Blackberries are a fairly rare inhabitant of local gardens; it is much more common to find bushes with traditional berries: raspberries, currants and other analogues. This is primarily due to the fact that blackberries have a reputation as a very demanding plant to care for, not resistant to severe frosts and, moreover, having thorns. It is difficult to argue about the last statement, because There really are thorns. But they do not create as many problems during harvesting as those listed by those who have never grown blackberries; moreover, completely thornless varieties have recently been bred, which are called remontant. This article will talk about how to grow blackberries.

In terms of demandingness, this statement is an absolute myth. Blackberries are no different from their closest relative, raspberries. Before wintering, it, of course, requires some care, but this can be said about any garden plant.

But the fact that blackberries not only please the taste buds, bring a bountiful harvest and with it significant benefits to the body, but also look very attractive both during the flowering period and during the ripening period of the berries is undeniable.

Blackberry photo

Therefore, both beginners and experienced gardeners should definitely get to know blackberries better.

Garden blackberry

• Blackberry is perennial shrub, more precisely a subshrub, from half a meter to 3 meters high. Its shoots can be arched, erect or creeping. The vast majority of shoots are covered with thorns, but at the same time they bloom very beautifully. It can be white, lilac and purple flowers, collected in inflorescences.
• Almost all varieties are self-fertile, i.e. The bush feels great as a single variety. Although when cross pollination The quality of the berries not only does not deteriorate, but on the contrary, new interesting facets are revealed, and the number of berries even increases.
• Blackberry fruits look very attractive, especially large ones. They are a complex drupe of black, black-red and black and bluish shades.

• To please with fruits, blackberries must go through a fairly long growing season (for example, compared to raspberries). Most varieties bloom by mid-July and bear fruit by late summer.

Origin of the garden blackberry

• Blackberries, as already mentioned, are a direct relative of raspberries; more precisely, they are a subgenus of raspberries, which, in turn, belongs to the Rosaceae family.
• IN wildlife it can be found in Europe, Asia and North America. As a cultural garden plant it began to take root in the USA in the 19th century, and since the 30s of the last century it has gained unprecedented popularity. Everyone suddenly wanted to see truly pristine blackberry thickets in their garden and feel the taste and aroma of its fruits. By the way, a ripe blackberry weighs on average as much as 7 grams.
• It was in the first half of the 20th century that the active breeding of new varieties of this berry began. Most of them were bred by the Americans and British, including the aforementioned remontant varieties (without thorns) that appeared in the early 2000s.

• But there are also those bred in our strip, for example, very popular variety Abundant, which owes its birth to the famous Michurin.

All types of blackberries and their hybrids can be combined into three groups:

• erect(erect) - the most unpretentious and most frost-resistant;
• curly- can create real thickets on the site;
• semi-creeping- like snakes crawling along the ground or any proposed support.

Which variety of garden blackberry to choose?

Among so many species and varieties (only 300 of them were bred in Europe), it is very difficult to make a final choice, especially if blackberries have not grown in the garden before. It is most logical to pay attention to several of the most popular, and therefore easy to care for and well-fruiting varieties.

