters deep. Humus (compost) mixed with wood ash is added to the planting holes. Then pour out about ½ bucket of water and place the seedling. Cover it with soil, compact the soil carefully and not too much, and water it again with water. Then the soil is mulched: compost, peat, rotted sawdust, chopped straw. The thickness is made 7 - 8 centimeters.
Cumberland Raspberry Care
Due to the fact that the black raspberry bush grows tall with flexible shoots, up to three meters long, it is necessary to install trellises the next year after planting and tie the stems to them in a fan pattern. Because The bush is quite prickly, such a garter will help you pick berries more comfortably in the future.
In the first year after planting the seedlings, raspberries should not be allowed to bloom and bear fruit - the buds must be cut off so as not to deplete the plants. During the summer, do not fertilize with organic matter. If the raspberries have grown, cut out the extra shoots in the fall, leaving 4-5 branches.
- During the growing season, the plant needs watering, and it is important to avoid stagnation of water. This means that if the weather is hot, you need to water the raspberries generously, but if there are prolonged rains (especially with cold weather), then the soil under the bushes needs to be loosened, having first removed the mulch to the side.
- Due to the abundant fruiting, Cumberland raspberries need feeding. Fertilizing is applied three times: after the flowers fall off, during the ripening of the berries and after the harvest. Mullein is used as a top dressing together with superphosphate or wood ash. Approximate proportions: 1 part mullein to 6 parts water; wood ash - 1 liter per 10 liters of mullein infusion; superphosphate - 50 g per 10 liters of infusion.
- There is no need to fertilize abundantly with humus, because the raspberries will grow strongly and will go to the bushes (greens), and not to the berries.
- In the fall, you need to cut out heavily overgrown bushes, leaving 3-5 shoots on the bush, and cut the rest at the root. First of all, two-year-old shoots are removed.
- Before the onset of winter, the branches are untied from the trellis and pressed to the ground.
- In the spring, the raspberries are inspected, diseased and weak shoots are removed, and the rest are tied back to the trellis.
This raspberry variety can be shaped by pruning, starting in late June - early July, depending on the region. Shoots that have reached 2 meters should be shortened to a height of no more than 120-130 centimeters. The bush begins to branch due to the growth of axillary buds. The side shoots that grow over the summer are then pruned in the second half of autumn, leaving their petioles about 30-40 cm.
Cumberland raspberry propagation
Cumberland raspberries are usually propagated by cuttings and layering, since raspberries do not produce root suckers. Cuttings take root in water.
You can also propagate this variety by seeds, but the seeds take too long to germinate.
Thus, the easiest and fastest way to propagate this raspberry variety is by rooting the tops of annual shoots.
"Cumberland" is the result of crossing raspberries and blackberries. The variety, which until recently was considered exotic, is becoming increasingly widespread today. The reason for its increasing popularity every day is high yield, resistance to low temperatures and excellent taste of berries. And this is only a small part of the advantages. Do you want to plant an unusual variety, but aren’t sure you can handle it? Find out as much as possible about it and you won’t have any problems when planting and growing it.
"Cumberland" reaches a height of 2 meters. A distinctive feature is thick curved shoots covered with thorns and a waxy coating. Another characteristic feature is the absence of root suckers, characteristic of most varieties. The variety blooms late - in June. The flowering and fruiting period lasts a long time. Productivity is excellent. One bush produces 6-7 kg of fruit.
The berries are similar to blackberries. Black, shiny, very sweet. They make delicious compotes, juices, preserves and jams.
The berries are juicy, but tolerate transportation well. The bushes are frost-resistant - there is no need to cover them. "Cumberland" is unpretentious in care.
Anyone can grow dark purple raspberries with a blackberry flavor. Even those who have never done this. It’s also convenient to pick berries. With proper pruning, 10 clusters are formed on one shoot, each with 12-15 berries.
Advantages and disadvantages
Fans of this variety never tire of insisting that it consists of nothing but advantages. Indeed, it has many advantages, but there are also disadvantages. Let's look at what's good about Cumberland and what's bad about it.
