Growing Samberi berries - planting and care instructions

You won't surprise anyone with exotic plants in a modern summer cottage, curiosities quickly become familiar inhabitants of the garden. Sunberry stands out among berry crops, because neither planting nor care is difficult, and agricultural technology resembles growing tomatoes. Exot has high decorative qualities, will serve as an excellent decoration for the site.

Description of culture

Sunberry is a plant of hybrid origin, bred in 1905. For more than a hundred years, these berries have been popular in the American continent and are highly valued for their beneficial qualities.

Breeder Luther Burbank obtained the Sunberry (Sambury) from African and European nightshade. The African "parent" gave the culture high growth, decorative qualities, large fruits and a rich harvest. From the European species, the hybrid inherited a pleasant taste that appears after heat treatment.

In America and Europe, the samberi berry quickly gained popularity, but in our country they hardly heard of it because of its thermophilicity and mediocre taste. Garden nightshade has strong tetrahedral stems, forms branchy bushes with large stepsons. In just one growing season, the bush grows up to 90-150 cm.

Sunberry blooms from mid-June until the end of the season. At this time, decorative qualities are manifested to the maximum. Against the background of thick stems and simple foliage, small white flowers, similar to potato ones, and large clusters of black berries appear at the same time. Unlike its wild relatives, cultivated nightshade has large fruits reaching the size of a cherry. The Sunberry yield is amazing - you can easily collect a bucket of berries from each bush.

Useful qualities of a samberi berry

The cultivated nightshade tastes little different from the wild-growing relative, it is completely devoid of sour notes. Fresh sunberry berries completely retain their useful composition, but most often they are eaten after a short heat treatment. Cooking allows the fruit to fully reveal its unique taste.

Sunberry contains:

• organic acids;
• vitamins A and C;
• pectin;
• flavonoids;
• anthocyanins;
• macro- and microelements (calcium, selenium, iron, magnesium, potassium, silver);
• lipids;
• glycoalkaloids;
• Sahara.

Such a rich chemical composition of Sunberry berries did not go unnoticed by traditional healers. The fruits are successfully used for the treatment of anemia, oncology, gastritis, bronchial asthma, inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract. They help to strengthen the walls of blood vessels, remove harmful substances from the body. Sunberry juice is a powerful antiseptic and is therefore used to treat skin conditions. Berries have a mild laxative and diuretic effect, help to strengthen the immune system, slow down the aging process.

Growing sunberry seedlings

At home, Samberi winters well and can bear fruit for several years in a row. In our latitudes, cultivation is possible only by seedlings, a heat-loving guest will not tolerate wintering. Let us consider in more detail the technology of cultivating sunberry berries in a seedling way.

Plant seeds are not sold in horticultural stores; you need to look for them exclusively in seed nurseries. The seed is often sold under the name "Canadian blueberry" or "blueberry forte", there are no sunberry varieties yet.

Very often, under the guise of a large-fruited nightshade, its wild-growing counterpart with small berries is sold, so the seeds need to be bought from trusted companies.

Of the advantages of Sunberry, easy reproduction by seeds of its own collection is noted. It is enough to pay once for the seed, and then you can harvest it yourself. You can sow seedlings throughout March.

Sunberry seeds are not very similar. They require special treatment before sowing.

1. Disinfection is carried out with a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes. Dressing is mandatory for any seeds - purchased and self-collected: the event will protect the seedlings from being damaged by fungal infections. After soaking, be sure to rinse the seed with clean water.
2. Scarification is the artificial destruction of the seed coat. Some sources state that each sunberry seed should be cut at the point of germination. This approach is undesirable because the embryo can easily be injured. Use baked river sand, he will do the job for you. Pour the seed into a jar of sand, shake vigorously several times.
3. Remove the sunberry seeds from the sand and place them on a damp gauze or cotton pad. It is not necessary to wrap the fabric in a bag, it is only important to monitor the level of moisture.

Sowing activities can be started in 4–5 days, when the seeds are swollen.

Sunberry is undemanding to the soil, but it is better to choose a light nutrient substrate with a neutral environment. Acidic peat-based soils are not suitable for growing seedlings. Use a multipurpose potting soil for growing vegetable seedlings.

Since Sunberry seedlings can easily tolerate the picking process, you can grow seedlings in a common box. If you want to grow each specimen in an individual container, select a 500-700 ml glass. Be sure to make drain holes in the bottom of the container you choose.