• Variety Agawam. One of the oldest, bred more than a century ago. It is a tall, powerful bush with erect shoots with many thorns (they are even on the leaves). It will delight you with beautiful white inflorescences on annual shoots, which at the end of August will turn into fairly large black berries with a pleasant sweetish (but not cloying) taste. The main advantage of Agavam is its good frost resistance. Most often, the bush tolerates winter normally even without shelter. May be slightly damaged at -25 degrees, but generally withstands temperatures up to -42.
• Variety Darrow can also boast of resistance to frost. The bush is slightly smaller than that of Agavam, but quite powerful and erect. The fruits are medium in size, appear quite early, but take a long time to ripen.
• Variety Abundant grows on a strong, large bush with creeping shoots. Therefore, it grows only on trellises. The bright green shoots, at first glance thin and delicate, have thin, slightly curved thorns. In general, Izobilnaya looks very attractive, thanks to its good branching and purple-white flowers. Large berries appear on the bush in large quantities in August, have an oblong shape and a pleasant sweet and sour taste. This variety of blackberry requires mandatory shelter for the winter.
• Just like Izobilnaya, the variety is afraid of frost Black Beauty. Distinctive feature This three-meter bush with flexible shoots - early fruiting is enough. The berries appear on it very beautiful and large (from 12 to 20 grams).
• Variety Thorne fries can grow on a bush with long semi-creeping dark green shoots, the main advantage of which is the absence of thorns. The flowers on such a bush can be white or lilac, large berries conical shape appear in large numbers at the end of August. Like any remontant variety, Thornfree is afraid of frost and requires proper shelter.

• Amara- This is perhaps the most popular of the thornless varieties. Maybe because he was the first. Of course, this bush needs to be prepared for winter, but what an amazing and abundant harvest it produces (berries weighing 15 grams, with a bright taste) is worth all the trouble.

Blackberry planting and care

Place to plant blackberries

Pledge good harvest garden blackberry- it's not only right choice varieties, but also competent preparation for planting.

• Garden blackberries are planted in spring (April-May). This is its main difference from the vast majority of berry bushes. Although many gardeners claim that frost-resistant varieties are better established during autumn planting.
• What should the blackberry habitat be like? First of all, as little windy as possible, otherwise it threatens not only injury to flowers and berries, but also poor pollination, after which there is a low probability of a good harvest.
• Considering the poor winter hardiness of most varieties, a planting site should be chosen where it would be easy to cover the blackberries. It requires a lot of light, so the space along the fence will be the most optimal for planting this shrub. It is quite quiet, warm here, there is no interference in the form of other plants, and if necessary, the fence can be used as a trellis by tying a plant either directly to it or to a mesh stretched over it.

Soil for planting blackberries

• Blackberries are quite unpretentious to the soil, the main thing is that it is not too heavy. Although, certain conditions for it correct landing There is.
• If we are talking about autumn planting, then before planting blackberries, the place of its future habitat must be covered with a layer of organic fertilizer (at least 15 cm).

• When planting in spring, it is recommended to thoroughly loosen the soil by 50 cm, because Blackberry roots lie quite deep. Add compost or manure (5 kg), 50 grams to the hole potash fertilizers and 100-150 grams of phosphate.

How to plant blackberries

• The distance between the holes depends on the type of garden blackberry. In any case, it should be sufficient if the variety has thorns, otherwise harvesting will create additional difficulties.
• For upright varieties, the distance between pits should be 80-100 cm, and between rows - 180-200 cm.
• The planting of creeping blackberries is influenced by the characteristics of the variety. It is better to learn about them from professionals working in the nursery, where it is recommended to purchase sprouts. The average distance for creeping varieties is 250 cm both between pits and between rows.
• Before planting seedlings, you need to carefully inspect for damaged pagons and remove them as necessary. It is best to let the plant stand in water for 12 hours before planting. If you do this, you should not water the blackberries immediately after planting, because... it tolerates drought much better than waterlogging. During flowering and fruiting, watering is necessary, but within reasonable limits. It is very important to ensure that water does not stagnate at the roots.

• And after landing young plant, just compact the soil around it well.

Blackberry care

Blackberry fertilizer

• After the first flowering begins, blackberries need to be fed, for example, with phosphates, but the main thing here is not to overdo it, otherwise the plant may get sick. It is much more important to constantly remove weeds, weed and loosen the soil, moistening it moderately.
• For all subsequent years of the bush’s life, it needs to be fed once a year, preferably with manure, peat or ash. Several times over summer season The blackberry bush should be fed with bird droppings.