Advantages
The advantages include the following:
As for the shortcomings, they also exist. For some, these disadvantages are not very significant, but for others they may be a completely reasonable reason to refuse to plant Cumberland raspberries.
- thorny branches that make it difficult to care for and harvest;
- large and hard seeds in fruits;
- bushes need timely tying and regular pruning;
- During the harvesting process, trellises will be needed, which will greatly facilitate the work.
If the listed disadvantages do not frighten you (as is usually the case), you can begin planting. So, what do those who decide to plant this wonderful variety on their plot need to know?
How to plant?
The best time for planting is spring and autumn. Raspberries of this variety should be planted in areas well lit by the sun, but reliably protected from the wind. "Cumberland" prefers light loams or nutritious sandy loams. Do not plant the plant where potatoes, tomatoes, red raspberries and blackberries most recently grew. The depth of the planting holes is 0.5 m, the interval between them is 1.5 m. Experts advise planting in two rows.
Humus and wood ash are poured into the pits in equal quantities. The seedlings are placed strictly vertically and carefully covered with earth mixed with any complex fertilizer. You can use superphosphate and potassium sulfate 200 g each. and 80 gr. respectively. After which the soil is watered and lightly compacted. To maintain moisture, mulch the soil with straw or rotted manure. The minimum thickness of mulch is 5 cm.
Make sure you have strong supports in advance. The length of the shoots sometimes reaches 4 meters, thickness - 3 cm. With such indicators, the construction of wire supports is extremely necessary.
Don't know how to make such supports? It's simple. Strong piles 2.5 meters high are dug in at the beginning and end of the beds. Wire is wound on them in three rows. Ready. Many gardeners assign raspberries the role of a hedge, securing shoots to the fence of the site.
Learning to care
Raspberry "Cumberland" is unpretentious in care. To reap rich harvests every year, it is enough to follow simple rules.
Irrigation regime. Watch the soil - it should always be moist. In summer, water consumption per bush is 3 liters.
Trimming. Branches that reach a length of 70 cm are pruned by 10 cm. This will slow down the elongation of shoots and activate the growth of lateral shoots. But keep in mind that at the beginning of the growing season the lateral branches are shortened, leaving 4-6 buds. Weak shoots are cut off at the root without regret.
Direct the fruiting branches to the lower tier, located at 60 cm from the surface of the ground, and direct the young branches upward. After the shoots reach the last row of the wire support, they must be tied and directed horizontally along it. After fruiting has finished, the old branches are removed.
Preparing for winter. This variety tolerates frost well, but temperature changes can harm young plants. Before frost arrives, remove the shoots from the wire supports and bend them to the ground, but so that they do not touch it. After snow falls, the currants are sprayed with water. The resulting ice crust will serve as a kind of protection. With the arrival of spring, the raspberries are again placed on supports and the branches are straightened. Dried and damaged shoots are cut off.
Fertilizer. During the growing season, feed three times. The first time - at the end of flowering, the second - during the intensive development of berries, the third - after the raspberries ripen. An aqueous solution of bird droppings or mullein is used as fertilizer. Add 100 g to the resulting mixture. superphosphate and 1 liter of ash. Consumption - 5 liters per bush. After fertilizing, the plants are watered abundantly.
Why is pruning needed?
Pruning is a mandatory procedure to maintain high yields and excellent taste of berries. "Cumberland" tolerates haircuts well. The crown is shortened for the first time in June. Old branches are cut down to 180 cm. Soon young stems will appear on them, reaching a length of 1.5 meters.
The second time is pruned in the fall. The goal is to eliminate fruit-bearing shoots. Young shoots are shortened to 40 cm. Among other things, two-year-old stems are cut off, except for the 8-10 most powerful ones.
How to fight diseases?
Raspberries are resistant to many diseases and pests, but, of course, not to all. Purple spot reveals itself as purple spots on the shoots. Most often it affects young stems. To combat this scourge, 6% urea and 1% Bordeaux mixture are used. The mosaic can be recognized by the yellow rings on the leaves. Diseased bushes are dug up by the roots, the rest are treated with Karbofos.
