Blackberry is a very beautiful and tasty berry, which for many gardeners is still exotic. As soon as the first bush appears on your site and gives the long-awaited crop, you will definitely want to propagate it. Fortunately, blackberries, like raspberries, are quite prolific. Seedlings can be obtained even from pieces of stems or roots.
How blackberry breeds
The methods of propagation of blackberries depend on its type. There are upright varieties that give a large number of root offspring, which are easily rooted by the apex or lateral shoots. And for bush-repairing blackberries, the most common method of reproduction is to divide the bush or multiply by root buds.
Less commonly, this berry culture is propagated by seeds and green cuttings, since the percentage of luck in both cases is low.
Propagation by root offspring
The method is good for blackberries, giving shoots. The advantages of this method of reproduction: simplicity and a long period of collection of planting material. As a rule, root offspring grow at some distance from the mother bush - in a radius of 30 cm.
- Root offspring should be planted when it reaches a height of 10 cm. It is necessary to do this early - until July. Firstly, young shoots will not take away strength from an adult bush, and secondly, they will manage to take root well and prepare for winter.
- Dig up the shoot carefully with a lump of earth, but do not stretch the main root, but cut off the offspring with a secateurs or chop off with a shovel.
Use a pruner to separate the undergrowth, dig a seedling with a lump of earth
- Plant seedlings in the designated garden area or in containers, if the place has not yet been prepared.
Top breeding
This is ideal for climbing, climbing varieties giving long and flexible shoots. In abandoned sites, reproduction in this way occurs spontaneously. Once the shoots touch their top with moist soil, a new young bush grows in this place. To root the apex:
- In the period from mid-July to early August, bend the tops of annual shoots to the ground.
- Spud the top 10-15 cm or bury it in the ground.
- After 3-4 weeks, the tops will give a good root system and young shoots that need to be covered with spruce branches or fallen leaves.
Blackberry ripened varieties are easily propagated by the tip
- In the spring, separate the seedlings from the uterine bush and plant them in a permanent place
The advantage of the method is one hundred percent result. A seedling grows from each crown. In addition, planting material is taken without prejudice to the crop, unlike other methods.
The stems of most varieties of blackberries are covered with thin and very prickly spikes, so you need to work with this plant with gloves. If you still planted a splinter, then glue a patch to this place and jerk it off.
Video: growing seedlings from the tops of blackberries with a closed root system
Propagation by horizontal layering
This method is also acceptable for climbing blackberries. It allows you to get a large amount of planting material. For propagation by horizontal layering it is necessary:
- In early August, lay annual shoots on the ground.
- Dig them to a depth of 20 cm or spud them with moist earth, leaving only the tops on the surface.
- After 1-2 months, roots and young shoots should appear, which can be dug up, divided into seedlings and planted in a permanent place. But it’s better to let even small plants winter in the same place, and postpone the transplant until spring.
Each shoot is marked with its own letter, i.e. 4-5 seedlings can be grown from one horizontal lay
The method is good when you have enough blackberries, and you can select part of the bushes for propagation.
It should be borne in mind that with this method you lose part of the next year’s harvest, because you put shoots into the ground that could bear fruit next summer.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
This agricultural technique will solve the problem of propagation of bush blackberries that do not produce either shoots or horizontal lashes.
- Dig a bush in spring or fall
- Divide it into separate shoots with roots. From one adult plant you can get 3-6 seedlings.
One bush can be divided into three or more seedlings
- Plant them in open ground.
If something went wrong: part of the shoots separated without roots, or the roots broke off, do not worry. Blackberries can propagate and pieces of roots, and stem cuttings.
Propagation by pieces of roots
This method is adopted by gardeners who are bored without planting in the winter. In addition, it is quite effective - 60-70% of root cuttings sprout. For this, root cuttings should be no shorter than 6-10 cm and a thickness of 0.3-1.5 mm.
- Planting material can be cut in spring and autumn from the transplanted bush or undermine the ground under the bush, cut several cuttings from different sides and bury again.
- Spread the root pieces evenly over the soil surface and sprinkle with loose earth in a layer of 2-3 cm.
Most blackberry root cuttings sprout
- Plant young bushes in open ground when the threat of frost passes. The appearance of seedlings depends on the variety: it may take several days or more than a week.
An adult blackberry is cold-resistant, but its seedlings are still tender, fragile. If the roots were cut in the autumn, then it is necessary:
- Collect the roots in a plastic bag and store in the cellar or refrigerator at a temperature of + 2 ... + 5⁰C.
- Take them out once a week to check the condition and ventilate.
- Germinate from February-March on the windowsill until steady heat occurs.
Video: the result of growing blackberries from root cuttings and picking
Propagation by stem cuttings
This method is suitable for any blackberry variety.
- In the autumn, cut the cuttings 40 cm long from the annual lignified shoots.
Propagation by stem cuttings suitable for any variety of blackberry
- Dig them in the garden until spring to a depth of 15-20 cm.
- In the spring, dig up, update the cuts on both sides, spread the cuttings in rows, 5-10 cm apart from each other and again cover with earth.
- Water, weed, wait for seedlings. For quick germination, place arcs and cover with foil.
- When bushes with 2-3 real leaves grow on the bed, carefully remove the cuttings from the ground. You will see that on each 2-3 young plants with roots were formed.
- Separate them and put them in pots for growing.
- If the seedlings began to grow with new leaves, and the stems grew, then it is time to transfer them to a permanent place.
Stalk cuttings can be cut and root in the spring, but only if you have time before buds open. Advantages of propagation by stem cuttings: simplicity, versatility, a large number of seedlings at one time.