Blackberry pruning

• In the first year after planting, blackberries are unlikely to produce a harvest. But this fact does not exclude the necessary measures. For example, in the summer, it is better to tie a shoot of any variety, even an upright one, to a horizontal trellis, and this should be done with all the shoots in the same direction. On next year the direction of gartering new shoots should be the opposite. This will contribute correct formation bush.

Blackberry pruning consists of:

• removing diseased, frozen, pest-affected or simply unsuccessfully growing stems in autumn or early spring;
• formation of young stems in early summer;
• pinching shoots in June-August;
• the formation of stems that bear fruit in the fall, after harvesting.

• When the height of the shoot reaches at least 60 cm, you can significantly increase the fruiting area by cutting off 3 to 5 cm from the top in early June. When a height of 60 cm is reached side shoots, they need to be shortened to 40 cm. This procedure, called pinching (pinching), promotes branching very well; a real mini-tree can form on the plant, from which flowers will appear the next year. Next year in the summer the procedure should be repeated, leaving 10-12 buds on the branches. For upright blackberry bushes, pinning is simply necessary.
• Every year in the spring, young bushes of any blackberry variety should be subjected to formative pruning, i.e. those shoots that were pruned in the summer must be shortened, leaving 2-3 buds.
• For better fruiting of already well-established, tall bushes and their formation, in the spring I do the pruning as follows: 5-7 of the strongest shoots are cut at a height of 2-2.5 meters and tied in one direction. Young shoots that appear during the summer are directed in the other direction.

• Many knowledgeable gardeners It is recommended to proceed according to the following scheme. In the spring, one-year and two-year-old shoots need to be cut to one level, everything else should be removed almost completely. Harvest from two-year-old trees and also prune them thoroughly.
• For good fruiting and preservation in the cold remontant varieties, in the fall they are cut off almost at the root.

Growing blackberries video

Blackberry shelter for the winter

• Many people cover blackberry bushes with something like greenhouses already with the onset of the first cold weather, thereby extending the fruiting period. But the fertility of garden blackberries is one of the highest; from one bush you can get an average of 10 kg of berries.
• But, as has been said more than once, blackberries are plants that do not tolerate winter very well, with the exception of a few varieties. Therefore, its shelter must be approached carefully.

• The shoots should be removed from the trellises, carefully laid on the ground and covered with mulching material, this can be dry leaves, straw, or earth. And, of course, the first snow does this role perfectly.

How to propagate blackberries

Blackberries can be propagated in many ways: by seeds, cuttings, root suckers, shoot tips, and division.

• The seeds, of course, are most likely used to breed new varieties.
• Upright varieties reproduce well by root suckers.
• Creeping - at the tips of the shoots. The method is quite simple and effective. After fruiting, the ends of the shoots must be bent in an arched manner to the ground into pre-dug holes 20 cm deep. They must be pinned to the bottom and covered with well-moistened soil mixed with peat. In this case, the ends of the shoots are brought out 10 cm. Before wintering, these ends must be covered, and in April they must be dug up, carefully separated from the main shoots, and planted in the standard way.

Benefits of blackberries

• Blackberries are worth adding to the garden, if only because they are one of the healthiest berries. And although it contains quite a bit of the well-known vitamin C, it has a lot of iron and organic acids, so it is indispensable in the treatment of low hemoglobin.
• Blackberry decoctions have a very positive effect on gastrointestinal diseases, ulcers, bladder inflammation, menopause, kidney problems, and neurasthenic conditions.
• Its regular use helps to maintain good shape, because... this berry can help normalize metabolism, restore hormonal and water-salt balances (and these are the factors that often influence the appearance of excess weight).
• Blackberries are eaten in absolutely all possible forms. It makes literally everything - from juice to marmalade. Tea lovers claim that a drink made from blackberry leaves will give odds to the most exquisite Chinese tea.

