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Raspberries are loved by both adults and children. And there is a reason! An amazing dessert taste and undeniable benefits are the hallmark of this berry. But here's the trouble - you can not enjoy it for long. From the beginning of fruiting of the earliest varieties to the end of the latest, a little more than a month passes. But there is a way out. Over the past decades, many varieties of raspberries have been bred, which are called remontant. What does it mean? Such raspberries bear fruit twice: first, at the usual time on the shoots of last year, and then in late summer - early autumn, annual shoots give berries.
Repaired raspberry varieties have their own characteristics in care and their advantages. What are they?
Benefits of remontant varieties
- They are not afraid of any frosts, since there are no shoots left for the winter.
- Caring for them is easier - they do not need to be bent and covered for the winter.
- Annual shoots do not grow tall, so they do not need a garter.
- There is nothing for pests and pathogens to winter on.
- They are not damaged by either the raspberry-strawberry weevil or the raspberry beetle, since they simply have nowhere to lay the larvae. There is no need for treatment with pesticides.
Modern domestic remontant varieties manage to give most of the harvest before frost. They were bred in the last 40 years, and the main merit in this is Academician, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Ivan Vasilyevich Kazakov. Thanks to him and his colleagues, many amazing remontant varieties have appeared, fully adapted to our Russian climate. Among them is a raspberry variety with a self-explanatory name - Elegant, a description and photo of which will be presented below.
Raspberry Elegant was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 2005 and is recommended for cultivation in the central region, but, according to gardeners, it grows well wherever raspberries can exist. Raspberry seedlings of the Elegant variety are propagated by many nurseries, you can also order them in the online store with delivery by mail. They are engaged in the distribution and sale of seedlings of NPO Sady Rossii, Sady Ural, agrofirm Poisk, Sibsad.
Description of the variety
- bears fruit on annual shoots in late August and September. Variety of remontant raspberry Elegant in the middle lane completely yields the entire crop before frost.
- the bush grows up to 1.8 m, spreading;
- thorns are concentrated in the lower part of the shoots;
- fruiting of raspberries of the Elegant variety occurs at half the length of the shoot;
- there are up to 7 of them on the bush;
- raspberry berries of the Elegant variety have the shape of a blunt cone, shiny, bright red, well separated from the stalk;
- they taste very good with a harmonious combination of sugars and acids;
- the weight of raspberries of the Elegant variety is on average about 4-6 g, some are pulled by 8 g; subject to all the rules of agricultural technology, the berries are leveled by weight;
- they do not tend to crumble and rot and are able to hang on the bush for up to 2 weeks;
- one bush of raspberries of the Elegant variety can be harvested up to 2.7 kg of first-class berries, and with good care, up to 4 kg.
- The berries have a dense consistency and can withstand transportation well.
- Raspberry Elegant is good both fresh and in jam or compote.
To complete the description and characteristics of the Elegant raspberry variety, it must be added that this variety is unpretentious, responds well to care and is resistant to disease.
Raspberry agricultural technology
All remontant varieties of raspberries require careful care and adherence to growing rules. This determines their yield and the ability to fully yield berries before the onset of frost. Raspberry of the Elegant variety is no exception.
Site selection and predecessors
Raspberries drastically reduce yields when grown in the shade, it is especially important to choose a sunny site for remontant varieties such as Elegant Any shading delays the flowering and ripening of raspberries, therefore, you can simply not harvest the entire crop until frost. The site should be protected from northerly winds and well warmed up by the sun.
The area flooded with water during the melting of the snow is absolutely not suitable for raspberries. It is impossible for the groundwater to stand high - the roots of the raspberry will shake out in a couple of years. But too high and dry area is also a bad option. Raspberries love moisture, and will inevitably suffer from lack of moisture when planted in a dry place.
It is best to plant raspberries of the Elegant variety in areas where perennial and cereal grasses previously grew. Planting after legumes that enrich the soil with nitrogen also gives good results. It is quite permissible to plant a berry bush after vegetables, under which a lot of manure was applied. But after potatoes and other plants of the nightshade family, it cannot be planted - they have common diseases and pests. For the same reason, the place occupied by the strawberry plantation will not work either.
