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Knyazhenika is an amazing berry with a royal name, which not every gardener is familiar with. It seemed to combine several berry crops at once. It looks like raspberries, strawberries, stone fruits, and blackberries at the same time. At the same time, the aroma of ripe berries resembles pineapple. From the outside it seems like an unpretentious northern berry, but growing princesses is not a simple matter, and here it is necessary to take into account many nuances. No wonder it is still considered a rarity.
Features of growing princely berries
Princeberry or arctic raspberry belongs to the rose family. However, among the people there are many more names: khokhlushka, mamutka, log, drupe and others.
Knyazhenika is a herbaceous perennial plant, not exceeding 30 cm in height. The trifoliate leaves are very reminiscent of strawberry or strawberry leaves. Knyazhenika is distinguished by a long, thin, woody creeping rhizome located at a depth of only 15-25 cm.With its help, the plant can spread over considerable distances and grow into entire clearings.
Raspberry or lilac flowers, consisting of 5 petals, have a very attractive appearance. They bloom singly at the tops of shoots around the end of May. You can admire the flowers for quite a long time, about 25-30 days. Berries in the form of juicy drupes appear on plants from mid-July until the end of summer. Moreover, in the second half of summer you can find both flowers and fruits at the same time.
The berries are very similar in shape and size to ordinary raspberries. True, their color is more complex and can vary over a fairly wide range: from dark pink, red, to almost burgundy or purple. Ripe princely berries have a sweet, rich, very delicious taste with a mixture of strawberry and pineapple aroma. It is not for nothing that this berry was highly valued in Rus' and noble people were ready to pay any money to get it on their table.
To understand all the features of the development of the princess and the requirements that this berry makes for growing, you need to take a closer look at its habitats. Knyazhenika loves to grow in mosses on the edges of coniferous and mixed forests and along the edges of peat bogs in the cold and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes these plants can be found in the mountains at an altitude of about 1200 m above sea level.
This reflects the princess’s love for a cool climate and relative humidity of the soil and air. But it should be noted that the berries do not grow in swamps, but on their outskirts. That is, for planting the common princess and subsequent care for it, you need a moist, but not oversaturated area with moisture.In addition, when growing princelings, the acidity of the soil and its saturation with nutrients are quite important. As in the case of lingonberries and cranberries, for stable flowering and fruiting, princesses require special microorganisms, the vital activity of which is possible only in a relatively acidic soil environment.
Plants need cross-pollination, without which berries will not form. Therefore, at least two varieties of princesses should grow on the site, and even better, three or more.
Closer to autumn, the entire above-ground part of the plants completely dies off, while the underground rhizome continues its activity. In spring, new shoots appear from underground buds bearing flowers and berries.
However, very few berries are produced on the bushes. In the wild, to pick even a small basket of princess berries, you will need a clearing of decent size.
Even after breeders tried to “tame” the princess and develop its cultivated varieties, the yield remained minimal - literally a few small berries ripened on the bush. The problem was solved only when the Swedish princess and Alaskan stonewort were crossed with each other. As a result, we obtained garden princeling varieties with a yield of approximately 150-200 g per square meter. m. The weight of one berry was about 1-2 g. The most famous varieties were called by the female names Anna and Sophia. Growing the varietal garden berry princess is of much more interest to the ordinary gardener than its ordinary relative growing in the wild.
Due to the decorative nature of the flowering bushes of the princess, its cultivation on the site can bring, in addition to gastronomic benefits, purely aesthetic benefits.
How does the princess breed?
There are only two ways to propagate princess berries: using seeds and dividing rhizomes.
Propagation by seeds is a long and rather labor-intensive process, but if you are patient, you can eventually grow quite a decent number of beautiful and healthy bushes of this valuable plant.
The seeds quickly lose their viability, so it is better to take them for sowing directly from the berries. For good germination, princess seeds need stratification. That is, it is best to place them at a shallow depth in damp sand in any container of suitable size. It is kept in a cellar during the winter or even buried in the ground, protected with a lid from access by insects or small mammals.
In spring, the container is placed in a bright and warm place, where seedlings can soon be observed. At the end of summer, grown young plants are usually planted in the garden bed.
Vegetative methods (using root suckers and dividing the bush) are simpler and faster for propagating princesses. In addition, they guarantee the preservation of maternal characteristics of berry bushes.
You can divide the bushes either at the end of spring or in September. From one plant you can theoretically get up to 200 plots, the rhizome grows so wide. It is better to plant plots, keeping the soil on the roots and making sure that each has at least two shoots.