If you find a cobweb on the back of the foliage, then the raspberry has been chosen by a spider mite. Fallen leaves should be burned, and the bushes should be treated with Fitoferm after flowering. After harvesting, spray with Karbofos. Iskra or Decis will save you from bud moths and stem flies that lay eggs in leaf axils and flowers.
If signs of ill health are detected, the affected plants are destroyed, the ground is carefully and deeply dug up, healthy bushes are treated with Karbofos, Confidor, and Bordeaux mixture.
That's all you need to know in order for Cumberland raspberries to grow on your site by leaps and bounds. Follow simple recommendations and you will have something to surprise your guests - dark purple raspberries with a blackberry flavor.
Video review of Cumberland raspberries
Black raspberries or Cumberland are not yet as popular with us as raspberries with red or yellow berries. But if you are lucky enough to purchase several seedlings, we will tell you how to plant them correctly, care for them, and why black raspberries are so valued.
Choosing a place and soil for planting black raspberries
The site for black raspberries is preferably flat, perhaps a northern or northwestern gentle slope. The soil is fertile loam or sandy loam. Black raspberries cannot be planted in place of uprooted red raspberries or apple trees. Also bad predecessors are potatoes, tomatoes and other nightshades, which have common diseases, primarily verticillium wilt. You cannot plant black raspberries and blackberries together.
For a good harvest of black raspberries, high-quality soil preparation and compliance with crop rotation are very important. Otherwise, you risk getting two to three times fewer berries and of worse quality.
You need to start by observing the following crop rotation:
1st year – black fallow or green manure:
2nd year - row crops (carrots, garlic, onions, lettuce, celery, peppers, marigolds, marigolds).
In spring or autumn, a continuous layer of rotted manure or humus (15-20 kg per 1 square meter) is applied to the raspberry plot, which is covered with a shovel. In the year of planting, organo-mineral fertilizers are also added directly to the furrows or holes.
Planting black raspberries
Black raspberries are planted on a personal plot according to a scheme of 1.5 -2 x 0.5-0.7 m. The pits are prepared with a depth and diameter of 40 - 50 cm. 6-8 kg of humus or tophon manure compost, 150-200 g of superphosphate and 70-80 g of potassium sulfate. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers can be replaced with wood ash at the rate of 500-600 g per pit. The fertilizer complex is thoroughly mixed with the soil and the resulting mixture is poured onto the root system of the seedlings. Then the plants are watered abundantly and the soil is mulched with peat, rotted compost or chopped straw in a layer of 6-10 cm.
Black raspberries can be planted in the fall (late September-October), and in the spring - immediately after the snow melts, sometimes in the summer. But in each case there are negative aspects.
Cumberland plants planted in the fall may freeze in harsh, snowless winters.
During summer planting, favorable conditions are created for their survival, but the roots can dry out if there is a lack of moisture, and the leaves and shoots can burn in the sun. Black raspberry seedlings planted in spring are susceptible to spring and summer drying out due to drought or late planting. However, despite this, the last option is the most optimal. Planting material purchased in the fall must be dug in correctly and planted as early as possible in the spring.
Secrets of bush formation
One popular method is to form powerful, compact black raspberry plants that do not lie down when loaded with crops and do not need support. To do this, when they reach a height of 50-60 cm, annual shoots are shortened by 7-10 cm. This causes the awakening of axillary buds and the formation of side shoots up to 1 m or more in length by the end of summer. Then in early spring, before the beginning of the growing season, I shorten these shoots, leaving 3-6 buds on each, depending on the growth vigor. The weakest branches are cut out at the base. This method reduces the number of berries on the shoot, but this is compensated by an increase in mass and high commercial quality of the fruit.