Soil preparation and planting
Raspberries can grow on soils of almost any mechanical composition, except for heavy, clayey, but almost all plants do not like them. But it will give the largest yield if the soil meets the following requirements:
- loose, well-conductive air and moisture;
- fertile, with a high humus content;
- have a neutral reaction, the permissible limits of soil acidity are from 5.8 to 6.2.
Ideal soil for raspberries is rare, but you can improve it yourself: add peat and sand to soil with a high clay content, and clay and humus to poor sandy soils. If the reaction of the soil is acidic, you will have to lime it, but several months before planting the bushes.
How to prepare the soil for raspberries, given that this shrub has a branched and superficial root system? It is not enough to fill the planting wells with fertilizer and fertile soil. The entire area of the raspberry plantation needs to improve fertility. And the preparation of the soil begins in the spring, since the best time for planting remontant raspberries of the Elegant variety is autumn. For each square. m of soil for digging must be made:
- 2-3 buckets of fully mature compost or humus;
- about a glass of mineral fertilizer containing a full set of trace elements;
- 0.5 liter can of ash.
Such preparation does not exclude the introduction of fertilizer and humus into the planting holes.
Planting dates of the remontant raspberry variety Elegant are somewhat different from those for ordinary raspberry varieties. This is due to the biological characteristics of its development. The outflow of nutrients and growth of roots in it occurs at a later date than in non-remontant varieties.
It is also important to decide on the planting scheme, since in each case the distance between the plants will be different.
- With an ordinary planting, it is permissible to leave about 0.9 m between the bushes, and up to 2.5 m between the rows.
- If a group of a small number of plants is planted, which can be arranged in the form of a square or a triangle, between the bushes of raspberries of the Elegant variety, it is enough to provide a distance of 70 cm.
Landing technology:
- dig a hole with a depth of at least 30 cm and a diameter of at least 35 cm for planting each seedling;
- with an ordinary planting, it is more advisable to dig a trench 35 cm wide and 40 cm deep for the entire length of the planting;
- prepare a mixture for filling a hole from the topsoil, a bucket of humus, a glass of ash, Art. tablespoons of superphosphate and the same amount of potassium sulfate;
- a low mound of the prepared mixture is poured at the bottom of the planting pit, a seedling is installed, carefully straightening the roots;
- the seedling is covered so that the root collar is strictly at the ground level. It is possible to deepen the root collar only on light sandy soils, but no more than 4 cm.
- watered at the rate of a bucket or two per bush:
- with pruning of raspberry seedlings Elegant you should not rush. Shoots have a lot of nutrient reserves that must go to the roots;
- so that in the year of planting the raspberries overwinter successfully, they mulch the ground around the bushes with a layer of humus of about 10 cm, in the spring it will need to be distributed over the entire area of the raspberry tree.
Further care
Repair raspberry varieties Elegant requires careful maintenance, therefore weeds there is no place in the raspberry. Weeding and loosening are a must.
Raspberries are very sensitive to a lack of moisture; the root layer must not be allowed to dry out. The shrub is watered regularly, especially in hot and dry weather. To keep moisture in the soil longer, plantings are mulched, not forgetting that the thickness of the mulching layer should not be large so that replacement shoots can break through from the ground.
Top dressing of bushes begins in the second or third year. At the beginning of the growing season, raspberries of the Elegant variety need fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, in the second half of summer, preference is given to full complex mineral fertilizers. The frequency of fertilizing depends on the fertility of the soil, and the norms are indicated on the fertilizer package.
Raspberries of the Elegant variety are very fond of organic feeding. They are carried out with fermented infusion of mullein or bird droppings. For the first, the ratio of water and fertilizer is 1:10, and for the second, 1:20. Such dressings must be combined with watering with clean water.
The important point is correct pruning remontant raspberries Elegant. According to gardeners, with a two-year culture, it is not possible to get a full autumn harvest. Typically, fruiting is formed during the one-year cycle of plant development.
When to cut off the sprouted shoots? They do this in the fall, but as late as possible, in order to allow the roots to accumulate nutrients to the fullest. Pruning can be done after the soil is frozen and even when it snows.
All garbage is removed from the site or burned.
You can watch the video about the features of growing remontant raspberries:
Repaired raspberries are a great chance to extend the use of this tasty and healthy berry for a whole month or more. Caring for her is no more difficult than for a regular one. There are many varieties suitable for growing in most regions, among them the Elegant raspberry.
