Cumberland - raspberry with black berries. Advantages and disadvantages of the variety. Growing Raspberry

Black raspberries Cumberland is an exotic beauty, favorably distinguished by large dark purple berries against the habit of red raspberry varieties. This perennial half-shrub can grow about 20 years in one place. His seedlings are not easy to find on sale. For the unusually black color of raspberry Cumberland, reviews about which are almost always enthusiastic because of its unusual, are often confused with blackberries. The only difference is the size of the berries (in raspberries they are less) and their removal (for blackberries with a peduncle).

Blackberry Cumberland: description

Raspberries have an amazing aroma and sweet pleasant taste. The vitamins and nutrients available in her make health an invaluable benefit. On the bush, the fruits are kept for a long time and are well kept in both fresh and frozen form. Black raspberries Cumberland is an excellent base for compotes and jams. In order to enhance the taste and appearance of ready meals, it is often mixed with red berries.

Shrubs in shape - half-spread, with hanging arcuate shoots; Height - about 3 meters. Annual shoots are green with a bluish bloom; Two-year-old plants are characterized by a brown color with a purple bloom. Raspberry fruits are medium, round in shape. At the initial stage of maturation, they have a red color, which gradually darkens and becomes black at full maturity.

The Benefits of Raspberry Cumberland

Malina Cumberland, whose description is similar to other varieties of raspberries, is high-yielding and fruiting for 12-14 years. Then there is a decrease in yield, so old bushes have to be replaced by young seedlings. Characteristic features of this variety are later long flowering, good transportability, high yield. On each shoot of the bush with proper care can be observed about 10 brushes with 10-15 berries. If the number of shoots is more than ten, then the berry will be shallow. Pests do not cause such a raspberry variety, perhaps because of the black color of the berries.

The disadvantages of the variety include a strong thickening of bushes, an abundance of ossicles in fruits and a large number of thorns on shoots.

Black raspberries do not give root offspring, which is its important advantage, because it does not force gardeners to suffer from getting rid of young shoots.

Planting of black-berry raspberries

Planting raspberries Cumberland is recommended on gray forest soils or light loamy chernozem. The best time for planting is early spring, just after the snow melted. A place for a bush is better to choose solar and well protected from winds. It is not recommended to plant raspberry seedlings near the blackberry, after uprooting the raspberry raspberry, and after harvesting potatoes and tomatoes.

The distance between planting between bushes should be from 1.5 to 2 meters, the width of rows between rows is 2 meters (to avoid shading berries). Long shoots of raspberries it is desirable to fix on the trellis, consisting of three rows of wire (at a height of 0.7, 1.3 and 1.8 meters from the ground).

The depth of the pit for landing is approximately 30-40 cm with a diameter of half a meter. To enrich the planting soil with useful substances, 6-7 kg of peat bog compost (or humus), 150-200 grams of superphosphate, and 70-80 grams of potassium sulfate must be added to the pit . As an analogue of phosphate-potassium fertilizers, you can use sifted ash, which will require about 500 grams per pit. After planting, the plant should be watered abundantly (about 4 liters for each bush) and cover up the composted layer with 6-8 cm.

Since the Cumberland raspberries are quite flexible and tall, it is recommended that the stems be fastened to pre-installed trellises the next year after planting it. It is preferable to choose a fan garter method that provides convenience in harvesting.

Malina Cumberland: care

Black-berry raspberry blooms quite late, at the end of spring frosts; This feature of the plant causes the salvage of the fruits from freezing. There are a lot of flowers on the bush, they hang with brushes on almost all shoots. Cumberland raspberry is an excellent honey, therefore it is willingly pollinated by bees.

The garter of the shoots can not be used if they are shortened by 10 cm after reaching a height of half a meter. This operation will cause the formation of lateral shoots, which will give the plant a compactness.

Despite the unpretentiousness, raspberry Cumberland still needs care for the season, for which in full will repay a good tasty harvest.