6 pros in favor of blackberries

• Garden blackberries are second only to grapes in yield. Its direct relative, the raspberry, so beloved by all gardeners, loses out to it in this matter quite significantly.
• She has very good natural immunity to all sorts of diseases, temperature fluctuations, and fungi. Amazingly, all kinds of pests are absolutely not interested in blackberries.
• Blackberries are not afraid of drought, so they do not require regular abundant watering, which so “ties” the owners to the plots in the summer.
• The plant is not picky about the composition of the soil.
• Blackberries are not afraid of spring and autumn frosts. The first - because it blooms late, the second - because it still continues to bear fruit.
• Blackberries are very healthy, large, easy to transport and store, and are endowed with a real bouquet of taste sensations.

Against the background of all of the above, certain subtleties of caring for garden blackberries seem insignificant, because this plant belongs to the category of those that fully compensate for the efforts spent on them. With proper care, a blackberry bush can live in one place for at least 15 years.

Wild blackberries grow in forests, along the edges of swamps, where there is not enough sun, where there is no drainage, and the soils can be acidic. And the residents of the surrounding settlements in the second half of July, when the blackberries ripen, they rush to pick the sour, sometimes small, but so healthy berries, without fear of getting hurt on the sharp thorns. Not so long ago we began cultivating this plant at our dachas, where it grows and bears fruit in completely different conditions. We feed it, water it, cover it for the winter, and it tries to ripen to our delight - the berries of garden varietal blackberries are larger, richer in taste, the harvest is larger, and the fruiting period is longer.

Blackberries have been known to us for a long time, but summer residents began growing them en masse on their plots a couple of decades ago. Moreover, in our country it is distributed mainly among private farms, and is very rarely grown on small farms. In Europe (especially in Poland and the UK), farmers boldly began growing vitamin berries for commercial purposes, but they cannot keep up with the world leaders in production - Mexico, Canada and the USA. By the way, it is from Mexico that this delicate berry comes to Europe.

Blackberries are biennial crops - in the first year of life, their shoots grow, and fruit buds are just being laid; in the second year of life, flowers appear, then fruits. After this, the fruit-bearing shoots die off, which is why they are cut out at the root in the fall. In parallel with the fruiting shoots, replacement shoots grow, on which fruit buds are laid. The bush is normalized from these new shoots, removing the excess ones, leaving the strongest ones, which will produce next year's harvest. Thus, the owner can plan the development of the bush and the harvest.

But there is also remontant blackberry, which is cultivated as an annual crop. It forms fruits on the shoots of the first year, after which in the fall all the shoots are cut off, and the next year new ones grow, on which flowers will grow, and then fruits. You don’t have to cut the shoots after fruiting, then next year there is a reason to expect two harvests.

Berry crops are usually planted in the spring in an open, well-lit place with prepared (generously fertilized) soil. After planting, the seedling is pruned, leaving shoots no more than 30 cm from the ground. Then they take care of it all season - water it, weed it, loosen the ground around it, save it from pests, and in the fall the shoots are carefully rolled up and placed under cover, and in winter they are also covered with more snow. Next year, these shoots will bear the first fruits, which are usually allowed to ripen - they will no longer weaken the bush. In a couple of years root system will develop, the bush will mature, fruiting will reach its maximum.

When to pick blackberries

The wild ancestor of our garden blackberries usually ripens in the second half of summer. But today scientists tell the crop when it is best for it to ripen. The varieties and hybrids created by breeders can be independently selected according to the time of fruit ripening. Just like a thorny bush, which causes many unpleasant moments for the gardener when caring for it, can be replaced with a thornless one, because a garden thornless blackberry has already been created.

There are early, mid-season and late varieties blackberries.

The fruits of early varieties ripen in June. There is an opinion that these are not the most delicious, usually sour and small berries, but this is not entirely true. For example, from the beginning of June you can pick large cone-shaped berries of the Columbia Star variety. Its thornless creeping shoots are grown on trellises. This variety is undemanding to growing conditions and care, and produces a rich harvest of aromatic, sweet and sour berries. The very famous variety "Natchez" has its first ripe berries gives in June, and the last ones in August. This thornless bush produces powerful, upright shoots, and its large berries are distinguished by their sweetness.

