High-yielding and frost-resistant variety of thornless blackberry Chester Thornless
Among gardeners, the thornless varieties of blackberries are especially popular, since not everyone is ready to sacrifice their own hands for a tasty harvest. One of the most sought-after varieties is Chester Thornless, an American hybrid derived from Thornfrey and Darrow.
Botanical characteristic
The description of the blackberry variety Chester Thornless should begin with the fact that he took rather tall flexible shoots from his parents, reaching up to 3 m in height. The bush grows large, semi-creeping flexible stems branch well and are colored light brown. Leaves that grow successively on the branches are dark green. Against their background, pinkish inflorescences blooming in early summer look very beautiful.
It is noteworthy that the variety is self-renewing: every two years after fruiting, the branches die off, and new ones form to replace them, thus prompting the gardener what is necessary trim.
Taste qualities
Chester Thornless is a late variety of blackberries, the harvest ripens at the end of summer (August). The berries are rather large, rounded, from 5 to 8 g each, painted blue-black and shining with a bright gloss. One adult bush gives almost 20 kg of sweet blackberries with a pleasant slight sourness.
The size of the berries can be different: both large and smaller specimens are present on one shoot.
Benefits of the variety
This studless hybrid gained its popularity thanks to the following positive qualities:
- high yield (late flowering excludes the slightest possibility of freezing of flower buds and inflorescences);
- resistance to drought and frost;
- good transportability due to dense berry pulp.
Of the shortcomings, it is worth noting the inability of blackberries to grow in shady areas, however, most crops also cannot boast of this. More bushes need hideouts, if they grow in the northern regions, where winter temperatures drop below 30 degrees below zero.
Growing features
To maintain the yield of the variety, Chester Thornless blackberries should only be planted in well-lit areas where moisture does not stagnate. It grows best on loam. Since the bushes are tall, you need to leave a free space of up to 2 m between them, otherwise, with a thickened planting, the berries are crushed, and it will be inconvenient to care for and harvest.
Tall semi-creeping shoots with a large amount of ovary need support. The best option is to grow blackberries on a trellis.
Pruning is also important: for abundant fruiting, it is enough to leave 5-6 shoots on the bush, the rest must be cut out. Also, every spring it is necessary to cut dry and broken branches, and too long shoots that will bear fruit in the current year should be shortened.