Raspberry Balsam: variety description, photos, reviews

Raspberry Balsam is not particularly original; you cannot expect huge yields or unusual taste from it. But at the same time, the variety remains one of the most famous and memorable; raspberries have been successfully cultivated in the country’s gardens for several decades. The Balsam variety has a lot of advantages, and the most important of them is its suitability for cultivation throughout almost the entire territory of Russia.

A description of the Balsam raspberry variety, photos of bushes and reviews from gardeners can be found in this article. A set of positive qualities is listed here, as well as the disadvantages of the Balsam variety, and it tells how to grow such raspberries and how to properly care for them.

Characteristics of the variety

The description of the Balsam raspberry variety should begin with the fact that it was bred in Russia back in the early 80s of the last century. This crop is included in the State Register, which indicates its suitability for cultivation in local climatic conditions and successful agrotechnical tests.

Not all reviews about the Balsam variety are positive: many gardeners do not like the too primitive taste of the berries. But others consider this raspberry a classic with a natural aroma of forest berries.

A more detailed description of the Balsam variety:

the bushes of this raspberry are spreading and erect;
the height of the bushes can reach 170-180 cm;
raspberry shoots are covered with small brown thorns;
shoots are powerful, rather thick, annual shoots are light green, have a waxy coating, biennial shoots are brown, woody;
Balsam's shoot formation and amount of shoots is average - this raspberry will not spread around the area, but it is very easy to propagate;
leaves of a rich green hue, large, wrinkled, their lower part is pubescent and covered with a whitish coating;
A distinctive feature of the Balsam raspberry is the presence of purple thorns along the main leaf veins;
the variety’s yield reaches 2.2 kg per bush; on an industrial scale, up to 11 tons per hectare can be harvested;
Balsam raspberries are not remontant; they bear fruit on two-year-old shoots;
The berries ripen mid-early - from the end of June to the first ten days of July;
Balsam berries ripen quickly and amicably, fruiting is short;
the berry is colored in a dark crimson shade, closer to ruby;
The fruit size is average - about three grams;
the shape of Balsam berries is conical, wide;
there is a small coating on the surface of the raspberry fruit, and there is also slight pubescence;
The density of the berries is good, they do not crumble for a long time, and are suitable for transportation and short-term storage;
The taste of raspberry balm is sweet and sour, forest aroma;
the variety is resistant to most fungal diseases and many infections, including purple leaf spot and spider mites;
the crop tolerates drought, heat and early thaw well;
Balsam raspberries are considered winter-hardy and suitable for cultivation throughout the country, except the Urals and Siberia.

Attention! Raspberries of the Balsam variety can “boast” of a very harmonious ratio of sugars and acids in the fruit. Although the berry does not have a dessert taste, it is healthier than other, more refined varieties of raspberries.

Pros and cons of the variety

Despite its rather “advanced” age, Balsam raspberry remains popular among gardeners and summer residents. The variety has several undeniable advantages:

good taste and medium size berries;
resistance to weather conditions and diseases;
early ripening;
resistance to damping off, which is especially important in regions with early thaws;
high yield.

Important! Another advantage of the Balsam variety is its unpretentiousness - this raspberry requires the most ordinary care.

Modern gardeners are tempted by new varieties of garden crops that delight with their unusual taste, remontantness and other qualities, so many people find Balsam raspberry too simple and its taste bland.

It is also worth noting the fact that for high yields the bushes need to be well fed and thinned out regularly.

Features of cultivation and care

An important role when choosing raspberries for planting is played by their resistance to pests and diseases. The advantage of this variety in this regard is its good resistance to the most dangerous fungal disease that affects the above-ground part of the plant - anthracnose. But the horse system of the Kirzhach raspberry variety remains vulnerable. The main danger is root cancer - peculiar growths in the form of tumors that grow very quickly and prevent the plant from developing normally. Kirzhach is also vulnerable to diseases such as curly hair. Or, in scientific terms, growth. This is a serious bacterial disease that is difficult to treat. Therefore, plants infected with it must be immediately destroyed.

The raspberry beetle can seriously damage the plant. To prevent this insect from causing harm to the bushes, they must be treated in time with solutions of appropriate insecticides. Treatment for raspberry beetles is usually carried out during the budding period. Another common problem with any raspberry variety is spider mites. Kirzhach is in a more favorable light in this regard, as it has high resistance to this pest.

Planting raspberries

Raspberry Balsam is recommended for cultivation in private, medium and small farms. The agricultural technology used for this variety is the simplest. The interval between plants depends on the growing method:

with classic planting of bushes, the distance between them should be 70-100 cm;
the strip scheme for growing raspberries assumes an interval of 200-220 cm in a row;
the bush method assumes a distance of 1.5 meters between the bushes.

Advice! Balsam raspberry bushes are very spreading, so it is necessary to normalize the number of shoots.

The raspberry garden should be well ventilated, and each berry should have enough sunlight. Optimal rationing is 8-10 shoots per meter of land.

Before planting, the soil must be filled with fertilizers. Most often, organic matter is used: peat, humus, wood ash, rotted manure or chicken droppings. Fresh cow manure is not used in pre-planting preparation. It is good to combine organic matter with mineral fertilizers: superphosphate, nitroammophos.

