Gardeners are always interested in new varieties of berries and vegetables. In them, breeders try to fulfill all the expectations of farmers. A special place is given to raspberries. This is the favorite berry of adults and children, nutritious, tasty, beautiful. The promising raspberry variety Monomakh Hat, which appeared on the market quite recently, is quickly gaining popularity.
What is remarkable about this variety and is it worth growing?
Description of raspberry Monomakh's Cap
Among the remontant raspberry varieties, the Monomakh Cap, bred by the Russian breeder I.V. Kazakov, is especially popular. Although this variety appeared quite recently, it has already won many fans.
Externally, raspberries look more like a tree. Its stems are quite powerful and grow up to one and a half meters high.
The fruits are purple in color and very large in size. They usually weigh 6-7 grams, but with ideal care they can reach 15-20 grams (equal in size to a small plum). Usually 4-5 kilograms of tasty berries are harvested from one bush, but under favorable conditions the yield increases to 6-8 kilograms.
The berries have an elongated, blunt-conical shape and dense pulp. They are easily separated from the stalk. They are characterized by a sweet taste with noticeable sourness. They leave a pleasant aftertaste. They have a well-defined raspberry aroma. Thanks to their elastic texture, Monomakh Cap fruits last longer than other varieties.
The first harvest is harvested in July from last year's shoots, and the second ripens from August to November on young stems, until the first frost. The autumn harvest is twice as large as the spring harvest and is not affected by pests.
There are almost no thorns on the shoots. In addition, they are mainly located at the bottom, which makes picking berries convenient.
This variety is quite frost-resistant. It can withstand 25° frost without problems. But in areas where the winter is too harsh, it is recommended to bend the shoots to the ground and cover them with snow.
Characteristics of the variety
The variety is remontant, large-fruited, medium-late ripening. It bears fruit on the shoots of the previous and current year, but most of the harvest occurs in the “second wave” of fruiting.
A bush up to 150 cm high with a few (4-5 pieces), thick, strong stems. The thorns are large, but there are few of them, and they are located at the bottom of the shoots. Root shoots are practically not formed. Winter hardiness is average: plants tolerate short-term temperature drops down to −25 ℃, but when cultivated as a biennial crop in the middle zone and colder regions, they need full shelter for the winter.
The berries are large (on average about 9 g, in good conditions they grow up to 15-18 g) and beautiful, really looking like caps. The shape is blunt-conical, slightly elongated. The surface is smooth, the drupes are almost identical. Color ranges from dark purple to dark burgundy. The detachment from the fruit is dry. The pulp is juicy, dense, with a pleasant sweet and sour taste.
Productivity is high: up to 5 kg can be harvested from a plant per season. The use of fruits is universal. They are suitable for storage in a cool place for 3-5 days, “keep” their shape well, and can be safely transported.
The purpose of the berries is universal: they are suitable for fresh consumption, preparation of any desserts, all methods of processing and freezing
Gardeners who have experience cultivating this variety note the following advantages:
- the strength of the stems, which require almost no support;
- convenient location of the spikes, facilitating agrotechnical activities;
- lack of root shoots. Caring for Monomakh's Cap raspberries does not require constant clearing of row spacing. When planting new bushes, there is no need to dig underground “fences”;
- the possibility of growing as an annual crop, which eliminates the risk of stems freezing and reduces the susceptibility of plants to insect pests. In cases where all shoots are radically pruned down to soil level in the fall, there is no need to construct shelters;
- decent yield;
- high consumer qualities of berries.
Radical pruning of bushes eliminates the need to build shelters and eliminates the risk of stems freezing
Unfortunately, raspberries also have obvious disadvantages:
- ripening periods limiting the growing area. When cultivated in a two-year crop, the first berries on last year's shoots in the middle zone ripen in the third decade of July, and the “second wave” starts, at best, in the last days of August. With this fruiting regime, a significant part of the ovaries simply does not have time to “fill up”. Growing in an annual crop (obtaining berries only from the shoots of the current year) allows the plants to form a harvest one to two weeks earlier, but a significant part of it still falls under the first frost;
- strong dependence of fruit quality on the intensity of agrotechnical measures. The variety is extremely sensitive to soil composition, irrigation regime and summer temperature fluctuations. Thus, with a lack of moisture, the berries become noticeably smaller, and if watered too frequently, they become tasteless and watery;
- difficulty in propagating the variety due to the lack of root shoots;
- high susceptibility to almost all viral diseases. Bushes are often affected by pathogens of curl, septoria and anthracnose, and require regular treatments with appropriate protective drugs. Some gardeners report that they were forced to massively destroy plantings of varieties that were affected by bushy dwarfism (colloquially this disease is called “scattering dwarfism” due to the fact that the berries from the affected bushes disintegrate into separate drupes as they ripen).