Sowing sunberry seeds for seedlings is carried out according to the following instructions.

1. At the bottom of the container, lay out a drainage of fine expanded clay with a layer of 2-3 cm.
2. Fill the container with a nutritious substrate, pour abundantly.
3. Sow prepared seeds in 3-4 cm increments. Planting depth - 5 mm.
4. Cover the container with glass or plastic to create a greenhouse effect.

Before germination, keep containers in a warm place with diffused lighting, do not allow the soil to dry out.

When sprouts appear, remove the protective covering from the pots. Sunberry seedlings are unpretentious, they do not need special care.

Seedlings are sprayed with warm water twice a day, as they grow, they switch to irrigation from a watering can under the root. Watch for a sufficient level of moisture, seedlings do not tolerate the drying out of an earthen coma. If sowing was carried out at the end of winter, additional lighting with a phytolamp will be required (the sunberry is sensitive to a lack of sunlight). It is also recommended to rotate the pots so that the bushes do not form one-sided. If desired, you can feed the seedlings with a full mineral complex.

A pick from a common box is carried out at the stage of forming the third sheet. Do not forget to prepare sunberry seedlings for natural conditions - harden 10-14 days before planting in a permanent place. Take the pots to the balcony, veranda, gradually extending their exposure to the fresh air.

Planting Sunberry in open ground

During the seedling period, Sunberry forms bushes 30-35 cm high, having 5-7 true leaves. The heat-loving guest is planted in the open ground after the establishment of warm weather, when the threat of return frosts has passed.

Sunberry is an area with good sun all day long. The landing site must be protected from cold winds. The soil is pre-dug up with humus, and before planting it is loosened with a rake.According to the rules of crop rotation, it is impossible to plant sunberries where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and other representatives of the Solanaceae family grew. Melons, green manure, peas will be a good predecessor.

If there is acidic soil on the site, first carry out liming or add dolomite flour, chalk.

Sunberry planting is carried out as follows:

1. prepare a hole in the area of ​​such a depth to fit the root system of the seedling;
2. observe the step between the bushes 80-100 cm, between rows at least 80 cm;
3. water the sunberry seedlings abundantly, after 2 hours remove from the pots, being careful not to damage the roots;
4. plant the plants in moistened wells, top up the soil, compact around the stem.

To avoid rapid evaporation of moisture, mulch the plantings with peat chips.

Sunberry care

An exotic guest is so unpretentious that caring for her is no more difficult than for potatoes.

• Sunberry loves rare but abundant irrigation. After watering, it is useful to loosen the soil, during which the soil is scooped up to the trunk for greater stability of the bush. From the moment the first fruits ripen, the amount of water should be increased, this will have a beneficial effect on the quality of the crop.
• Mulching is a mandatory measure that will protect the bushes from rapid evaporation of water.
• Top dressing is applied three times during the growing season. Sunberry is suitable as a complete mineral complex, and a garden infusion, fermented mullein, diluted with water 1:10.
• The sturdy stems of the Sunberry do not need support, but when lodging under the weight of the crop, it is better to install slingshots.
• Diseases and pests are very rare in overseas culture. It is advisable to use folk remedies for the fight. Tobacco dust, infusion of garlic or marigolds will help from insects. To prevent fungal diseases, a week after transplanting, treat the bushes with Bordeaux mixture.
• Sunberry shaping is not required, but by the end of the growing season it is advisable to remove all the buds and a few stepsons - this will accelerate the ripening of the crop.

Harvesting and processing of crops

Sunberry berries are not afraid of the first autumn frosts; the harvest ripens by the end of September. If a sudden cold snap is coming, covering material can be used to protect the plantings. Ripe berries become soft, acquire a rich black color. The crop is not prone to shedding and spoilage. If some of the fruits did not have time to ripen, they are removed along with the bush. It is better to hang it in a well-ventilated place, for a week the samberi berries will ripen.

Before processing, it is recommended to pour over the fruits with boiling water. They will make excellent jam, jam, marmalade. The highlight of winter harvesting will be a vegetable stew with sunberry berries, as well as pickled fruits canned in tomato juice.

For maximum health benefits when making jam, use five-minute recipes.

Sunberry is an amazing and very useful plant that is very easy to grow. If you don't like the taste of the sunny berry, you can always plant a couple of bushes to decorate the site.