Black chokeberry: well-known varieties, simple and correct cultivation, benefits
Content:
Black chokeberry has a large number of advantages: high content of trace elements and vitamins, good yield, ease of care, resistance to frost, pests and diseases.
Black chokeberry: description
Black chokeberry, or Aronia melanocarpa, is quite widespread in Russia. In Greece, "Aronia" means "benefit". Indeed, the plant in its composition has many useful substances and trace elements necessary for normal human life.
The plant is a shrub, grows up to three meters in height, has flexible branches and many shoots. Flowering occurs in late spring - early summer. Fruits ripen in early autumn, they are firmly connected to the tree. Experienced gardeners choose Aronia for its huge number of advantages:
- A high content of vitamins and minerals in its composition.
- Ability to harvest quickly.
- Not demanding in care and planting in open ground.
- High level of resistance against parasites and various diseases.
- Beautiful appearance.
- Easy to reproduce.
You will definitely look at it when it begins to bloom. New leaves are just opening, large inflorescences are located throughout the shrub, the color of the flowers is flawlessly white.
And in the autumn, it bears amazing fruits, namely berries.
Black chokeberry: the best varieties
There are many varieties of Aronia. Experienced gardeners and summer residents consider the best:
- "Viking".
High level of frost resistance. High yield level. The shrub is up to two meters high, straight, the fruits are large, spherical in shape, the taste is pleasant, sweet. They are able to stay on the branches for a long time. Harvesting can be done until mid-autumn.
- "Nero".
High level of frost resistance. The variety is early maturing, the fruits are large (about 1 cm in diameter), have a pleasant taste and light aroma. The shrub is up to three meters high.
- "Black Eyed".
High level of frost resistance. Large spherical fruits (about 1 cm in diameter), have a pleasant smell. The plant does not need special care, it is an excellent honey plant.
How to properly grow and care for Aronia?
Aronia is considered a light-loving plant; you do not need to plant it in the shade or partial shade. It is impossible to call it light-loving, since it treats cold and heat in the same way. It should be noted the high level of frost resistance. It is recommended to plant in light fertile soils. The plant loves moisture, but it is not necessary to fill it in, as it will simply die.
It is necessary to plant a plant in the autumn or spring. Aronia should be 2.4 m apart. Place in a planting hole 5 cm deeper than usual. While the shrub is young, you need to carefully monitor the moisture of the soil and sometimes feed it. You can buy organic fertilizers at any garden store. The shrub has branches of different ages. The most fertile are five-year branches. If the branches are more than six years old, you need to cut it off at the very base. An adult shrub usually has up to seventeen branches of different
age. You can also prune young branches at your discretion. To rejuvenate the shrub (over thirteen years old), remove all branches except the basal shoots.
How to propagate a plant correctly?
There are several ways to reproduce Aronia Chokeberry:
- Seeds.
They planted in April a period in wet sand, the temperature level at this moment is not lower than one and not higher than six degrees. It is not recommended to plant in autumn due to poor germination.
- Root offspring.
The appearance of offspring in the bush should be expected in the summer. The strongest are left intact, the rest are removed. It is necessary to spud the offspring three times, in the autumn they dig up a shrub with a root system and move it to another area.
- Layers.
Root shoots are suitable, in the spring they are covered with peat and fertilizers. Then the shrubs are fed and the soil is moistened. In the autumn season, layers are separated from the bush and separated by shoots. Use sturdy shoots for growing, and more sluggish ones need to grow.
- Green cuttings (ZC).
The process takes place at the beginning of summer. Particles are cut and transferred to a greenhouse or greenhouse.
- By dividing the bush.
- Vaccination.
Black chokeberry: harvest and its use
Harvesting almost always takes place in one process. If you send the berries for processing - a shield is not needed, if for your use - a shield is needed. Harvesting can take a long time due to the fact that the berries hang tightly on the branches. The only thing to consider is the birds. We all know their love for berries, so stay alert. A room with a temperature of no higher than ten degrees is suitable for storing berries. You can store the fruits for 2 months.
In cooking, Aronia berries are used for the preparation of marmalade, compotes, dried fruits, juices, jelly, wine, mashed potatoes, preserves, liqueurs, jam and for the extraction of natural food coloring.
Useful properties of Aronia
The fruits of Aronia Chokeberry are tasty, filled with sweet juice. The berries contain a huge amount of useful trace elements and vitamins that improve the functioning of the human body.
In pharmaceuticals, the fruits of Aronia Aronia are used at the initial stage of hypertension, gastritis, to lower cholesterol, atherosclerosis, infectious diseases, to improve blood vessels, allergies, and for blood clotting.