Black raspberry plants can be used to form various shapes, such as an arch. To do this, the tops of the shoots of two bushes are connected according to the scheme: the near shoot of the first bush with the middle shoot of the second; middle - with distant; distant with near. It is necessary to take into account lighting, matching shoots in terms of growth strength and other factors. The twine should be whole and not in pieces, since it gives a certain direction to the shoots not only according to the shape of the figure, but also inside the bush. The plant forms 8-12 branches, which, as they grow, deviate from each other in opposite directions. Shoots conveniently located to form an arch are left without pruning. For those that deviate greatly to the side, when they reach a height of 1-1.2 m, the tops are cut off by 10-20 cm. Thus, the crop is formed with tassels in the form of an inverted umbrella, and it is located on the outside of the arch.
You can cultivate black raspberries on a trellis. It is installed a year after planting. To do this, along the row, every 8-10 m, I dig posts with a diameter of 10-15 cm, to which wires are attached: one at a height of 60 cm, the other after another 60 cm. Shoots are tied to them in the spring, having previously been shortened to 140-150 cm. This is not possible. allow thickening, because this worsens the light and water-nutrient regimes of plants and contributes to the development of fungal diseases. Therefore, immediately after harvesting, it is necessary to cut out the fruit-bearing shoots, remove them and burn them.
How to get black raspberry seedlings
Unfortunately, black raspberry planting material is still quite rare to find on sale. And black raspberries are propagated mainly by apical and horizontal layering (like currants), green cuttings. In the first case, layering is obtained by hilling the tops of growing shoots bent to the ground at the end of summer. With normal watering, each bud, sprinkled with soil, forms adventitious roots. For the winter they are covered with peat, humus or hilled up with soil. In early spring, they are separated from the mother bush and planted in a permanent place or in an area for growing.
When propagating by horizontal layering, early in the spring all stems are cut off, leaving only boles 10-15 cm high. During the summer, well-developed shoots grow, which are pinned into prepared grooves in August. When adventitious roots appear, the shoots are sprinkled with soil, leaving the apical buds and leaves open. For better acceleration, regular watering is needed, and shelter for the winter. By the autumn of next year, young plants grow from the rooted shoots and are separated from the mother bush. When propagated by horizontal layering, a larger number of seedlings are obtained, but the mother bush dies after 2-3 years due to intensive exploitation.
Black raspberries are also propagated by green cuttings in protected ground. Greenhouses and greenhouses with the ability to regulate humidity are best suited for this. As soon as the lignification of the shoots begins, they are cut into cuttings with two - at the crown of the buds - one or one and a half leaves. Place the plant in a solution of growth material for 8-12 hours, then plant it, deepening it so that one bud with a leaf remains above the soil. A prerequisite for this method of propagation is a fog-forming installation, operating for 2-3 weeks, and a layer of sand 4-6 cm thick on the ridges. The best time for planting rooted cuttings on the growing area is early spring.
Particularly useful
Black raspberries defeat cancer! Scientists from the Ohio State University Cancer Center discovered the unique antitumor properties of black raspberries. They associate these unusual properties with antioxidants, which are contained in very large quantities in berries, preventing the formation of cancer cells and activating the immune system.
Growing experience with a specific example
Let's look at growing Cumberland using the example of a gardener from Tatarstan. In this garden, the Cumberland has been bearing fruit without replacing bushes for 12 years, and the yield has not yet decreased. The bushes are planted in one row, at a distance of 1.5 m from each other. Along the edges of the row, strong pillars 2.2 meters high are placed and a trellis is stretched on them at a height of 1.2, 1.5 and 2 m. Powerful shoots of this plant (in the lower part up to 2-2.5 cm thick) grow up to 2.5- 3 m high. At the same time, they can easily turn into a “jungle”. To get a good harvest, the bushes need to be formed correctly.
