Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) SELENA

Black Raspberry 'Selena' (PBR)

A modern, highly promising Polish variety featuring large, sweet fruits, reduced thorns, and excellent resistance to drought and diseases.

'Selena' (syn. NR 1825501) is a modern, highly promising black raspberry variety (Rubus occidentalis) bred in Poland with a primary focus on industrial processing and commercial plantations. It is a new variety that has been submitted for legal protection at the Polish COBORU office under the number S 392. It stands out for its vigorous growth, large and firm fruits with a high sugar content, and excellent post-harvest shelf life. Thanks to its resistance to drought and diseases, and its suitability for mechanical harvesting, it is a top choice for modern fruit growing, but it will certainly appeal to home growers as well.

Key advantages of the variety:

• Primocane-fruiting (Everbearing): The variety is capable of bearing fruit on both last year's and this year's wood, ensuring a harvest in two waves.
• Reduced thorns: A massive advantage over older black raspberry varieties is that the firm and stiff shoots have only a limited number of thorns.
• High resistance: Characterized by high tolerance to drought, excellent frost hardiness, and low susceptibility to aphids, Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV), and fungal diseases.
• Ideal for mechanical harvest: The variety is explicitly suitable for harvesting with combines. The fruits have high post-harvest shelf life even after mechanical harvesting.

Fruit and Harvest

• Appearance: Large fruits (average weight 2.5 g) composed of small drupelets. They are very glossy and beautifully shaped.
• Flavor and flesh: The fruits are very firm. They feature a high sugar content (Brix value reaches 13.7%).
• Harvest period: The main crop on last year's shoots (floricanes) ripens from early to mid-July. The crop on this year's shoots (primocanes) begins to ripen in early September. The harvest is concentrated over a period of approximately 5 weeks.
• Yield: High (average yield is 2.3 kg per plant).
• Utility: Primarily recommended for the industrial market (processing, freezing), but thanks to the high sugar content and fruit size, it is also excellent for fresh consumption.

Cultivation and Resistance

• Habit: Vigorous growth. The structure of the bush and smaller leaves facilitate fruit harvesting.
• Grower's note: This is a new, highly optimized industrial variety, whose potential weaknesses may only become apparent after years of mass cultivation. It is a licensed protected variety.