Video: how to grow 100 seedlings per square meter
Propagation by green cuttings
There is another option - planting in the summer with green cuttings taken from the top. In this case, you will take both planting material and crop from one shoot.
- In July, cut off the tops of shoots about 20 cm long.
The green stalk is cut at an angle of 45 degrees, but not parallel to the petiole of the lower leaf
- From the bottom of this branch cut a stalk with two leaves. We do not take the top for reproduction.
- Cut the bottom leaf from each stalk, leaving a stump, and cut the top leaf by half.
- Dip the cuttings in a root stimulant, for example, Kornevin (1: 1 with soil) and plant them in separate pots or boxes with peat or earth mixed in equal proportions with perlite. Rooting should take place in a greenhouse or unventilated greenhouse. The optimum humidity is 96-100%, the temperature is about + 30⁰C.
- Some of the cuttings can rot, but positive results will certainly be. If the cuttings appear new leaves, then they took root and gave roots. You can start to air the greenhouse, and after a week to transplant the blackberry to a permanent place.
Unfortunately, the survival rate of green cuttings is only 10%, and to increase this figure, they need to be grown in a specially equipped greenhouse with high humidity.
Video: cuttings in a greenhouse with fog
Propagation in water by a sleeping kidney
Another way to grow blackberries in winter. Prepare cuttings from annual shoots in the fall. Each should have 2-3 sleeping buds and be no longer than 15 cm. Store them, like root cuttings, in a refrigerator or cellar.
- In late winter and early spring, get the cuttings. Flip down with your upper kidney and place in a jar or glass
- Pour water so that it covers only one kidney, and the rest will continue to sleep.
- Keep the cuttings on the window and add water as it evaporates.
- When the kidney wakes up, a young shoot with roots will grow out of it. Separate it and plant it in a pot of loose earth.
An escaping root will develop from a sleeping kidney, which must be separated and planted.
- Now immerse the next kidney in water and again wait for the appearance of a small blackberry.
The bottom line is that the roots form the apical kidney, so we turn the handle over.
There is another way: they place the stalk in water, as expected, and immerse the upper kidney in a moist substrate, for example, drop it in a nearby pot. In this case, the roots are formed in the ground, and not in the water.
The method is similar to top propagation, so it can be assumed that climbing blackberries will show the best result, and bush cuttings with upright shoots will be reluctant to give roots.
Video: rooting blackberry cuttings in water with the immersion of the upper kidney in a peat tablet
Seed propagation
Blackberry seeds germinate extremely reluctantly. In a section, they look like a nut: a very hard and thick shell, and inside is a microscopic kernel.
To destroy the shell, carry out scarification in special machines or soak for 15-20 minutes in a solution of sulfuric acid. In this case, the seeds must be dry, because in the presence of water there is a reaction with the release of heat and they can be cooked.
The seeds of the blackberry are very small, and must be difficult to prepare before planting
This is only the beginning of cultivation, then you will have to:
- Hold the seeds for 2-3 days in melt water.
- Mix with moist soil 1: 3 and refrigerate for 1.5-2 months.
- Check and moisten every 10 days if necessary.
- Transfer to a room with a temperature of + 20⁰C and sow no deeper than 8 mm.
- Thin out emerging seedlings: everyone needs a 3x3 cm space.
- Plant in the ground when 4 seedlings grow on each seedling.
- Keep a bed of young blackberries clean from weeds, water and loosen.
This method against the background of the rest looks very laborious and ineffective. It is suitable if you are not an experimenter or blackberry seedlings in your area, but you can buy or order seeds online. You will need a lot of patience and preparedness for failure.
Video: what you need to prepare for sowing seeds of blackberry and wild strawberry
Reviews gardeners about the breeding of blackberries
My blackberry is without thorns. Propagated interestingly. Escape leans to the ground and takes root. In the spring I cut off the shoot of the main bush and a new bush grows. In a dry summer, I definitely spend watering.
blsea//indasad.ru/forum/73-derevya-i-kustarniki/1202-razmnozhenie-ezheviki
Yes, a blackberry is a weed! A little branch to the ground bent, immediately gives root. Here from a neighbor from one bush to our site 5 branches lay down and took root, I transplanted them.
korshunya//indasad.ru/forum/73-derevya-i-kustarniki/1202-razmnozhenie-ezheviki
The cuttings process is boring, you need a greenhouse and a foggy plant, otherwise a very small yield of seedlings, or even completely zero. Each variety has its own characteristics in reproduction and it is necessary to select a key for each. Cuttings for propagation are taken only from the shoots of this year (which will bear fruit the next year) by cutting them - you deprive yourself of part of the crop. Therefore, the optimal option is the reproduction of the tops or pieces of roots. Moreover, some varieties very poorly propagated by the roots and straight-growing poorly rooted tops.
Sergey1//forum.tvoysad.ru/viewtopic.php?t=1352&start=330
Blackberries can be propagated by seeds, cuttings, root suckers, shoot tips. Seeds are sown in autumn or spring after stratification. Root offspring are separated from the plant and planted in a permanent place from mid-summer to the first decade of October. Summer cuttings without treatment with root stimulants give a very low rooting percentage, not more than 10%.
Andrew//www.greeninfo.ru/fruits/rubus_caesius.html/Forum/-/tID/2418
Yes, the tops take root themselves, this is the main way to reproduce the blackberry.
gala analitik//forum.fermeri.com.ua/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=892
There are many ways to propagate blackberries. It is possible to cultivate this berry all year round. It is especially easy to work with climbing varieties - it is enough to lay the shoot on the ground so that it gives roots. The multiplication of bush blackberries by shoots does not cause difficulties. An interesting option is the rooting of root and stem cuttings. It is available to owners of any grade. The most successful and patient ones can start growing blackberries from seeds and green cuttings.