Important Care Factors

Important factors in caring for black-berry raspberries are:

• Spring garter shoots the plant to the trellis.
• Pruning and removal of patients, dry and thin shoots.
• Moderation in watering and avoidance of stagnation of water during the period of ovary formation and fruit ripening.
• Top dressing infusion Mullein, mixed with superphosphate and ash (with an abundance of ovaries).
• Top dressing of the plant after shedding of flowers, during the period of pouring berries and after harvesting the first harvest.
• Preparation for the winter, consisting in the removal of shoots from the trellis and their bending to the ground. Bushes can not hide, because raspberry is a frost-resistant culture. It is enough to use special metal staples that reliably hold sprouts at the same distance.

Due to the difficulty of searching for seedlings of such an unusual plant, they can be grown on their own: seeds, green cuttings, the method of rooting shoots or horizontal layers.

Reproduction of chokeberry raspberries

Easy and uncomplicated way - rooted tops, which, usually, hang down to the ground due to long (up to 3 meters) shoots. The tops simply need to be ground by the earth (preferably in August) and compact; Then by September you can already enjoy subordinate roots and small shoots. They should be covered for winter, you can cover it with humus or peat; From the uterine plant, the newly formed shrub can be separated in spring, by planting it separately for growing or already in a permanent place.

More seedlings can be obtained using horizontal guidance. To do this, all shoots of the bush in early spring are required to cut to 15 cm, over the summer they will grow, and in August well-developed stems will be fixed in grooves. At the first appearance of accessory roots, the attached shoots should be sprinkled with earth, leaving leaves and apical buds. The next autumn from the entrenched layers will grow young shrubs, which can be separated from the mother plant and transplanted. It is advisable not to abuse this way of obtaining seedlings, because excessive exploitation of the uterine shrub will lead to its death.

Cuttings or seeds of Cumberland raspberry breeds rarely. Gardeners do not really welcome this method due to its laboriousness.

Formation of the bush of the black-berry raspberry

In order to obtain a good harvest and the convenience of harvesting it, the Cumberland raspberry variety needs to form the bush correctly, which should be started when shoots of growth of 50-70 cm are reached. They should be shortened by 7-10 cm. This will stop the growth of the bush and cause the growth and development of lateral shoots, Which in early spring, before the beginning of vegetation should be shortened to 3-6 kidneys (depending on the strength of the shoot). Along with this, it is required to remove weak shoots completely at the base.

Cumberland raspberry, like any plant, needs moisture, so it needs to ensure abundant watering before ripening berries (in June - month).

Trimming

The first pruning of the plant is made when the shoots of the current year reach a height of more than 2 meters. They should be shortened to a height not exceeding 180 cm (approximately in late June - early July). After pruning, the branches will begin branching along the entire length and the mass appearance of the lateral processes. And with pruning tops you can not be late. The early terms of its execution will leave lateral shoots a greater time reserve for growth and development.

The second pruning should be performed in early November (on the offensive of the plant rest period). The lateral processes should be shortened considerably - up to 20-50 cm. They will produce an excellent high-quality crop the next summer. In parallel with the pruning, it is required to cut (as close as possible to the base) the already harvested two-year-old shoots, leaving 8-10 thickest and thickest branches on the bush.

Top dressing

Cumberland raspberry, like any of the plants, needs a high-quality full-dress feeding.

The first time you should feed the plant after the flowers are shed. A bucket of mullein should be diluted with 8-10 buckets of water; Bird droppings are bred for more water (a bucket of fertilizer for 18-20 buckets of water). This should be added ash (a liter jar) and superphosphate (100 grams). For each bush, the consumption is 3 buckets of the resulting composition.

The second feeding is carried out in the same way when pouring berries, and the third one after harvesting the first crop.

In order to avoid melting of berries, do not dry the soil. Berries are harvested approximately every 1-2 days (as soon as they are completed), and each time their number increases.

Malina Cumberland, reviews of consumers and gardeners about which only positive, while ensuring the correct quality care will fully please the gardeners with a generous and tasty harvest for at least 14 years.