Spring care for blackberries and features of pruning a bush
Without proper attention, vigorous blackberry bushes over time quickly turn the site into impassable jungle, moreover, one can only dream of a tasty and healthy harvest of black berries. To control the development and fruiting of the shrub, it is necessary to carry out a number of measures annually. One of the most important things to do is tending and pruning the brambles in spring. What needs to be done with the onset of warm spring days and how to properly form a bush, we will talk about this today.
In general, all spring work with blackberries, regardless of their variety, can be divided into stages that are carried out sequentially:
- removal of the shelter;
- trimming;
- top dressing;
- preventive treatment.
Separately, it should be said about watering the shrub: at the beginning of spring, when the soil is still full of moisture from melted snow, the blackberry does not need it, but it is necessary to loosen the ground under the bush after completing all the above measures in order to provide air access to the roots and prevent the rapid evaporation of liquid.
In the future, especially in the absence of spring rains, the blackberries need to be regularly and abundantly moistened (at least 2 buckets of water under the bush).
Opening the bushes
First of all, as soon as the snow melts and stable positive values are established on the street, the blackberry must be freed from the winter shelter. If the material, especially non-woven material, is not removed in time, condensation will collect under it, which can lead to the onset and development of putrefactive diseases.
Cut the blackberry
TO pruning the shrub must be started before the buds open on it. To give the blackberry a compact shape, making it easier to care for it, as well as to get a bountiful harvest, you need to cut the bush in this way:
- completely remove all dry, diseased, broken and weak branches as low as possible - they will not be of any use;
- on adult bushes, also completely cut off those shoots that bore fruit last year - they have already completed their work and will not give berries this year;
- cut off the top on the central stems;
- shorten young branches growing from the roots;
- if the bush is too dense, the young growth should be thinned out.
The timing of spring pruning depends on the region where the blackberry is grown. In the south, it can be carried out as early as March, in the central regions it is better to wait until April, and in the North, until the end of May.
We make top dressing
In the spring, when active growth begins, blackberries need nitrogen fertilizers. To help her build up the aerial part, after pruning, it is necessary to bring under the bush saltpeter at the rate of 20 g for each meter of the trunk circle. When the ovary begins to form on the shoots, it is worth adding potassium-phosphorus fertilizers to improve the quality of fruiting.
You can start feeding blackberries as early as May.
We carry out preventive treatment
To protect shrubs from diseases and pests, the final measure should be spraying the trimmed bushes with drugs aimed at preventing problems. One of the most famous broad-spectrum agents is malofos.For the purpose of prevention, treatment with Aktellik is also suitable. If diseases or insects are already mastering among the branches, drugs of narrowly targeted action will be needed.