Nero

created by Sylvia K. at 02.02.2021

Season Overview

Sowing

Harvest

J

F

M

A

M

J

A

S

O

N

D

1ST YEAR

FOLLOWING YEARS

Description

The black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), also called bald chokeberry or black rowan, is a shrub from the rose family (Rosaceae). It is native to eastern North America, where it has been prized by Native Americans for hundreds of years as a vitamin-rich winter food. Around 1900, the Russian botanist and plant breeder Ivan Vladimirovich Mitchurin discovered it and brought it to Russia. Because of its extreme frost hardiness, it was soon cultivated on a large scale and used primarily as a source of color for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Aronia plantations now exist in many Eastern European countries as well as in Scandinavia. The vitamin-rich fruit has been found in the territory of the former GDR since the 1970s, but more and more fruit growers in the rest of Germany are discovering the wild fruit as an interesting alternative to the classic fruit varieties.

Non hybrid

Frostproof

Growing tips

Black chokeberry is generally undemanding and extremely adaptable. You can usually do without fertilizing, as the shrub produces good yields even without additional nutrients. However, the plant is grateful for occasional applications of compost. Pruning After the first year, you should remove shoots that are too tight in early spring and shorten new ground shoots by about a third so that they branch out well. Every two to three years, the oldest main shoots should be cut out in late winter for rejuvenation. Propagation Aronia melanocarpa can be propagated by sowing, cuttings in summer, division, runners or piling up. Chokeberry is best sown immediately after harvest in summer. Seeds stored in dry conditions are subject to germination inhibition and must therefore be cold stratified for 12 to 16 weeks before sowing.