Blueberry Blyukrop: variety description, cultivation and care, photo

Blueberry is a resident of taiga glades and marshes. But modern agricultural technology allows many forest cultures to be successfully grown on private plots. Especially loved by the blueberry growers Blyukrop. The description of the variety, which we give with maximum detail, will spare the slightest doubt that this wonderful berry must be purchased and planted in your garden. Why should you grow blueberries, and why Blyukrop? About everything in order.

Range of growth

Going to have any plant on site, it's important to find out where it comes from. This helps to understand what features of care will require a new green pet. About the heroine of our article it will be more correct to say "American Blueberry Blyukrop."

The variety description necessarily indicates that its American breeders brought it out, and in industrial use it has been known since 1952. In the US, Blyukrop is the standard, it is actively grown in the whole of North America. And in nature, blueberries can be found in all regions, where it is not hot in summer and cold in winter.

In Russia, it is cultivated in all regions with a temperate climate, including the Moscow region, the Leningrad Region, the Far East, the Trans-Urals, and Western Siberia.

It should be noted that the bluecrop variety is often called simply American blueberries or American blueberries, because the fruits of these two closely related berry crops are very similar. But there are also significant differences in them, mainly concerning the yield and taste qualities. Therefore, when acquiring a seedling, make sure that it is blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the variety, more precisely its external characteristics, will help not make a mistake with the choice.

What does Blucrople look like?

All plants of the Golubik species are members of the Vereskov family and are deciduous shrubs. In spring, egg-shaped peaked leaves of saturated green tones appear on their branches. All summer even without berries bushes are very aesthetic. But they become especially beautiful in the autumn, when the green color of the foliage changes to red-crimson-orange-purple. That's what blueberry Blyukrope looks like.

The description of the variety, the photo of which shows its attractiveness better than words, we decided to start with the crown, so that those who want to plant the plant in question on the site, use its landscape raisings best. Blueberry Blyukrop, like other representatives of the species, is a long-liver and, with proper care, pleases with its beauty for up to 100 years. At the same time, the height of the lush, but compact bush, reaching 1.7-2.1 meters due to it, no longer increases.

It is very important for proper care to know what features of the root system Blueberry Blyukrop has. The description of the variety will be incomplete if you do not indicate that the roots of this berry are small, friable, located at a depth of no more than 40 cm from the surface of the earth. There are no napkins on them, so they get food from hyphae of special fungi, braiding their surface and penetrating inside. The roots of blueberries begin to grow with the swelling of the kidneys, stop it from about May and resume it again during the ripening period of the berries. As soon as the air temperature stably drops to +5, the roots fall asleep until the spring.

The flowers of blueberries outwardly resemble barrels without a lid or bells, in which the petals are almost not bent. Their color can be white or pink, and the length reaches 1 cm. Blueberries blossom in May, pollinated by insects.

Description of berries

No matter how beautiful the bush is, it is for the sake of delicious, fragrant and very useful berries that blueberry Blyukrop is cultivated. The description of the variety, whose photos of the fruit are tempted from the pages of gardening magazines, is inconceivable without telling us about the harvest that awaits all those who take care of their pet. This variety belongs to the mid-ripening, so the berries ripen to the last days of July. Harvesting is delayed until the end of August, as the ripening is uneven. In general, the bush gives 7-8, and sometimes more, a kilogram for a season, and the berries are large (up to 2 cm in diameter and up to 20 grams in weight), tight, with strong skin, do not crumple, do not choke or crack, and on twigs Can stay until winter.

Round, slightly flattened berries of dark blue, almost black. A blue tint is given to them by a peculiar raid, which gave the name to the species. They are collected in relatively large clusters, thanks to which Blueberry Blyukropus looks so appetizing. The description of the variety always foreshadows that the taste of berries will be sweet, with a peculiar sourness. However, some gardeners note that the berries they turned out to be only sour. This suggests that harvesting is started too early or the plants are grown without respecting the rules.

Selecting a place for landing

Some believe that it is not whimsical blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the variety, the cultivation of which has important features, will help to decide whether it is easy to grow it on the site or not. The first, with which every gardener, who is going to have a blueberry, should start - the right choice of place. It must be a sunny, windy corner, because in the shade this plant fructifies much less.