Landing
Monomakh's cap produces almost no growth. Therefore, seedlings or cuttings are used for propagation. The cuttings (their length should be about 15 centimeters) are cut slightly below the soil level and rooted in special containers, and after a month they are transplanted into moist soil in a permanent place. You can also prepare cuttings in the fall. In this case, they are placed in boxes and brought into the basement until spring.
For planting, you should select a fertile and well-lit area in the southern part of the garden. The soil should be neutral, moist and breathable. Heavy, acidic and waterlogged soils are completely unsuitable for this raspberry variety.
Neutralize the soil with lime flour. If the soil is very acidic, then add 400 grams of flour per square meter, and if it is moderately acidic, then 200 grams. You can also use wood ash (it will not only reduce the acidity of the soil, but also enrich it with mineral elements) or dolomite flour.
Monomakh's Cap is very fond of organic fertilizers. Therefore, humus or settled manure is added to each hole (its depth is 30-35 centimeters). The seedlings are sprinkled with earth, compacted and watered. Then mulch is made from plant residues or humus. When planting, the root collar should be placed level with the ground. If you raise it too high, the root is exposed. If positioned low, rotting is possible. The distance between cuttings is 70-80 centimeters.
Seedlings with an open root system are planted in spring or autumn, and with a closed root system - at any time of the year.
It is necessary to loosen the soil to saturate it with oxygen. But you need to act carefully so as not to damage the root system located on the surface.
To ensure uniform illumination of the bushes, trellises are used.
Specifics of reproduction
The growth around the Monomakh Cap bush is insignificant: for this reason, the most common method of propagating the variety is cuttings. At the end of spring, several young shoots need to be pruned. It is advisable to do this when they reach a height of 4-5 cm. Cropped cuttings should be immediately planted in pre-watered soil. After the shoots take root, they can be transplanted to a permanent growing location.
Important! Experienced gardeners advise planting raspberries in the fall: at this time, the crop produces a large number of cuttings suitable for propagation.
The planted raspberry root system is removed from the soil in late autumn, and the roots are cut into separate cuttings about 15 cm long. It is better to store the cuttings in dark, cold conditions, for example, in the basement, and make sure that parts of the plant do not dry out. When spring arrives, they are moved to boxes with peat and wet sand, then sprinkled with the same mixture. When parts of the plant reach a length of 3 cm, they can be separated from the root system and planted in the soil.
Care
In the first year, raspberries do not need fertilizer. Then every spring you need to do nitrogen fertilizing (50 grams of fertilizers are diluted in a bucket of water) to activate the growth of foliage, in the summer - potassium and phosphorus fertilizing (about 50 grams of fertilizers are applied per square meter) to stimulate fruiting. Organic fertilizers are applied 3 times during the growing season. It is best to use an infusion of chicken manure (diluted in a ratio of 1:20) or cow manure (1:10).
It is recommended to fertilize after rain. It is advisable that the weather be warm.
Trimming
Monomakh's hat requires proper trimming. If the gardener has decided to receive only an autumn harvest, then late in the fall the shoots are cut out at the root. If he wants to harvest twice, then in spring and autumn they do sanitary pruning, removing diseased, damaged and two-year-old stems. 5-7 shoots are usually left in the bush.
To prevent the development of diseases, it is necessary to regularly trim the bushes, as well as carry out preventive treatment with fungicidal preparations in early spring.
How to plant
Let's consider the main features of planting Monomakh's Cap raspberries.
Selecting a location
When growing and caring for raspberries, it is best to choose places in sunny areas with well-warmed soil. Shady places are not for raspberries. Give preference to an area well protected from the wind from the north
In addition, it is important to make sure that groundwater in a given location lies no closer than one and a half meters to the surface of the earth
How to plant raspberries
It is better to choose a hill or plain for planting shrubs, but not low and shady areas of the garden. If you plant raspberries near buildings or a fence, then the distance between the bush and the building should not be less than a meter.
The predecessor of this crop should not be raspberries of another variety. In this case, there is a high risk that the soil will already be depleted, and in addition, all the diseases and pests of the previous variety will be transferred to the new variety. The best predecessors for this variety are green manure plants: oats, mustard, as well as legumes and cereals.
