The bramble is the plant that produces blackberries, which together with raspberries, blueberries and currants belong to the category of berries, which are now grown and consumed more and more because they are very healthy, versatile and tasty. The management of the bramble is quite easy and lends itself well to organic cultivation, both for amateurs and for professionals, since it is a rustic species, which adapts to different soils and different climatic conditions.
Although the cultivation of brambles is relatively simple and manageable with natural fertilization, occasional irrigation and sporadic ecological treatments if necessary, it is also important to devote time to this species, especially to carry out cut which plays a very important role among crop treatments.
In this article, therefore, we will see how the pruning of blackberries is carried out and which times of the year are the most appropriate to do it, in order to obtain good productions and keep the plants always healthy and balanced.
Contents [Ocultar]
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The bramble plant
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Bramble Breeding Pruning
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Bramble production size
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when to prune
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prune the brambles
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How to prune blackberries: criteria and cunning
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Choose the right tools
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Regularity in plant maintenance
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Managing pruning waste
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Contents
The bush tree plant
The bramble is a perennial shrub, consisting of many two-year-old branches that grow from the stump and roots that are continually renewed and tend to spread laterally. The fruiting cycle of the bramble is similar to that of the single raspberry, i.e. one that only bears fruit once in the summer, so the size in both species is quite similar to the size of this raspberry.
Recently, however, there are also varieties of brambles that reflower and produce twice with fruits that ripen in summer on shoots of one year and then in autumn on shoots that have developed during that year.
Blackberry reproductive power
Blackberries, like raspberries, are bushy plants, and for this reason they must be managed very differently from other Rosaceae which, on the contrary, resemble fruit trees such as peach, apricot and apple. .
The reproduction phase, that is to say the period that goes from planting to the beginning of the production of the plants, is short but of great importance: the success of the crop in the following years depends on its good approach. . Planting is done in rows arranged with stakes and wires, in autumn or late winter, so that the plants grow with buttresses .
In the spring following planting, the side shoots of the stars give fruiting shoots along which the fruits will develop, while new shoots will emerge from the roots. These should not be cut as they will be the next year’s productive shoots. The shoots are spread out and tied to the galvanized wires of the frame so that they are spaced out and they all get enough light.
Bramble Production Power
Each year from the base of the stump shoots with buds are given off to sprout and produce the following year. One-year shoots should be shortened to 180-200 cm to promote the formation of fruitful shoots in the middle part of the shoot in the following spring-summer.
Shoot thinning is equally important to avoid overlapping foliage and should result in 4-5 shoots per plant. Shoots that have already produced dry out and need to be removed at the base of the plant.
when to prune
The operations described can be carried out immediately after harvesting blackberries, in summer-autumn, or even throughout the winter, but carefully avoiding periods of frost. The months suitable for pruning brambles are therefore from September to February, excluding periods of intense cold.
bramble plant
Blackberries usually come as a single plant, with a single flowering period, but we are also beginning to find varieties of brambles that rebloom. Since in the coming years flowering brambles will spread more and more, we also give guidance on how to prune them. In this case, you are faced with a choice between two alternatives.
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If you prefer to favor only the autumn production on the shoots of the year, after the harvest you cut down all the earth . In this way, brambles behave like uniflori, giving abundant fruiting in late summer-early autumn. This is the option adopted by professional farmers who wish to have a more abundant and quality production, but concentrated in a period after the harvest of the summer blackberries of the unified varieties.
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If, on the other hand, we choose to have both productions, that is to say the summer and the autumn, after the autumn harvest, shoots that have borne fruit and shoots are thinned out , leaving 4 or 5 per plant, and these will bear fruit the following summer. This is the recommended option for private productions, because it allows you to have blackberries over a longer period, even if in smaller quantities.
How to Prune Blackberries: Criteria and Tricks
When pruning blackberries, there are a few precautions that are important to always keep in mind.
Choose the right tools
The size of the bramble is done with secateurs and sometimes with secateurs in the case of very strong shoots and large diameter. These tools must be of good quality: it is useless to save money by buying cheap models, because then they can quickly break and a new purchase will be necessary. Tools should be sharp, clean and, if fungal diseases have been noted on some specimens, disinfected before pruning healthy brambles.
Regularity in plant maintenance
Never skip a pruning year as brambles would be much more difficult to manage, very complex and with thorny varieties the risk of injury would increase. The cuts of the dry shoots must be made at ground level, while the cuts of the shortening of one-year-old shoots must be inclined: this favors the fall of the raindrops which with the straight cut would stagnate in them;
Manage pruning debris
All the humus removed by pruning can be composted, preferably after shredding with a good bio shredder. It is not recommended to leave remains to decay between rows, especially in the case of previous fungal diseases, as these will inoculate diseases for new growth. New shoots that are removed to thin the crop can be pulled out of the ground with part of the root system and used to propagate the crop independently, thus avoiding the purchase of new seedlings.