Content
Blackberry Arapaho is a thermophilic Arkansas variety that is gaining popularity in Russia. The sweet fragrant berry has somewhat lost its yield, adapting to the cool climate. Consider what you need to successfully grow a crop.
Breeding history
The variety is the result of the selection work of Arkansas scientists. Appeared when crossing the Ark-631 and Ark-883 forms. The author is the scientist James N. Moore, under whose name he was patented. Used in America since 1992.
Description of berry culture
A description of the Arapaho blackberry should be given in order to have a broader understanding of the variety. This representative of the family outwardly practically does not differ from other species of this culture.
General understanding of the variety
Arapaho blackberry bush with strong, straight shoots. They have side branches on which berries appear. In Russian regions, the height of the bush reaches 3 meters. The leaves are green, formed from five plates, serrated along the edge. It blooms with white flowers of 5 petals, collected in a brush of 6 pieces.
Fruits with conical berries. It is believed that this variety is the best in terms of taste and smell.
Berries
Looking at the photo of the blackberry Arapaho, we see shiny, black fruits. The largest ones reach a weight of 10 g, but generally their weight is 5-6 g. The seeds are small. The berry is of the correct shape, dense, well transported. The taste is sweet and delicate.
Characteristic
The characteristics of the Arapaho blackberry variety include the following points:
- Flowering period and harvest time.
- The yield of the culture.
- The use of berries.
- Diseases and pests and how to deal with them.
- Advantages and disadvantages.
Let's consider these moments in more detail.
Main advantages
Blackberry is an unpretentious plant, but careful care will allow you to get a good harvest every year. It is drought-resistant, winter-hardy, but requires shelter for the winter. An important feature of the variety is the absence of thorns, which makes it easier to pick berries and care for bushes.
Flowering period and ripening time
The beginning of flowering is June-July. In the southern regions, fruits appear in early July, in the middle lane - this is the 20th of the month. Dates depend on weather conditions. In early spring, flowering and fruiting may begin 1.5 weeks earlier.
Yield indicators, fruiting dates
Fruiting of the blackberry variety Arapaho lasts July-August, usually it lasts for 4 weeks. The term depends on the region of cultivation. Moving the planting further north, the harvest time is shifted by 1.5 weeks.
The blackberry variety Arapaho has an average yield per bush of 4 kg, but the further north it grows, the lower the yield.
Scope of berries
Blackberries contain useful trace elements and vitamins. Used in cooking. It is useful to brew tea from the leaves. The extract from berries is added to perfumery products, to medicines and fees.
Disease and pest resistance
The description and characteristics of the Arapaho blackberry indicates its resistance to diseases.Despite this, conditions should be created to exclude their occurrence.
Advantages and disadvantages
The blackberry variety Arapaho has a number of characteristic features. Among them, positive and vice versa characteristics of the variety can be distinguished.
Advantages:
- Sweet.
- Juicy, aromatic.
- Small seeds.
- Transportable.
- Unpretentious.
- Has no thorns.
Disadvantages:
- Not frost-resistant enough.
- Low yield.
- The yield declines as you move north.
Reproduction methods
The best way blackberry breeding Arapaho - bend the top of the shoot to the ground, secure it with a clothespin and sprinkle it with soil. The plant will start to take root. By next spring, we can separate it from the mother bush and use it as an independent seedling.
Propagation by root layers is used. Leave the strongest straight shoots until autumn, when they have their own root system. The young plant is dug up and planted in the right place.
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Landing rules
Planting and caring for the Arapaho blackberry requires the fulfillment of certain requirements that will ensure good development of the plant and a decent harvest.
Recommended timing
Arapaho blackberries are planted in the spring before bud break and at a temperature of +15 0FROM.
For the central region, planting dates are April and October.
Choosing the right place
When choosing a place, it should be borne in mind that the plant requires protection from bright sunlight and wind. It is convenient to plant along the fence, stepping back from it by one and a half meters.