“Thornfree”, “Karaka Black”, “Loch Tay” - all this early varieties crops resistant to traditional diseases. The only thing you can be afraid of when growing early blackberries is spring frosts; if they occur at the beginning of flowering, the harvest will be spoiled.

Most varieties of blackberries have extended fruiting: flowers bloom at the same time, ovaries form, and berries ripen. All this can last from 4 to 6 weeks, for some even longer. Harvest should be done after 2-3 days; it is not advisable to leave the berries on the branches after they are fully ripe.

This feature is considered as an advantage if you want to constantly receive fresh berries or as a disadvantage if there is a desire to quickly collect the crop in order to process it.

July is the time of ripening for mid-season blackberry varieties. Among them there are prickly and thornless, large-fruited and not so large. Large-fruited “Black Satin” and “Loch Ness” are deservedly popular. “Laughton” is an old variety, its berries are not very large, but aromatic, with a sweet-sour dessert taste; they tolerate transportation well and are stored for several days without losing their qualities. "Laughton" usually gives an excellent harvest, blooms even when there is no threat of late frosts, and ripens under the bright warm sun.

The late blackberry harvest ripens in July–August, sometimes in September, like Blackberry. The most famous varieties are: “Chester Thornless”, “Navajo”, “Texas”, “Apache”. It’s good to get a harvest of delicious vitamin berries at the end of summer, when all the others have long been ripe, eaten and forgotten. But with late ripening, there is always a danger of losing part of the harvest with the arrival of cold weather. The fact is that even those blackberries, which the creators declared frost-resistant, will freeze in our winters without shelter. This means that in the fall, before the cold weather arrives, you need to have time to trim and cover the shoots for the winter, even if not all the berries are ripe.

There is also a remontant blackberry, which is capable of producing a harvest not only on the shoots of the first year, but can produce two crops: one on the shoots of the second year (if they are not pruned), and the other on new shoots. Then the first harvest will occur at the beginning of summer, like raspberries, and the second can go into autumn (it may become a problem for it to ripen before frost). There are hybrids of raspberries and blackberries (so-called raspberry varieties) that are so not afraid of cold weather that they can ripen almost in frost. Remontant varieties are not like that. In protected ground conditions they give two wonderful harvest: May – June and September. But in open ground Not all climatic conditions may allow this.

There are so many varieties and hybrids of blackberries that every gardener can choose them not only by the size and taste of the berries, but even by the timing of fruiting.

Video “How to get a record blackberry harvest”

From this video you will learn what kind of blackberry you need to plant on your site and how to care for it in order to get record harvests berries from June to September.

- Two years ago I purchased blackberry seedlings. As I was assured, this is an upright variety that grows as a bush. I planted the plant, it took root, but still does not bear fruit, although last year it even bloomed. Explain why blackberries don’t bear fruit?

Valentina Yavlenskikh.

Galina Ivanovna Salova, foreman of the nursery of the Altai Flowers agricultural company:

Blackberry shoots have a two-year development cycle: in the first year they grow, lay buds, and bear fruit in the second year. It is unpretentious and grows on a wide variety of soils. All blackberries are self-pollinating plants. Therefore, after flowering, berries should appear on your bush. Possible reason The reason why blackberries do not bear fruit is because they are oversaturated with bait. Since the main factor for the fruiting of self-pollinating plants is pollinators - bees, you should attract them to your bush. When the blackberries begin to bloom, mix water with honey and sprinkle on the bush. This will attract their attention, and according to all the laws of biology, your plant should bear fruit.

There are many blackberry lovers and they have a question: when do blackberries bear fruit (why don’t they bear fruit)? This crop has won such love thanks to its fruits, which are full of various vitamins. Also, during the period when blackberries bloom, they can decorate any garden. There is a unique blackberry smell in the garden. And the fruits have unsurpassed taste.