As soon as the young shoots of this year reach a length of about 2 m, the top is pinched off at a height of 1.2 -1.5 m. This is usually done at the end of June to cause branching. The second pruning is carried out in early November, simultaneously with the removal of two-year-old shoots. By this time, the side shoots reach a length of 1-1.5 m. They are shortened to 30-50 cm. The bushes themselves are also tidied up: 10-12 powerful branches are left on each. The rest are cut out at the root. In this form, the Cumberland is removed from the trellis and laid on the soil. There is no additional cover; snow is enough. True, if you don’t have enough of it, it’s better to build a snowdrift yourself.
In early spring, as soon as it gets warmer, the shoots are lifted, broken ones are removed and tied to a trellis so that they do not shade each other. Cumberland blooms profusely in early June, wisely saving the crop from late frosts.
As soon as the first berries begin to form, we feed the bushes with an infusion of mullein (1:6) or bird droppings (1:16). Add 50 g of superphosphate or a liter jar of ash to it. Pour a bucket of fertilizer under each bush and immediately water it with 4-5 buckets of water.
I was recently lucky enough to purchase some Cumberland black raspberry seedlings. By that time, I knew quite a lot about the wonderful properties of the berries of this crop, but I was completely unaware of how to grow it correctly. It turned out that black raspberries require the same care as blackberries, but with some nuances.
Choosing a site for Cumberland black raspberries
It is better to place the berry garden on a flat and sunny place, but a slight slope is also acceptable. Raspberries prefer loamy and sandy soils.
Do not forget about crop rotation: you cannot plant black raspberries in the place where there were previously apple trees, red or yellow raspberries, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and other nightshades.
Blackberries are considered a bad neighbor for Cumberland.
When is the best time to plant black raspberries?
Raspberries can be planted in spring (as the soil dries), autumn (usually at the end of September - the first ten days of October) and even in early summer. However, each term has both its advantages and disadvantages.
Autumn planting followed by a harsh winter is fraught with the death of seedlings due to freezing. Plants planted in early summer may suffer from a lack of moisture in the soil and therefore have difficulty rooting.
When planted in April, seedlings may also take root slowly due to the heat, but this is still unlikely (especially since the soil is still quite moist at this time). Therefore, the optimal time for planting Cumberland black raspberries is the second or third ten days of April (for central Russia).
If you purchased seedlings of this crop in the fall, then during the winter months they can be preserved using one of the methods described in the article - “”.
Black raspberry Cumberland: site preparation and planting
In order to reap consistently high yields of berries over many years, the soil in the selected area must be carefully prepared. To do this, use the following crop rotation scheme:
- the first year - green manure plants;
- the second year - garlic, onion, celery, various types of salads, carrots, marigolds or marigolds;
- the third year - fertilizing the soil and planting raspberry seedlings.
In spring or autumn, the soil for raspberries is enriched with organic substrate (humus, compost or decomposed manure) at a rate of 15 to 20 kilograms per square meter.
Black raspberries Cumberland usually grown in rows with row spacing of 1.5-2 meters, leaving from 50 to 70 between individual bushes. Some gardeners recommend planting plants even more freely - at a distance of 1.5 to 2 meters in a row.
The fact is that with good care, black raspberries actively form replacement shoots - up to 20 of them can appear per plant over the summer. The wide space between individual bushes allows you to leave more of these shoots, avoiding the negative consequences of thickening.
Planting holes are made from 40 to 50 centimeters deep and from 50 to 60 centimeters wide. Add 6-8 kilograms (2-3 buckets) of old manure or humus, 70-80 grams of potassium sulfate and 150-200 grams of superphosphate to each hole.
If you don’t like mineral fertilizers, then you can use regular fertilizers instead at a rate of 500 to 600 grams per hole.
The fertilizers listed above are mixed with an equal amount of garden soil and used to fill the roots of raspberry seedlings placed in the holes.
The seedlings are removed from the soil as carefully as possible to preserve the earthen ball around their roots. But if you purchased seedlings with an open root system, then for better survival, it is advisable to dip the plant roots in manure mash. To prepare it, fresh manure is diluted with water to the consistency of sour cream.
Raspberries are placed in spilled holes 5-8 centimeters deeper than they grew before. After planting, the soil around the plants is lightly squeezed, watered again and mulched with peat, mature compost or chopped straw in a layer of 6-10 centimeters.