The second condition is soil moisture. Since the natural environment of the growth of blueberries are wetlands, you can understand that she loves moisture. Ideally, if it found a place where there is underground water, and they run at a depth of 45 to 60 cm. In this case, they will maintain the humidity necessary for blueberry. If the groundwater flows too close to the surface, they can create water stagnation, which is not good. First, the bush will begin to hurt, and then it may die. If you have such a site, before planting blueberries, you need to make a qualitative drainage. A little bit better, when the groundwater lies deeper than necessary. In this case, the plant will not die, but it will be necessary to watch the whole summer so that the humidity for it is sufficient.

There is a third, perhaps, the most important condition, without observance of which Blueberry Blyukrope will not grow. The description of the variety, the peculiarities of growing of which consist in following the above rules, indicates that this plant needs only strongly acidic (pH not more than 4) and light soils. In heavy loam, blueberries are unlikely to grow, on alkaline soils and even on neutral soils will begin to ache and eventually disappear. Even at pH 5-6 this plant does not have a beautiful appearance and very poorly fructifies. Therefore, if the soil on the plot has a normal acidity, it must be artificially lowered, and then planted blueberry.

Check the pH of the soil can be in the laboratory. An approximate picture allows you to get plants such as moss, sorrel, mint, buttercup, heather, which acidity likes. But if the area is dominated by wheatgrass, buckwheat, spurge, acidity for blueberry should be done by yourself. How? Enlarged by it help pereprevshie sawdust and sour peat, which must be added to the pit and mixed with the ground. Thus, the soil is also facilitated. Some gardeners are advised to reduce the pH with lemon, apple or acetic acid, and to facilitate the soil, adding sand and peat to it in a ratio of 3: 1.

Reproduction by cuttings and layers

Predominantly vegetative ways reproduce blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the variety, whose virtues are so numerous, certainly indicates that it is better and easier to breed blueberries with layers. To do this, it is necessary to tilt the twig to the surface of the earth (it is important that the substrate in this place consist of peat and necessarily sand), squeeze something and sprinkle the point of contact with the same substrate. Many gardeners additionally cover this structure with a film. If you do this in early spring, the brood will start rootlets by autumn, but you only need to separate it from the bush for the next spring.

The second method of reproduction of blueberries is cuttings. To do this, late autumn cut shoots, the bark on which already lignified. They are wrapped and stored in a cool place until spring. Approximately at the end of March, cuttings of length 20-25 cm are cut from them, placed in a box with a substrate of peat and necessarily sand, watered and kept on making sure that the soil was wet. The box is put in a greenhouse or simply pulled over it with a film. The roots of the petiole must form by the end of summer. Then they are transplanted to a permanent place of residence.

Reproduction by seeds

Not everyone knows that the blueberry Blyukrop also multiplies by seeds. The description of the variety (a tall beauty for sure will please many gardeners) sometimes offers this method, which, of course, is more laborious, but in the end it will be possible to obtain many saplings at once. How to grow blueberries from seeds? Sow them better for the winter, when it's already cold, but the frost has not yet begun. If you transfer the process to the spring, the seeds will have to be stratified in the refrigerator all winter.

Before sowing, prepare holes or grooves. Their bottom is tamped, acidic peat, sawdust, needles and sand, which should be 3 times more than other components, fall asleep there. From above put seeds, fill them with the same substrate for about 1 cm, watered. In the spring they must germinate. Further care consists in weeding and loosening the soil around the shoots, watering and fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. This is done so that seedlings quickly begin to build up their power. At the site of sowing young blueberries grow 2 years. For this period, gardeners can reject weak and least promising plants. The remaining for the third year are planted in the place chosen for them.

Care

If everything is done correctly, very little trouble will be delivered to blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the variety, the care of which requires some knowledge, places special emphasis on how to grow it. It has been noted above that blueberry requires acidic light soils and sufficient moisture. These are the most important components of success. If the soil does not have sufficient pH for the blueberry, you need to dig a hole about half a meter in diameter and about a meter in diameter for the planting of the plant, lay the walls with boards, film or sheets of sheet metal, fill the resulting structures with acid peat with sand. You can also use the rotten sawdust, needles, even the soil from the coniferous forest, but it is necessary to check its pH. We remind you that the indicator should be within 3-4. In the pits prepared in this way, blueberry Blyukrop is placed (although seedlings purchased in the nursery, at least cuttings or cuttings that have taken roots, even bushes grown from seeds).

