Strawberry Black Prince

Strawberry Black Prince is a new variety of Italian selection, which attracted the attention of many summer residents because of its appearance and the possibility of fruiting in the rainy season. And also the plant tolerates frost well. At the same time, the considered variety is characterized by a number of other useful properties.

This garden strawberry was bred by New Fruits, a nursery company that supplies high quality planting material. Most of the nurseries are located in Italy.

During the work on the cultivation of this variety, tests were carried out in Ukraine. The Black Prince has proven himself well in the vastness of Europe and in many other regions of Russia.

Consider the features of the Black Prince variety.

• Young bushes have dark green surfaces with a glossy sheen. The size is average, under favorable climatic conditions, they grow very quickly.

• An adult shrub is characterized by a very high height when compared with other varieties.

• The flower stalks are also tall, stand upright, but due to the gravity of the berries, they can tilt slightly above the ground. This feature increases the number of berries with rot due to contact with the ground.

• Berries of this variety can be eaten in almost unlimited quantities. With a rather sweet taste, they contain almost no sugar.

The considered remontant variety belongs to the medium-early ripening culture. The first fruits appear already in the 20th of June, the berries continue to form until the beginning of autumn.

The variety has a stable fruiting period. A slight decrease in the size of berries is observed only towards the end of the season.

The yield indicator is favorably reflected by the long fruiting period and the stability of the appearance of large fruits. A small bush gives about 1 kg of berries for the whole season, which corresponds to an indicator of 20-30 t / ha.

The peak yield is reached after 3-4 years. At the same time, the bushes can not be renewed for 6-7 years, which favorably distinguishes the variety against the background of others.

The color of the resulting fruits is dark red. It was this moment that determined the name of the variety. The seeds are also dark in color and are on the surface. Therefore, the fruit is slightly rough to the touch. Other characteristics of the fruit:

• weight up to 50 g;

• glossy surface;

• the shape resembles a truncated cone;

• retains its presentation for a long period;

• there is a pronounced aroma of strawberries, a note of sourness appears.

Many people like this variety precisely because of the large size of the berries and the peculiar taste. Moreover, throughout the entire period of fruiting, the fruits do not diminish, but remain large and juicy.

Despite the resistance of the variety to various environmental influences, you still need to pay due attention to its planting. Only in this case it is possible to ensure a long life of the bushes and sufficient yield.

The variety prefers light loam and sandy loam soil, which are characterized by good water permeability. An important point - the culture does not tolerate heavy soils with a large amount of clay in the composition, it also will not grow in peat or silty soil. Other recommendations regarding the selection and preparation of the soil:

• The best place is considered to be sunny areas that are protected from a crosswind;

• the recommended groundwater depth is 60 cm;

• before planting, preferably in the fall, the earth is dug to a depth of 20-25 cm.

The next step is to administer organic and peat-humic fertilizers. They are aimed at improving the structure of the soil.

If there is increased acidity, dolomite flour is added at the rate of 300 grams per square meter. It is highly discouraged to land on slopes.

This variety blooms in May. It should be borne in mind that the plant is dioecious, so a male pollinator is required. When grown outdoors, there are no problems with this process.

When grown in a greenhouse, it is necessary to provide conditions for artificial pollination.

For this, a fan is installed, which provides a slight breeze to move the pollen.

All flowers are smeared with a soft brush.

An important point concerns the fact that this variety blooms throughout the entire fruiting period. Therefore, artificial pollination is carried out up to 3 times a week.

The main problem of the variety is the strawberry mite. When a small amount of this pest appears, a folk remedy is used. If the tick has hit the strawberry bushes badly, then chemicals have to be used. It is not recommended to use them at the time of bud formation and fruit ripening.Therefore, you need to quickly respond to the appearance of a tick before the fruiting period.

And also a low resistance to brown and white spots, anthracnose was revealed. As a means of protection against these diseases, preventive measures associated with the use of Bordeaux liquid or "Fitosporin-M" are used. It should be borne in mind that when white spot is affected, it is almost impossible to save the crop and the plantations themselves, the plants are completely removed.

The variety in question is propagated in three traditional ways:

• seeds;

• dividing the bush;

• mustache or layering.

Today, the seed method is used extremely rarely due to its low efficiency. Whiskers for reproduction are formed only in the first year of life, so in the future you have to resort to the method of dividing the bush.

In conclusion, we note that the Black Prince is an interesting and promising variety. On the territory of the middle zone with a temperate climate, it has not yet become widespread. The berries are delicious and ripen over a long period.