Content
Raspberry Arch is not a very popular variety that does not have any outstanding characteristics. Nevertheless, gardeners in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East value it for its frost resistance and general endurance. To get the highest possible yields, you need to choose the right place to plant raspberries and provide them with proper care.
Breeding history
Arachnaya raspberry is a Russian variety. It was created by a team of breeders who worked at one of the horticulture stations of the Russian Academy of Agriculture in Novosibirsk. An application for registration in the State Register of Breeding Achievements was submitted in 2000. Five years after the completion of variety trials, the Arochnaya raspberry was “officially approved.” It was recognized as the most suitable for cultivation in Eastern and Western Siberia.
Description of raspberry variety Arochnaya
Arachnaya raspberry is a variety known mainly to Ural and Siberian gardeners. It is valued more for its reliability and “stability” than for its outstanding characteristics.
Berries
Raspberries are medium-sized (average weight - 2.8 g, individual specimens - up to 5 g), regular cone-shaped, with glossy thin skin. It is quite dense, which provides the crop with good transportability and shelf life for up to 3-5 days.
The pulp is not too dense, with a noticeable raspberry aroma. The taste is balanced, sweet and sour; professional tasters rated it 4.7 points with a maximum of five.
The purpose of berries is universal. Arched raspberries can be eaten fresh, used as a “raw material” for homemade preparations, or dried. It’s just not very suitable for freezing - after defrosting, the berries almost lose their taste and aroma and dissolve into an unappetizing mush.
Arched raspberry drupes are firmly interlocked, the seeds are small
Bush
Arched raspberry forms spreading, powerful bushes 1.5-2 m high. The branches along the entire length are often studded with sharp large thorns. The foliage of the Arched raspberry bush is medium. The leaves are of typical size and shape for the culture, with a slightly “wrinkled” front side and a sparse “edge” on the back.
The initially erect shoots of the Arched raspberry gradually bend in an arc, but retain their shape under the weight of the berries
Characteristic
Since Arochnaya raspberry was created specifically for Siberia and other regions with harsh climates, its main characteristic that ensures the variety’s demand among gardeners is cold resistance. Culture cannot boast of other outstanding indicators.
Ripening time and yield of Arachnaya raspberries
Arachnaya raspberry is a mid-season variety. From the moment the buds open until the harvest, 70-75 days pass. But depending on the weather in summer, the berries can ripen in the first ten days of July or towards the end of this month.
With proper care and good weather, you can harvest about 1.5 kg of berries per season from a raspberry bush. When grown on an industrial scale, this figure is 57.4 c/ha
Frost resistance
The raspberry variety is characterized by extreme cold resistance. Even without shelter, when the temperature drops to -45 °C in winter, it freezes at a level of 1.5 points and below with a maximum of ten points. Over the next season, the bush recovers quite quickly.
Considering the high cold resistance of the Arched raspberry, many gardeners do not cover it for the winter, simply removing the shoots from the trellis
Disease resistance
Gardeners who have experience growing Arochnaya raspberries claim that the variety resists pathogenic microflora and pest attacks very well, although it does not have “innate” immunity to any disease. Experts estimate the percentage of susceptibility to diseases and damage by insects at 10-30%.This difference is easily explained by weather conditions that favor or hinder the development of the pathogen and pest activity.
Advantages and disadvantages
Raspberry Arch is quite suitable for use in landscape design. Bushes on trellises look very decorative and can be used for zoning an area. In addition, it is much easier to harvest from them, given the strong thorniness of the shoots.
The sugar content in Arochnaya raspberries is practically “balanced” by acidity (9.1% versus 9%)
Pros:
- frost resistance sufficient for any Russian region;
- good resistance to diseases and pests;
- stable fruiting, which is little affected by the vagaries of the weather;
- balanced taste of berries, highly appreciated by experts;
- transportability and shelf life are above average for the crop;
- versatility of berries.
Minuses:
- the large size and spreading nature of the raspberry bush;
- shoots densely strewn with sharp thorns.
Features of growing Arched raspberries
Raspberry Arched is distinguished by its general hardiness and ease of care. But in order to harvest crops every year, you need to choose the right place for planting and familiarize yourself with the general rules for caring for it.
Planting raspberries Arched
In regions with a temperate and more severe climate, Arochnaya raspberries are planted at the end of May or at the beginning of June, when it can almost certainly be said that there will be no return frosts.