Planting a plant, the ground around it is mulched with sawdust or needles, pouring a layer about 12 cm. This will help to achieve the desired humidity. With further watering, and especially when loosening the soil, it must not be forgotten that the root system of the bush is very close to the surface of the earth.

There is another way to create ground for the blueberry with the desired acidity. It is in addition to the land for a year or two before planting shrubbery powder (per cubic meter it needs 250 grams) or mineral fertilizers such as urea, nitroammophoska, ammonium nitrate. Important: you can not fertilize blueberries with organic.

The sun - this is another condition that must be respected, so as to give tasty fruit blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the North Tall Mountain variety contains an indication that the shade of the berries is tied much less, they mature later, and their taste is obtained with a fairly noticeable sourness.

Promotes increased yield of Blueberry Blyukrop and annual pruning. You need to spend it in late February - early March. Basically pruning is done prophylactic (the sick, damaged shoots are removed) and rejuvenating (old branches are removed at the ground level). Also pruning is carried out, as in any fruit tree or bush, in order to thin out the crown.

Summing up all the above, it can be noted that growing blueberry Blyukrop is not such an easy task, but tasty and healthy berries are worth trying.

Blueberry Blyukrop. Description of the variety. North tall variety

Some authors distinguish this variety, although this is not entirely true, since the northern tall one is a kind of blueberry, the main feature of which is the height of the plant. Some of its representatives can stretch to 4 meters, but on average they grow up to 2-2.2 meters. The native land of the species is Canada and the northern states of America. Here, each bush is capable of yielding up to 10 kg of berries, but in Russia the figure is much lower.

Sorts in this species are several dozen. The main criterion for their selection is the timing of fruiting (early ripening blueberries, mid-ripening, late-ripening) and the size of berries. Among the first popular varieties are Patriot, Liberty, Aurora, Bluetta. All of them ripen by the beginning of July. Among the medium-sized species are Chandler (the largest berries), Bluecrop, Bluejay, Duke, Hardyblue, Reka (a very productive variety) and many others. The berries begin to be harvested from the middle of July. To the late-ripening, who give a harvest in August, include Jersey, Elizabeth, Bluegold.

Blueberry Blyukrop. Description of the variety. The short beauty

There is a marshy (or dewdrop) and a dwarf blueberry. Swamp and swamp can also be attributed to stunted species, since the height of their bushes does not exceed 0.8-1 meters. They are attractive because they are able to grow on boggy soils and in mountainous terrain, as well as in partial shade, but their yield is low, only up to 2-4 kg of berries from the bush. The berries themselves are somewhat smaller than those of tall varieties, and there are more acidities in them. Russian breeders brought out such varieties of dovetail blueberry - Taiga beauty, Iksinskaya, Blue placer.

Low-boll blueberry according to the rules of growing and leaving practically does not differ from the tall one, only grows up to half a meter, less often - up to 1-1.2 meters. Therefore, it yields a little less, and the berries are smaller, but also very tasty and useful. Another difference is the less capriciousness of the short-bred blueberry. So, it is less demanding for the acidity of the soil and can grow well at pH 5-6, and if the soil is not light enough, this wonderful plant will also not be choosy. From one bush of a short-bred blueberry, only 3 kg of berries are harvested per season, but due to the fact that it can be planted on the site more densely, the average yield is the same as for taller species. Popular varieties: Northblue, North Country, Northland.

Indisputable advantages

To date, the market of seedlings and seeds offers a variety of blueberries, each of which has its own merits and demerits. Among all the variety is in particular demand Blueberry Blyukrop. Description of the variety, the characteristics of all its indicators are detailed in detail above. As you can see, this berry requires attention, but it is valuable due to high yield, excellent quality of berries, beautiful decorative look. Another useful feature for gardeners is its immunity to diseases of fruit crops and high frost resistance. Without shelter, the Blyukrop can safely withstand temperatures as low as -34 degrees Celsius if there is snow cover.

Very many gardeners and owners of household plots like blueberry Blyukrop. The description of the variety of people's reviews is fully confirmed. In particular, it is noted that it is unusually fruitful, only a lot of berries are obtained not immediately, but only for the 4-5th year after planting the seedlings. If you grow blueberries from seeds, the harvest will have to wait even longer. Another important advantage of the variety is its frost resistance, but if there is no severe snow in winter, some branches of the plant may suffer. As a lack of culture, some gardeners note its fastidiousness to the soil and generally to the place on the site.