This berry crop bears fruit on the shoots of previous years. There are exceptions to remontant varieties, which produce crops twice in one year. Fruiting of several shoots can occur over many years.

Shoots that have already produced a harvest next year will also continue to bear fruit, only the weight and quality of the berries will be significantly lower.

Planting blackberries

In most cases, this berry crop is planted at the end of spring (May), because during this period the soil warms up. Garden blackberries prefer to grow in well-drained and breathable soil. Before planting, the land must be prepared. Therefore, still in autumn period, the area where the plant will then be planted must be cleared of weeds and various pests. For good fruiting, the soil must be filled organic fertilizers. The fertilizer can be regular manure, compost or humus.

Important: the soil must be fertilized moderately, otherwise due to irrational use minerals, the blackberries will begin to turn green rapidly, which will negatively affect fruiting.

For planting blackberries, it is best to use annual seedlings that have a well-developed root system. The size of the hole where the seedling will be placed depends on the variety. The distance between blackberry bushes also depends on this factor. The seedling is placed in a dug hole, and its roots are straightened in different directions. Next, the seedling is covered with fertilized soil. After filling the soil, it is necessary to leave a hole for future watering of the plant. Once the seedlings have been planted, they are pruned at a height of 20 centimeters. Fruit branches are completely removed.

Caring for this crop is not so difficult, but it is still necessary to take into account several nuances. Two-year-old shoots bear fruit, after which they stop doing so. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of them by cutting them out. To collect great harvest Blackberries need to be trimmed. This procedure includes shortening the stems, which are left to bear fruit, and eliminating damaged shoots. At the beginning summer period(June) it is necessary to form shoots that grow back. Seven pieces are left on one bush, while eliminating underdeveloped shoots. As soon as the shoots reach ten centimeters in height, they need to be cut off.

The most important procedure for increasing the yield is eliminating the top of the shoot. This event helps the lateral buds awaken and form branches. Thanks to this, the fruiting zones increase. In the very first year, when the plant reaches 130 centimeters in height, the top of the shoot is cut off by ten or twelve centimeters. How many centimeters should side shoots be cut? The growth of side shoots is reduced by 45 centimeters. Thus, the bush does not grow and remains compact, which leads to increased fruiting.

Almost all creeping blackberry varieties have a fruiting zone in the middle part of the stem. Therefore, the top of these varieties can be cut off calmly; you do not risk reducing the yield. If you eliminate half the stem, each individual berry will become larger in size.

During the period when the berries begin to ripen, the plant especially needs watering. It is necessary to add to the soil mineral fertilizers. The amount of substances depends on the fertility of the soil cover. Watering is also necessary when blackberries bloom.

The blackberry harvest is not harvested immediately, but gradually, as the fruits ripen. This agricultural crop has advantages over raspberries: blackberries are not deformable, they are more transportable and have a longer shelf life at zero temperature.

Once you have harvested the fruit, loosen between the rows of blackberry bushes to a depth of ten centimeters. Also don't forget about watering.

Blackberry varieties that are not resistant to winter frosts must be covered at this time of year. When the first frosts begin in the fall, the plant is removed from the supports (trellises), after which it is tied into bunches and covered with straw or earth.

In one area, blackberries can grow and bear fruit for fifteen years or even more.

This plant has excellent resistance to various pests and diseases.

Blackberries begin to bear fruit in the second year after planting, then regularly. In the first year, the plant does not produce any fruit at all.

It may be that this crop produces a small harvest of berries or none at all. What are the reasons for such modest fruiting and why does this happen? Perhaps the reason lies in the blackberry variety. The variety is not fruit-bearing. Not all blackberry varieties produce a huge harvest. Many varieties have large berries, but there are not many of them. The reason for low fruiting may be a simple non-compliance with the technique of cultivating a given crop (agricultural technology). It is important to remember that this berry crop needs shelter. Shoots that should bear fruit next season may simply freeze out. Or the flower buds, which have virtually no frost resistance, may freeze.

