For many years in our territories, the blackberry undeservedly remained in the shadow of its closest and very popular relative - raspberries. However, in America, this berry was given enough attention, because they were able to bring a lot of fruitful varieties. Only in recent years, interest in the black berry began to grow in our country, and therefore gardeners tend to acquire varieties with the best characteristics for growing. One of these is the Himalaya blackberry variety.
Description
The blackberry is a semi-shrub from the Rosaceae family.
The Rosaceae family also includes such plants as spirea, graviatat, kerriya, and silverweed Norwegian.
It grows to 1-1.5 m. This variety is very early, high-yielding, large-fruited. The bush is characterized by medium height, weakly pronounced thorns (up to 1 cm), the branches have hanging down. 
During the flowering period - from the beginning of May to the end of summer - the bush is covered with large, self-pollinating flowers, it is a good honey plant. It has a long ripening of berries, because the harvest is going in several visits.
The berries of this variety are distinguished by the following characteristics: large, regular oval-shaped, rich black or red-black in color with a gloss, with a pleasant aroma and sweet-sour taste.
In cooking and medicine can be used not only berries, but also the leaves of the plant. The yield is up to 8 kg, subject to all the rules of agricultural technology.
Did you know? In many cultures, blackberry is a symbol of protection against evil forces and trouble, in Christian legends it is identified with the purity of the Virgin Mary. However, dream plants interpret this plant differently: to contemplate, pick or eat blackberries in a dream means to have health problems, failures and losses in the future.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The main advantages of this variety:
- unpretentious care, does not need special care in the summer;
- winter hardy;
- disease resistant;
- self-pollinating variety;
- high-yielding;
- has early terms of ripening and the extended period of fructification;
- high taste characteristics of berries.
The disadvantage can be called demanding of the soil. Only in a fertile, light soil with good drainage can a plant produce high yields.
Check out the advantages and disadvantages of such varieties of blackberry as "Tornfrey", "Giant".
Planting Blackberry Seedlings
When planting a blackberry, it is important to choose the site, planting material correctly and correctly perform the planting procedure itself. 
How to choose the seedlings
If you decide to grow blackberries on your plot, you need to start with the selection of seedlings.
There are some rules according to which you need to buy planting material, because the survival rate and productivity of a plant will largely depend on its quality:
- The number of skeletal roots - at least 2-3 pieces.
- One main escape.
- Lack of leaves on the stem.
- The length of the aerial parts - from 40 cm.
- The length of the root part - from 15 cm and more.
- Age of seedlings - 1-2 years.
You should also carefully examine the seedlings: they must be strong and healthy looking, not overdried or shriveled, without signs of damage, stains, rotted areas, without signs of disease and the presence of parasites.
It is advisable to buy planting material in specialized nurseries and farms, where the quality control of seedlings is carried out by various specialists. 
Important! To check the quality of planting material, you need to gently pry the bark. The fabric should be greenish, moist, healthy. If dark, dry wood can be seen under the bark, the purchase of such a seedling should be abandoned.
Growth and soil preparation
This variety shows increased demands on the soil and place of growth.
Place for landing must meet the following characteristics:
- It should be well illuminated by the sun, but light partial shade is also suitable. You can not plant shrubs in strongly shaded places, because to wait for a good harvest in this case will not work. The lack of sunlight leads to the stretching of the shoots, reducing the berries and the deterioration of their taste, to reduce the hardiness of the bush.
- The site should be reliably protected from the winter winds.
- It is impossible to choose lowlands and other areas where precipitation and melt water accumulate for the landing site. The soil should not be too wet. The depth of groundwater should be at least one and a half meters.
- It is optimal to choose places with fertile, loamy soils with good drainage and at the same time high moisture capacity. The reaction of the soil should be neutral or slightly acidic (pH 6-6.6). Very bad blackberry fruits on carbonate, sandy soils.
- When planting bushes near a fence or wall, it is necessary to retreat by 1 m to ensure normal plant growth, as well as to simplify the care and harvest.
Optimally plant a blackberry in this class in April before warming. The manufacturer also allows autumn planting in late September - early October. In general, planting time depends on the region: in the southern regions, where the risk of winter freezing of seedlings is minimal, blackberries can be planted both in the fall before winter and in spring.
In more northern regions, including in the middle lane, it is desirable to carry out planting in the spring.
If you plant a blackberry in the spring, the soil on the site must be prepared in autumn. First, it must be dug up to a depth of 30-50 cm, cleaned of residues of roots, weeds. You also need to make fertilizer from this calculation: per 1 sq. M. 10 kg of humus, 100 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium-containing fertilizers are required.
For clayey soil, you will need to add a small amount of peat and sand. 
How to plant a blackberry
Plant this variety is best trench method. The planting scheme is as follows: the distance between the rows is about 2.5 m, the distance between the bushes in the same row is 1.5-2 m. If possible, it is desirable to position the ridges from north to south.
Find out how to plant blackberries in the fall.
Remember that the harvest depends largely on the area of plant nutrition, because it is advisable to reduce the distance between the bushes only under the condition of intensive agricultural practices. At home, when amateur growing a small number of bushes to reduce the distance should not be. 
After choosing a place for blackberry, you need to follow this step-by-step procedure for planting seedlings:
- Prepare and install the trellis. It can be made of wooden stakes or metal pipes. They go deeper by 50-70 cm at the edges of the row. Horizontally on the supports, the wire is tensioned at a height of 50 cm, 100 cm, 150 cm and 200 cm.
- Dig trenches. The trench depth is 30-45 cm.
- The extracted soil should be mixed with organic fertilizers at the rate of: on 1 sq. m. add 0.5 st. ash, 100 g of superphosphate, 25 g of potassium sulfate, a little organic (up to 5 kg).