Soil preparation
The bushy blackberry Arapaho requires fertile soil with good drainage; sandy loam fertilized with compost or humus is suitable.
Selection and preparation of seedlings
The blackberry seedling of the Arapaho variety must have at least 4 developed roots 10 cm long, pay attention to the presence of a basal bud.
A good top has two stems and fresh foliage. The seedling must be free of signs of disease and damage.
If the seedling is purchased in a pot, it is sufficient to spill the soil well so that the roots are saturated with water. Remove damaged roots and branches, shorten too long.
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Algorithm and scheme of landing
The studless blackberry Arapaho is easier to plant. Its stems are erect and the gap between them is a meter and 2-3 m between the rows.
The seedling holes are prepared two weeks before planting. Their size is 40x40 cm, the depth is the same. Humus, superphosphate and potassium are added to each. The root collar needs to be buried, on light soils by 3 cm, on loams 2 cm is enough.
After covering the roots with earth, the seedling is watered, the earth around is covered with mulch. Within a month and a half, the seedlings are watered regularly.
Follow-up care of the culture
The principle of caring for a blackberry does not differ from the usual one for berry bushes - watering, loosening, pruning, harvesting, preparing for wintering.
Growing principles
The powerful shoots of the Arapaho blackberry require a garter. They arrange a trellis of racks, up to 2 meters high, attach 3 rows of wire. Shoots are formed with a slope to the ground so that they do not break when laid under a winter shelter.
The shoots between the rows are cut out. Up to 6 replacement shoots are left in the bush, which will provide a good harvest.
The tops of young shoots are cut at a meter level to obtain lateral branches on which berries are formed.
Necessary activities
Growing blackberries Arapaho includes the following activities:
- Watering.
- Top dressing.
- Loosening.
- Mulching.
The variety is drought-resistant, requires watering when planting. In the future, it is watered during severe drought and before wintering.
Loosening the soil enriches it with oxygen, removes the soil crust. In order not to do this often, you can simply mulch the soil regularly. Mulch won't let you grow weeds, protects the roots from drying out and overheating.
Shrub pruning
In the year of planting the seedlings, the inflorescences are removed so that the root system develops better. The next year, in the spring, before bud break, the tops of the shoots are cut off at a height of 1.5-2 m.
Broken and dried shoots are cut annually, shortening them to a living bud.
At the beginning of summer, young shoots are removed, leaving no more than 6 trunks. They pinch the tops by 5 cm for better branching.
In the fall, the shoots from which the harvest is harvested are cut out on a stump. For a complete picture of the cultivation, it is better to watch the video about the blackberry Arapaho.
Preparing for winter
In autumn, at temperatures close to zero, the stems of blackberries are removed from the trellises, tied in bunches, bent to the ground and fixed so that they do not rise.
The roots are mulched with peat, leaves, humus. Falling snow will finish the job. This shelter is enough for the blackberry to overwinter.
Diseases and pests: methods of control and prevention
Here are the main hazards for the development of blackberries and how to eliminate them.
Pests or diseases | Signs | Control methods | Processing frequency |
Blackberry mite | Ugly fruits appear | Treatment with phytoverm, fufanol, actellik | Before and after flowering. |
Crimson beetle | Holes in leaves and ovaries, rotten berries. | Treatment with phytoverm, fufanol, actellik every 10 days. | Before and after flowering. |
Powdery mildew | White bloom on leaves, berries. | Spraying with oxychom, foundationol, vectra. | Before flowering, when the ovary appears. |
Conclusion
Blackberry Arapaho appears more and more often in summer cottages. This shrub will give delicious aromatic berries the next year after planting. If you make even the smallest effort to care for it, it will yield at least 10 years of harvest. A beautiful trellis of blackberry bushes will serve as a green fence for your garden.
Testimonials
Reviews about the blackberry Arapaho are very diverse, sometimes radically opposite.
