Rubus occidentalis
Black raspberry
Common names: Black cap raspberry, Blackcap
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −30 °C
- Pruning
- Jul–Aug
- Harvest
- Jul–Aug
- Flowering
- May–Jun
- Spacing
- 80 cm, rows 200 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Cstaffa at English Wikipedia · Public Domain · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The black raspberry, botanically Rubus occidentalis, comes from eastern North America and is a distinct species, not a cross between red raspberry and blackberry. Its arching canes, covered with a bluish bloom, bear strong prickles and mostly three-part leaves that are whitish on the underside. Small white flowers appear in May and June, and from July the round, deep black fruits ripen gradually. Like red raspberries, they come away from the plant as a hollow cap when picked. They taste sweet and aromatic, somewhat more tart than red raspberries, but contain many seeds. The fruits can be eaten fresh, baked into cakes, made into jam or syrup, or frozen. Unlike red raspberries, it does not form root suckers and therefore does not spread through the garden. Instead, the shoot tips take root when they touch the ground.
Care instructions
Plant the black raspberry in October or March in a sunny, wind-sheltered spot with humus-rich, well-drained soil. Do not plant it where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplants previously grew, and keep it apart from red raspberries and wild blackberries, since diseases spread easily between them. Tie the canes to a trellis with two to three wires so they do not snap under the weight of the fruit. Water regularly during fruiting, as the roots grow shallowly and the plant suffers in drought. Mulch the soil to retain moisture. Pick the berries from July to August, when they are fully black and come off easily. Cut out the canes that have fruited right after harvest so the plant has more energy for the new ones. In a container, you need a large pot and a sturdy support.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestJul–Aug
FloweringMay–Jun
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, nutrient-rich
The black raspberry grows best in humus-rich, loose, well-drained loam that stays evenly fresh. Slightly acidic to neutral soil is ideal. It roots shallowly and suffers equally from waterlogging and from drought. Improve heavy soils with compost and sand, and plant on a low ridge so the water runs off. On sites where nightshades grew before, wilt diseases threaten.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar, Jun
In early spring, spread mature compost or well-rotted manure under the canes and cover the soil with leaves, straw or grass clippings. Horn shavings go well with this. In early summer you can also water with diluted nettle feed. Too much nitrogen makes long, soft canes that ripen poorly and freeze more easily in winter. In a container, give a little liquid fertiliser for flowering plants every four weeks during the growing season.
Pruning
Cut the canes that bore fruit in summer down to ground level straight after harvest; they die off anyway. Shorten the new canes at the tip in June at a height of about 70 cm; they then branch and bear more the following year. In late winter, shorten the side shoots to 30 to 40 cm and remove weak, surplus canes so that three to five strong canes remain per plant.
Overwintering
The black raspberry is very hardy and survives frost down to about minus 30 degrees without protection. Leave the canes standing over winter and prune only in late winter. In a container, place the pot against a sheltered house wall and wrap it up thickly, because the root ball freezes through faster in a pot than in the bed. Water on frost-free days so the canes do not dry out.
Propagation
Methods
- Layering
You propagate the black raspberry by tip layering, because the shoot tips root by themselves. In August, bend the tip of an uncut cane down to the ground, insert it about 10 cm deep in loose soil and weigh it down with a stone. By autumn a root ball forms; in spring you separate the new shoot and replant it. There are no suckers as with red raspberries, so division does not work. Start with healthy young plants from a nursery, because diseases travel on with the layerings.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Black raspberry yourself
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