It may be that the gardener makes a mistake. The mistake is that he can prune new shoots in the spring, that is, the vine that should bear fruit is eliminated. Due to this error, a significant reduction in yield occurs. It is necessary to prune in the autumn those shoots that are already dying and will not bear fruit in the future.

An important point: the vine may be green, but it does not bear fruit, since it does not have flower buds. This green vine will prevent other shoots from producing fruit.

Another reason for the reduction in blackberry yield is a violation of the watering schedule. When the berries are filling, watering is definitely necessary. Otherwise, the fruits will become dry and shrink in size. When you water, be careful not to splash water on the berries as they ripen.

Blackberry clusters should not touch the ground. If these conditions are not met, the plant is affected by gray rot, which also leads to a reduction in yield.

Shoots that bear fruit must be tied to trellises. The height of such a support should be approximately two meters. In many ways, the cultivation technique for this crop is similar to that of raspberries. The plant must be planted on a piece of land that is well lit by sunlight, but a little shade will also be favorable for blackberries.

Blackberries should be planted in rows. If the blackberry variety you are planting is thorny, then the distance between the bushes of this berry culture should be three meters. If the variety does not have thorns, then this distance is halved and amounts to one and a half meters. Before planting, it is best to add several buckets of manure or humus and half a glass of ash to the hole.

Bottom line

Blackberries can be grown in southern and northern regions. In the southern regions, the plant should be planted in the autumn, in the northern regions (in the Urals, Ufa, and so on) planting should occur in the spring.

We wish you success in growing this wonderful berry crop!

Due to its unique flavor, blackberries are less popular than their closest relative, raspberries, but their beneficial composition is in many ways superior to many other fruits. Therefore, every summer resident tries to plant at least a couple of bushes of this plant on his plot. healthy berries. As a rule, blackberries bear fruit well, but it also happens that the plant either stops producing fruit or does not bear fruit at all. What is the reason?

Variety matters

As they say experienced summer residents, yield directly depends on the crop variety. For example, mature plant, which has a multi-berry cluster, can produce fruits, the amount of which is calculated in kilograms.

A multi-berry cluster usually occurs in erect and semi-erect varieties. But creeping species are initially characterized as slightly fruit-bearing, but at the same time their berries are much larger.

They give a small harvest and hybrid varieties, however, they have excellent taste. Therefore, the summer resident should independently set priorities in this case.

Violation of agricultural technology

Not less often, a decrease in yield occurs due to violations of agricultural technology. When caring for blackberries, you should remember that the crop is afraid of frost. Therefore, if the bushes are not covered before the cold weather arrives, their shoots will simply freeze and, of course, simply will not be able to bear fruit next year.

Flower buds can also be damaged by frost. In the most advanced cases, even necrosis of the tissue around the kidney occurs.

Some gardeners make a grave mistake and do spring pruning or shorten new shoots. This is strictly prohibited, since such manipulations can lead to the plant simply not being able to produce a harvest as a result of the removal of the fruit-bearing vine. To prevent this from happening, you should remember that you only need to cut out old vines that have already produced fruit. As for the time frame, it is best to carry out manipulations exclusively in the fall, but this should be done necessarily and regularly, since such a vine will no longer bear fruit.

Maintaining water balance

You can unwittingly destroy a crop by violating the recommendations for watering the plant. If it is carried out irregularly and in insufficient quantities, the fruits will become small, dry and their number will be significantly reduced.

When watering, it is necessary to remember that moisture should not fall on the fruits, and the brushes where they grow should not touch the ground. If this happens, the berries may begin to mold and, naturally, there will be no talk of any harvest.

Also to ensure big harvest do not forget to feed the plant on time various types fertilizers depending on the season, type of crop and other factors.