Features of growing varieties of blackberries Black Satin

Description of the variety

The Black Satin variety is famous for its fast-growing bushes and dessert-flavored berries. Ornamental bushes can serve as an excellent decoration of the site: young shoots without thorns are green in color, and as they grow, they become tough dark brown, they look very elegantly dense enough, collected in three bright green leaves. Delicate, slightly purple flowers appear in late May or even June, by the end of flowering they turn just white. For a day, the shoots of this variety grow up to 7 cm, an adult bush can reach 5-7 m, and up to one and a half meters, the branches grow vertically, and then they are directed horizontally, like creeping plants.

Fruiting begins in the second year, an adult bush of this variety yields a yield of 20 kg with good care. The berries are slightly elongated, ripening, acquire a black color and glossy shine, they are collected in a brush of 10-15 pieces. Their average weight is 4 g, and on the tops of the branches there are fruits even 7 or even 10 g.

Berries of the Black Satin variety are not only tasty, but very useful - sugar, vitamins and microelements form a very favorable ratio for human health. They have a beneficial effect on blood composition, improve general condition and strengthen immunity. Vitamin C alone contains 4 times more than oranges. It is most useful to use them fresh, but they are suitable for preparing and preparing delicious desserts. The calorie content of fresh berries is half that of frozen ones - during processing, be it freezing or cooking, more carbohydrates are formed in them.

Pros and cons

The variety "Black Satin" is becoming more and more popular every year. This is easily explained by the decorativeness of the bush and the exquisite taste of berries. If you allow it to bear fruit as you want, then the berries will appear in the second year after planting, and the maximum yield will begin from the 3rd or 4th year.

All descriptions focus on the absence of root growth, that is, the bush does not have to be constantly thinned out, to deal with thickening, which greatly facilitates caring for it. Common diseases of blackberries bypass this variety, you should only be afraid of gray rot.

But with so many advantages, there are also disadvantages. The disadvantage of this variety is the ripening of the crop extended over time. On one branch, even in one cluster, there may be unripe, almost completely green fruits and opening flowers next to ripe black berries. And the berries, which are very juicy at the time of ripeness, must be picked immediately, otherwise the plant is threatened with rot, and overripe berries will lose their taste and some of the useful qualities. Such a long, extended ripening of the fruit makes this variety inconvenient for industrial cultivation. But the same disadvantage of the variety turns out to be a boon for a family living in the country - you can eat fresh berries every 2-3 days from mid-June to the end of September, which are not in vain called the "periodic table".Moreover, the berries can be stored without processing for just a couple of days.

A really serious drawback of an excellent variety in all respects is the poor winter hardiness of the bushes. They must be covered for the winter, because it is not so much the roots that can freeze out, but the aerial part of the bush. Such a nuance of caring for a blackberry must be borne in mind.

Landing technology

Blackberries grow well in open sunny areas, it is advisable to choose ones that are protected from strong cold winds. In the shade, it will grow slower, bear fruit worse, and the berries will lose most of their sweetness. She does not like stagnant water, saline and limestone soil. It is better to plant it at a certain elevation, nutritious chernozems are perfect, but you can simply fertilize the loam, and it is advisable to mix clean sand with a denser soil.

Early spring is perfect for planting this variety, until the buds have blossomed. Then the summer residents of the middle lane and more northern regions plant it. In the south, it can be planted in the fall, the last weeks of September are suitable for this, but it will be better to cover the plant for the winter. Blackberries can be transplanted before flowering or after harvest; they tolerate this procedure well.

Seedlings for planting must be carefully examined, choose completely whole, without damage.

It is advisable to prepare poor soil in advance - to clear the area, remove all plant residues, including roots, dig it up on a shovel bayonet, add humus (up to 10 kg), you can add superphosphate and potassium sulfate. If the soil is fertile enough, then it is better to plant a bush in it, and leave the top dressing for the second year of growth, otherwise the young plant will rush to grow and may even bloom in the first year, which will greatly weaken it.

A hole is dug with a width and depth of at least 40 cm. If there are several bushes, then it is better to leave from one and a half to two and a half meters between them. In industrial cultivation, blackberries are planted in rows, between which they leave 2 m, and between the bushes in a row - 1.5 m. Some gardeners apply fertilizers when planting, mixing them with the ground, and cover the roots with it from above after the layer of earth. The roots should not come into contact with fertilizers to avoid scalding.

After planting, the earth is tamped and watered abundantly so that the voids disappear, and the roots are in close contact with the soil. The root collar should rise above the ground. Then the ground around the seedling is mulched with peat, compost, hay, and the shoots are pruned, leaving no more than four healthy, fully formed buds.

Care features

Since the blackberry shoots of this variety grow very long, they are usually fixed on trellises - tied or braided on wire levels. Changing the position of the branches is a feature of caring for blackberries.

The growing branches are fixed on supports, and for the convenience of further care, the non-fruiting shoots are directed in the other direction, fixed separately so that they do not interfere with the harvest later. And in the fall, after harvesting, in preparation for winter, the branches from which the crop was harvested are completely removed. Better to burn them. New shoots are shortened by a quarter of their length, tied in bunches and carefully tilted to the ground so that they can completely hide under the snow.

The main care of the Black Satin bushes is watering, loosening, fertilizing, pruning, weed, pest and disease control. You need to remove weeds constantly, loosen the ground to a depth of 7 cm, preferably more often, especially around young bushes. It is necessary to water so that the roots are saturated with moisture, especially during the ripening of the berries of this variety, but stagnation of water should not be allowed. Feeding is usually advised once every couple of years with a solution of slurry (diluted with four parts of water) or bird droppings (diluted with ten parts of water).

The berries must be picked as they ripen; ripe berries must not be allowed to remain on the branches, this can provoke the development of rot.For the prevention of diseases, experts advise the plant to sometimes spray with an infusion of horsetail.

Before winter, especially if it may have little snow, shoots cut off and tied by buds can be covered with straw, leaves or coniferous branches to protect them from frost. Sometimes a non-woven fabric is used - you need to be careful not to deprive the plant of air movement so that it does not heat up.

Blackberries are propagated by cuttings or by dividing the bush. Most often, they also add a flexible shoot, it takes root, then it is cut off from the mother plant, transplanted to the right place.

Video "Review of the Black Satin variety"

This video will introduce you to the Black Satin variety, as well as the peculiarities of caring for it.