Ideally, a place for planting raspberries should meet several criteria:
- good lighting;
- fertile but loose soil;
- neutral or slightly acidic pH;
- groundwater lying at least 1.5 m below the soil surface.
In partial shade and shade, the yield of Arched raspberries and the quality of berries are noticeably reduced
The depth and diameter of the planting hole for Arched raspberries is 40-45 cm. They dig it and fill it with nutritious soil mixture in advance, allowing it to “stand” for 2-3 weeks. The interval between neighboring bushes is at least a meter, the row spacing is 1.5-1.8 m.
Before planting Arched raspberries, it is necessary to install a trellis about 1.5 m high
Arched raspberry care
Caring for Arched raspberries is just standard activities:
- Watering. The substrate is moistened every 5-6 days, spending 10-15 liters on an adult raspberry bush. In hot weather, water approximately twice as often.
- Loosening, weeding. If you mulch the bed immediately after planting, there is no need for these measures. Otherwise, loosen the soil, while simultaneously getting rid of weeds, 2-3 times a month, the day after watering.
- Fertilizer application. Once every 2-3 years in the spring, to maintain soil fertility, humus is spread over the bed, embedding it into the soil. In the “green cone” phase, mineral nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Then, at the stage of budding, formation of ovaries and 2-2.5 weeks before harvest - special preparations for fruit-bearing bushes or raspberries. Around mid-October - “autumn” fertilizer containing mainly potassium and phosphorus.
- Trimming. The shoots begin to be shortened in the 3-4th season after the raspberries are planted in the ground. In the fall, they get rid of the oldest branches (from 3-4 years old), shorten the others by 15-20 cm and thin out the bush. In spring, they limit themselves to sanitary pruning.
- Preparing for winter. Having cleared the bed of debris and renewed the layer of mulch, the Arched raspberry is removed from the support, and the shoots are bent to the ground if possible. Arcs are installed above them, and 2-3 layers of burlap or covering material are pulled over the frame.It is recommended to cover the entire structure with spruce branches, straw and snow.
During the active growing season, you can only remove unwanted root shoots
Reproduction
Any vegetative method is suitable for propagating Arched raspberries. Gardeners mainly use root shoots and root cuttings for this. The survival rate of new specimens is good - 85-90%.
Transplantation of “offsprings”
Raspberry Arched actively forms basal shoots. Lignified specimens are replanted at the beginning of September, green ones at the end of May or June. The seedlings are dug up, trying not to damage the root system, along with a lump of soil. They are immediately transferred to a permanent place.
Select “offspring” with a height of 15-20 cm, located at least 30 cm from the “mother” bush
Using root cuttings
To obtain planting material in the spring, the soil at a distance of 30-40 cm from the raspberry bush is dug up, several adventitious roots are cut off with a thickness of 2 mm. They are divided into parts 8-10 cm long with 2-3 growth buds, preserving the smaller roots.
Root cuttings are planted in fertile light soil in a greenhouse or greenhouse, deepening them to 5-7 cm. During the summer they are watered, fertilized, loosened and weeded. In autumn, seedlings can be transferred to the garden bed.
Raspberry propagation by root cuttings is practiced if the above-ground part of the bush is infected with pathogenic microflora
Prevention of diseases and pests
Raspberry Arched has good immunity.Often she manages to avoid infection, even if pathogenic microflora attacks bushes of other varieties planted nearby. However, when summers are cold and rainy, powdery mildew or gray mold may develop.
Berries affected by gray rot are unsuitable for food
To prevent fungal diseases, Arch raspberries and the soil under the bushes are sprayed with any fungicides in mid-April and late October. They are also used when characteristic symptoms are detected.
The grayish-white powdery coating characteristic of the initial stage of powdery mildew infection gradually darkens and thickens
The Arochnaya raspberry variety is not particularly susceptible to pests. Most often, gardeners note an attack by the raspberry stem fly. Its larvae (small, dirty-white “worms”) eat the shoots from the inside, they turn black and die. For prevention during the mass summer in May, the bushes are sprayed 2-3 times with insecticides (Iskra-Bio, Aktara, Konfidor-Maxi). They also help get rid of the pest.
Before treating bushes with insecticides, it is necessary to cut off all shoots affected by raspberry stem fly
Conclusion
Raspberry Arochnaya is an “average” variety without outstanding advantages and serious disadvantages. It is distributed mainly in regions considered “risky farming zones,” where gardeners value it for its frost resistance. The variety can be called undemanding in care; the bushes consistently produce good harvests and rarely get sick.
Reviews from gardeners about Arched raspberries