The thickness of Balsam's shoots is sufficient, but a bountiful harvest of berries is quite capable of putting the stems on the ground, which will have a bad effect on the quality of the fruit and their integrity. Therefore, the raspberry tree will have to be tied up. There are several suitable ways:

A wooden stake is driven into the center of each raspberry bush, to which all the shoots are tied.
Fan fastening of raspberries involves the use of a pair of supports and a wire stretched between them. Then half of the bush is directed in one direction, and the second part of the raspberry is directed towards the opposite support.
With the trellis method, raspberries are tied up in early spring, when the shoots are just starting to grow. The wire is stretched in three tiers (at a height of 60, 120 and 160 cm).

Attention! It is the trellis garter that is most suitable for Balsam bushes. This way the shoots are better ventilated and the raspberries receive enough light.

Raspberry pruning

Like any regular raspberry (bearing fruit once per season), Balsam must be pruned, and this will have to be done throughout the warm season.

Stages of pruning raspberry Balsam:

Immediately after the end of raspberry fruiting, it is necessary to cut out all fruit-bearing shoots (two-year-old shoots covered with bark). These branches are taken away and burned so as not to provoke the spread of infections.
In late autumn, remove all excess shoots, diseased and dry branches.
From the beginning of summer it is necessary to remove the shoots from Balsam. This is done periodically using a sharp shovel.
In mid-May, it is recommended to pinch the tops of two-year-old Balsam shoots to stimulate their branching.
They also don’t forget about rationing, cutting out the weakest or smallest shoots in the row so that there are no more than a dozen of them left per linear meter.
In the spring, raspberry shoots are inspected and branches that have rotted and rotted over the winter are removed.

Advice! A double pruning scheme for Balsam is recommended: at the beginning of summer, all raspberry shoots are shortened by 10-15 cm, and a year later all lateral growths are trimmed by 10-15 cm.

Watering and fertilizing

Irrigation and regular fertilizing are a guarantee of an excellent harvest. Fertilizers must be applied sparingly, otherwise they will only harm the raspberries. During soil preparation, the area is covered with humus or compost according to the following calculation:

0.5 buckets of organic matter per bush or bucket per meter of plantation;
When using ready-made mineral fertilizers (with potassium, phosphorus and calcium), be sure to follow the instructions indicated on the packaging.

Wood ash has become widespread. This substance is used at the rate of 1 glass per shrub or 0.5 liters per linear meter of site. During the growing season, the ground around the site is covered with humus mulch. Layer thickness – from 5 to 8 cm.

Note: if organic matter is not at hand, you can use nitrogen compounds such as urea or saltpeter. Proportions – 2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water. The finished composition is used for 1 linear meter. A fruit crop needs high humidity in 2 situations:

during active leaf growth, when the plant takes a lot of moisture from the soil;
during the period of ovary and fruit ripening.

When the berries are forming, the bushes are regularly watered if there is no precipitation. When irrigating, the water should moisten the soil to a depth of 30–40 cm. The root system of the plant is located at this level.

How to feed raspberries

It is clear that without additional fertilization of the land there will be no good raspberry harvests, no matter how prolific the variety is. There should be several feedings per season:

in early spring, when the buds begin to grow, the soil under the raspberries is fed with fertilizers containing nitrogen (nitroammophosphate, ammonium nitrate, urea).
When buds appear on the Balsam bushes (but have not yet blossomed), the raspberries need to be fed with a mineral complex, in which potassium, calcium, phosphorus and iron predominate. At this stage, a lot of nitrogen is not required. It is better to use potassium preparations, superphosphate, and wood ash.
At the fruiting stage of raspberries, it is recommended to use liquid mullein or bird droppings diluted in water - the bushes are watered with this mixture.

Important! In the fall, when the raspberries have already been pruned, you can scatter humus, compost or peat around the area, and scatter ash.

Pest Control

The most dangerous plant pest is the raspberry beetle. This insect does not allow the fruit to develop, as a result of which the berries do not ripen. It is recommended to shake off the beetle on film in the spring or use special means.

Flower beetle weevils, stem gall midges and some other insects can also harm the plant. Therefore, it is recommended to regularly inspect the bush, dig up the ground in the fall and treat the soil with 1% Bordeaux mixture.

Preparing for winter

According to gardeners, the Balsam raspberry tolerates winters well in the southern and central regions - there is no need to cover it here, otherwise the shoots and buds will simply dry out. In areas with a continental climate and little snowy winters (in the Urals, around Moscow and St. Petersburg), it is better to bend the raspberry tree under the snow.

Balsam overwinters well under spruce or pine spruce branches. Before covering the shoots, they are tied and bent to the ground (as in the photo).

Review

Igor Petrovich, 62 years old, Voronezh

On my farm there were many varieties and hybrids of raspberries; I grew both remontant varieties and bushes with yellow berries. Almost all the “inhabitants” of my raspberry garden are constantly changing, there are only a couple of “long-livers”. Among these we can name Hussar, Maroseyka and Balsam. If the first two varieties are taken for the size of the berry (about 10 grams) and its excellent taste, then Balsam simply amazes with its vitality. Even in the worst years, this raspberry produces stable yields, never gets sick, and is practically not affected by insects. In less than twenty years, the weather in our region has been different: drought, terrible heat, severe frosts, sudden thaws. The balm withstood everything with dignity: only a few bushes froze and dried out. Based on all that has been said, I can recommend Balsam as a persistent variety that produces stable yields of berries of normal taste and size.