Plants are propagated by root cuttings in the fall, when the aboveground part of the princess dies. To do this, dig up pieces of rhizome, about 10 cm long, each of which has 2-3 buds. They are planted in a new place to a depth of about 5 cm. Next year in the spring a shoot will appear from each bud, and every year their number will only increase.
Rules for planting princesses
Despite the fact that knyazhenika is a northern berry and grows happily even in permafrost conditions, growing it in the Moscow region is quite possible. The most important thing is to properly prepare the land and plant it correctly.
Landing dates
If a princeberry berry seedling was purchased with a closed root system, then it can be planted almost all year round. Even in winter, it can be placed on the surface of the soil, cleared of snow, and sprinkled with peat on all sides. But in the spring it is advisable to transplant the plant to a permanent place.
The most favorable periods for planting princesses in the Moscow region are mid-May or mid-September, then subsequent care will not cause any particular difficulties. It is during these periods that the region usually experiences weather conditions in which the amount of sunlight, temperature and humidity levels are most optimal for plant survival.
Site selection and soil preparation
The choice of a suitable place for planting princesses is largely determined by the region in which they are going to grow it. In the northern regions, for example, in the Arkhangelsk or Murmansk regions, the berries should be planted in open sunny places. And in the middle zone, for example, in the Moscow region and to the south, it is necessary to choose a place so that during the hottest midday hours (from 11 to 16) the plantings are shaded from the sun by various vegetation, buildings or fences.
In the garden plots of the prince it will feel very good near water bodies (pond or stream). You can plant plants in lowlands, where fog spreads in the morning and a lot of dew forms.
Despite its northern origin, the princess loves loose, light and fairly nutrient-rich soil. It is important from the very beginning to create a slightly acidic soil environment (ideally pH from 4.5 to 5.5) and provide it with constant but moderate humidity.
In order for the planted plants to take root well and bear fruit successfully, it is advisable to create a special planting soil for them.
To do this, you need to add the following per square meter of bed:
- bucket of sand;
- a bucket of sour high-moor peat;
- a bucket of humus (or the top layer from a coniferous forest);
- a few handfuls of wood ash.
It is advisable to protect beds with future plantings of princely berries from the invasion of weeds by digging pieces of slate or other available material along their borders to the depth of a spade bayonet.
How to plant a prince
Seedlings or bushes are placed in prepared soil at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. They can be slightly buried in the ground. You can plant them in rows of two in a checkerboard pattern. In this case, about 80-100 cm are left between the rows.
After planting, the ground around the bushes is mulched with moss. It will protect plants from weeds and too bright sunlight.
How to care for a princess
After choosing the right location, preparing the land and planting, caring for the princess itself is not particularly difficult.
Watering schedule
On rainy or cloudy cool days at air temperatures below + 25 ° C, watering the princely berry is necessary only once a week as needed.But when the temperature rises above the specified indicator, it is advisable to water the plants every day, regularly checking the soil moisture.
It is preferable in any case to use drip irrigation, especially if a lot of plants are planted.
What can you feed the prince?
It makes sense to feed princely berry bushes only the next year after planting. It is enough to apply a complex water-soluble organic-mineral fertilizer once a year in the spring.
Weeding and loosening
For good fruiting, the soil around the plant must always remain free of weeds. Loosening and weeding should become regular procedures. However, if possible, you can cover the soil with coniferous litter, moss and the top layer of soil from a coniferous forest.
Pruning rules
The only constant need for princely plants is sanitary pruning. In this case, the bushes are regularly inspected for dried, damaged or diseased leaves or shoots. They must be removed immediately.
In addition to preventing diseases, such an operation gives strength for the development of new shoots of plants.
Diseases and pests
Unfortunately, growing princesses can be complicated by the invasion of pests and pathogens of various diseases.
Therefore, every spring plants should be treated preventively with biological agents:
- against diseases – phytosporin;
- against pests – fitoverm.
Among the diseases to which the princely berry is susceptible, the most commonly noted are anthracnose, raspberry stripe curl, tobacco necrosis, and Brazeau mottling.
Conclusion
Growing princesses is not the easiest thing, but it is a very useful and interesting activity. After all, this berry is still a rarity in gardens, but its decorative appearance and excellent taste will make it a welcome guest in any garden.
Should Knyazhenika in the south be planted in shade or partial shade?
Good afternoon.
In the shadow.