- In seedlings, you need to slightly cut the healthy roots, and dry ones should be completely removed, if any.
- Cover the ground at 1/3, lay 10-15 cm of humus, pour abundantly. When moisture is absorbed, you need to carefully lower the sapling and sprinkle with residual earth. The depth of the root bud should be about 2 cm - no more, no less (in the first case, it does not break through, and in the second it can dry out or wither). Then the earth is well compacted and plentifully watered. Mandatory actions at the end are hilling and mulching (you can use straw, peat, sawdust or humus).
Important! A very common mistake is to plant a blackberry first, then install a prop. It is necessary to act on the contrary - first build a trellis for bushes, then plant the plants. This is due to the very rapid growth of blackberry shoots.
Care
After planting, the bushes will need competent care so that they can please with a bountiful and tasty harvest.
Watering
Blackberry, including its variety, is a drought-resistant crop, as it has a developed, deep-rooted root system and branched shoots that create shade at the roots. However, it is impossible to prevent drying and hardening of the earthy coma.
Watering the bushes is necessary based on temperature and weather conditions. On hot summer days, plants need more water, but it is impossible to overdo it and plant a bog under bushes. 
The first 1.5-2 months after planting the seedlings need to produce weekly watering in the evening. Next, you need to moisten the soil during the flowering and ripening of berries. For watering, defend and warm the water in the sun.
Fertilizer and dressing
The quantity and frequency of fertilization depends on several factors: soil fertility, planting density and number of bushes, desired plant productivity. Like any berry plant, blackberries need basic minerals: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, magnesium, calcium, zinc and copper.
When fertilizing this crop, it is necessary to follow this rule: nitrogenous substances are introduced in the springtime, potassium and phosphorus preparations are introduced in the autumn.
To obtain moderate yields, it is necessary to carry out the following fertilizing after 2-3 years from planting bushes: one adult plant will require up to 7 kg of humus, 40 g of nitrate, 100 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium-containing substances. All fertilizers are applied at the root. Humus can be replaced by nitrophosphate. 
Harvesting
The first harvest after planting can be collected only in the second year, since this plant bears fruits on the whips of the previous year. The berries of the Himalaya variety begin to ripen in July, the ripening period lasts another couple of months, so you need to pick the berries several times.
Did you know? In England, there is a belief that after October 11, it is impossible to pick blackberries, because the Devil himself begins to hunt them, and the person who has eaten the berries will be desecrated.
- The best time to harvest is morning. The weather should be sunny and dry (in rainy time, the berries may get a watery taste and worse stored).
- Tear off berries need with the stem.
- The sun must not fall on the picked berries.In the process of transportation, try to minimize shaking to keep the berries intact.
- Red and purple berries are best left to mature to the branches, you need to collect only fully ripened berries with black color.
- It will not be superfluous to think about equipment: It is advisable to wear clothes with closed hands, legs made of thick material.
In a refrigerator at a temperature of + 4 ... +8 ° C, the berry can be stored for about 4 days, while you should follow some rules: do not wash the blackberry, lay out a thin layer on a tray or in a container.
At a temperature slightly above 0 ° C, the berry does not lose its properties during the week. When stored in the freezer or dried berries, you can regale about a year.
Pruning and shaping the bush
It is necessary to regularly trim blackberries in the autumn and spring. Thanks to this procedure, the plant does not waste power on feeding outdated lashes, and besides, they do not create unnecessary shading to young shoots. And the pruned young shoots stimulate lateral branching and growth of fruit twigs.
Learn how to properly trim the blackberry and form a bush, and also how to properly trim the blackberry in the fall.
The first pruning procedure is carried out in a two-year plant, then repeated annually. In autumn, pruning should be carried out immediately after the end of fruiting. Spring pruning is carried out before the disclosure of the kidneys. You need to remove the two-year shoots damaged by pests and scourge disease, thin and weak branches. 
Old lashes need to be cut under the ground, leaving no hemp, and young ones should be shortened by 1/4. It is necessary to carry out these works with the help of a secateur, use gloves.
It is also important to form a plant. To do this, you can use supports or grow a plant on two sides of a row: directing old shoots to one side and leaving the other side for young ones.
Important! Fruiting shoots always need to be separated from the young.
Breeding
The blackberry variety Himalaya has several breeding methods:
- Green cuttings. This is a very simple and effective way. For reproduction, you need to choose annual shoots about 15 cm long with 2-3 buds. They are placed in a container with water upside down so that the kidney is slightly covered with fluid. Keep shoots need at room temperature, in a well-lit place, constantly monitor the level of moisture and, if necessary, add water. After a couple of weeks, when the bud begins to germinate, this part of the shoot must be carefully separated and planted in a small container with soil for seedlings. Planted in the spring.
- Layering (horizontal and apical). The method is one of the most acceptable for this variety. From the second decade of July to the second decade of August, it is necessary to root the branch in a moist soil to a depth of about 15 cm, it is good to mulch. Cut it from the plant is not necessary. The following year, the layers will take root and become a plant ready for planting.
How to prepare the bushes for winter
Despite the frost resistance declared by the breeders, this variety requires winter shelter, especially in the middle zone and northern regions with frosty winters. As a shelter, you can use laptnik - young shoots to tilt to the ground and cover with coniferous branches.
Instead of lapnik suitable any purchased material for shelter. From above it is desirable to sprinkle bushes with snow. At this simple process of preparing the bushes for the winter is completed.
This variety of blackberry is a good choice for exploring the plant and growing it on your site. In general, the variety is characterized by endurance, unpretentiousness and yield. And the amazing taste and beneficial properties of berries make it an ideal choice for growing.