Timing
Young raspberries can be planted both in spring and autumn
It is only important that in the spring this is the period before the active growing season begins - that is, approximately March, and in the fall - after the growing season - September, October. The weather at the time of planting raspberries should be warm, without snow or rain.
The soil
This plant prefers soil with a neutral acidity level. If the soil in the area you have chosen is acidic, it is recommended to liming it. In addition to lime, you can also add dolomite flour or wood ash to the soil: these substances also help neutralize acidity.
On the video - how to plant raspberries:
Selection of seedlings
When buying a raspberry seedling, pay attention to its roots, first of all. They must be developed, well branched
In addition, it is important that the root system is covered with a damp cloth: this measure helps to avoid drying out the roots. The thickness of the seedling should be no less than the diameter of a pencil, and its length should be from half a meter to a meter
Boarding procedure
The first step is to prepare the holes for planting in advance. The depth of each of them should be approximately 30 cm: the length and width should be similar. If you are planting several bushes, keep a distance of one meter between the holes.
Place 2 tablespoons of superphosphate mixed with wood ash in each hole. After laying the fertilizers, be sure to thoroughly mix them with the soil.
Place the seedlings in the holes, carefully straightening their roots
Cover the seedlings with soil, making sure that the root collar is located slightly above ground level
After planting, each plant must be watered using a bucket of water. Mulch the soil on top of the root circle with a nutritious mixture of peat and humus. It may also be useful for you to learn about where it is better to plant raspberries.
Secrets of high yield
To get high raspberry yields, you need:
- plant bushes on neutral soil;
- select well-lit areas protected from the wind for planting;
- apply fertilizers in a timely manner;
- regularly loosen the soil;
- do not allow the soil to dry out;
- remove excess ovary;
- trim bushes correctly.
Advantages and disadvantages
Disadvantages of Monomakh's Cap are increased susceptibility to viral diseases (chlorosis, yellow mosaic, curliness) and dependence on climatic conditions. With an excess of moisture, the berries become watery and not very sweet, and with a deficiency, they become small. When the acidity of the soil changes, the berries become smaller, their taste and appearance change. In addition, if the cold starts early, then not all the fruits have time to ripen.
But these disadvantages are compensated by many advantages:
- large berries;
- high productivity;
- commercial type of fruit;
- long period of fruiting;
- relatively long storage;
- good transportability;
- the ability of berries to ripen on cut shoots;
- ability to resist pests;
- increased frost resistance.
Reviews
Monomakh's Cap is a new variety that has not yet become widespread. Therefore, there are few reviews about it yet.
Gardeners do not agree on the taste of raspberries. Some claim the excellent taste of the berries, while others believe that the fruits are not sweet enough. But no one denies the high yield and impressive size of the berries.
Experienced gardeners claim that it is better to grow Monomakh's Cap in the southern regions of Russia, since in the northern climate, due to early frosts, most of the crop does not have time to ripen.
Appearance
Now let's talk about the description of raspberries. Thick green shoots, rising 1.5 meters above the ground, branch strongly. The branches of the formed bush droop down, and it resembles a small tree.
Berries
Monomakh's Cap is famous for its large, tasty, bright red berries. The shape of the berries is elongated, conical with a rather blunt end. On average, the weight of the berry reaches almost 7 grams, in some cases the weight reaches 20 grams, and the berries are the size of a plum. The size of raspberries is directly proportional to watering: if the soil is well moistened, the berries are large and juicy, and a lack of moisture leads to a decrease in the size and number of fruits.
The juicy pulp is easily separated from the stalk, sweet with a slight sourness, it melts in the mouth, leaving a pleasant aftertaste. The berry has an elastic texture, so it can be transported over short distances and stored. Used fresh as a dessert, good for making jam, compotes, and fruit drinks.
Productivity
The yield of a bush depends on the conditions of maintenance and care; per season you can collect 4.5 - 5 kg of berries from one bush. If the berries are large, as a rule, this happens in the first two years, then you can harvest up to 8 kg of raspberries.
Bushes of this variety begin to bear fruit in the second half of August and continue until mid-autumn, right up to the first frost. The berries have enough time to form and ripen. Over the entire period, about 60% of the declared harvest can be harvested; the rest does not have time to gain color before the onset of cold weather.
If you create greenhouse conditions and stretch a special covering fabric over the raspberries in the second half of April, you can speed up the process of budding and ripening of the fruit.
It is easy to pick fruits from the bush - this variety is thornless. Only a small number of thorns are located at the base of the bush.
Ripe raspberries on a bush