The best way to prune black raspberries
Black Cumberland raspberries can grow up to two meters if their growth is not limited in any way. In terms of care and harvesting, it is much more convenient to deal with compact, powerful bushes that do not lie to the ground under the weight of ripening berries.
This requires the use of a special plant formation technology. As soon as the annual shoots grow to a length of 50-60 centimeters, 7 to 10 centimeters of their tops are removed. This stimulates the development of axillary buds, from which by the end of August many lateral branches of one meter or more in length are formed.
After this, in early spring, before the plants wake up, these branches are cut off so that 3-6 strong buds remain on each of them. The weakest side shoots are removed completely at the root. The second pruning reduces the overall load on the bush - there are fewer berries, but their quality improves and their weight increases.
Traditionally, black raspberries are grown on a trellis.. As a rule, it is installed the next year after planting the seedlings in a permanent place. On both sides of the row, columns with a diameter of 10-15 centimeters and a height of at least two meters are buried every 8-10 meters. Next, a wire is fixed to them: the first at a height of 60-70 centimeters, the second another 60-70 higher. For greater stability, you can attach a third wire 50-60 centimeters above the top one. In spring, raspberry shoots are shortened to 1.4-1.5 meters and then tied to a stretched trellis.
The most common reason for a drop in black raspberry yields is the thickening of plantings. To prevent this from happening, every autumn, at the end of the fruiting period, biennial shoots must be cut out and burned.
Before the onset of cold weather, the young stems, which were attached to the wire trellis in the summer, need to be bent and pinned to the ground. It is also advisable to insulate them with spruce branches, hay or other loose materials.
Caring for black raspberries in the garden
Black raspberries are highly sensitive to moisture deficiency in the soil, so during hot periods the plantings are regularly watered. Prolonged drying out of the soil in the garden bed, especially at the beginning of berry ripening, not only leads to their crushing, but also deteriorates the quality of replacement shoots, which negatively affects plant yields in the next season.
In a normal summer, black raspberry plantings are watered three to five times with an interval of 14-21 days: the first watering is carried out before flowering, the second - at the beginning of the formation of the ovary, the third and fourth - during mass fruiting. The bushes are irrigated for the last time before the onset of stable cold weather.
To better retain moisture, cover the soil under the raspberry bushes with sawdust, peat, chopped straw, weeded weeds, and rotted manure in a layer of 10 to 12 centimeters.
Raspberries are very responsive to organic and mineral fertilizers. Organic matter (humus, old manure) is added under the shovel once every two years at the rate of 5-6 kilograms per square meter of plot. Mineral fertilizers are applied in liquid form together with irrigation - 10-15 grams of urea, 35 grams of superphosphate and a glass of wood ash are added to 10 liters of water. For an adult bush, use one to two buckets of solution, depending on its size.
It should be kept in mind that raspberries do not tolerate chlorine, so it is advisable to use ash rather than potassium chloride to feed them.
Instead of mineral water, you can fertilize berry plantings with an infusion of chicken manure or mullein. In the first case, a bucket of slurry is diluted with 6-7 buckets of water, and 16-18 buckets of clean water are added to a bucket of chicken infusion. If desired, you can add 50-60 grams of superphosphate and a liter jar of ash to the resulting solution.
Each adult raspberry bush is given 8-10 liters of this fertilizer, after which at least four to five buckets of clean water are poured under each plant.
To increase productivity, this crop is also fed by leaves.. To do this, every two weeks in dry, windless weather, in the morning, the plants are sprayed with a solution of boric acid (10 grams per liter of water) or urea (10-15 grams per 10 liters of water). In this case, it is better to alternate treatments with such solutions.
With such careful care, Cumberland black raspberries will delight you with rich harvests for 10-14 years. Then the plantings will have to be moved to a new location.
By the way, this type of raspberry propagates very easily, and you can use whole raspberries for this!
I offer you to watch a short video about this unusual culture.
