Strawberry Rusich: variety description and characteristics, planting and care rules

Garden strawberries, which produce large fruits, are often grown by summer residents for sale due to their attractive appearance. Rusich strawberry is a development of domestic breeders, which is recommended for cultivation in the Central region. Like any variety, it has its pros and cons, which should be studied before planting bushes in the garden. With proper care, Rusich gives rich harvests of tasty and fragrant berries.

Description and characteristics of the variety

The variety of garden strawberries of universal purpose Rusich was bred by the specialists of the experimental station of the Bryansk region.This happened due to the crossing of two varieties of strawberries - Surprise Olympics and Chamomile, the author was the breeder S. D. Aitdzhanova. After the tests, the Rusich variety was included in the State Register of Fruit Crops and recommended for cultivation in the Central Region of the Russian Federation.

The crop description indicates the following characteristics of garden strawberries:

1. The bushes are spherical, quite tall, with little mustache.
2. Strawberry leaf plates are painted dark green, they have small pimples and a slight sheen is noticeable.
3. A lot of flower stalks are formed on each bush, they are located high above the soil surface, which prevents the berries from rotting even in wet weather. Peduncles are strong, characterized by elasticity.
4. The variety is not remontant and produces a crop once a season, this occurs in late July or early July, depending on the growing region.
5. With proper care, about 10 tons of fruits are harvested from one hectare of plantings.
6. In place of flowers, large-sized berries are tied, which, when ripe, acquire a dark red hue, the weight of one fruit, on average, is 60 grams. Tasters rated the taste of Rusich at 4.5 out of 5 points. When grown in the sun, strawberries become sweet with a little sourness.
7. The variety has sufficient winter hardiness, so it does not need serious shelter from frost.
8. Immunity to common crop diseases is average, therefore preventive treatments are required.
9. The berries have a good presentation and do not deteriorate when transported over long distances, so they are often grown for sale.

Good and bad sides

Those gardeners who have been growing Rusich strawberries on their plots for more than one year noted the pros and cons of the domestic variety. They attributed to the benefits of garden strawberries:

• good productivity from one plant bush;
• attractive appearance of berries and their large size;
• resistance to winter temperature extremes and dry summer periods;
• good transportability of berries and the possibility of their sale on the market;
• the universal purpose of fruits.

From the shortcomings of the variety, they noted:

• need for prophylaxis due to weak immunity;
• demanding strawberries to the place of growth for high yields.

Growing and caring for Rusich strawberries

The right choice of location and full agrotechnical care of the bushes will allow you to get large-sized berries with excellent taste.

Site selection and soil preparation

Despite the fact that Rusich garden strawberries can grow on any soil, fertile and light soil is preferable for rich yields, with an acidity level ranging from 5 to 6, so it is recommended to prepare the ground before planting bushes. 2 weeks before planting the seedlings, they dig up the plot on a spade bayonet and add humus at the rate of 10 kg per square meter of the garden.

Beds are best placed in sunny places, in extreme cases, partial shade is allowed; in the shade, the berries will not reach the required size and will be sour.

Landing

The bushes are planted according to the following algorithm:

1. The seedling's horse system is treated with the Kornevin preparation so that it takes root better in a new place.
2. The holes are made shallow, keeping a distance of 60 cm between them.
3. If the seedling has long roots, they are cut so that the maximum length is 8 cm.
4. In the middle of the hole, strawberries are planted and covered with fertile soil.
5. Plentifully irrigate plantings and lay a mulch layer.

Water and fertilize

Despite drought tolerance, the Rusich garden strawberry variety requires sufficient moisture to form large berries. Watering is carried out once a week with warm settled water. If there is a strong heat, and there has not been rain for a long time, it is recommended to irrigate the bushes every 3-4 days.

In the first year after planting, if the bushes were placed in fertile soil, no additional fertilizer is needed. Feeding begins from the 2nd year of strawberry development. They do it three times a season:

1. In the spring, mineral complexes with a high nitrogen concentration are used.
2. During the flowering period, mullein or bird droppings are added, diluting them in water - in the first case, the concentration is 1:10, in the second, 20 liters of water are needed for 1 part of the droppings so as not to burn the roots of the culture.
3. The last top dressing is carried out as part of preparing plants for winter, using potassium-phosphorus fertilizers for this.

Loosening

If you lay a mulch layer around the bushes and between the rows, the amount of soil loosening can be significantly reduced. Otherwise, weeding and loosening is carried out after each rain or watering.

Moustache removal

Mustache domestic variety forms little, so they do not need to be removed if you plan to propagate strawberries.

Diseases and pests

Insect pests rarely infect garden strawberry bushes, but prevention is necessary against diseases. For this, Bordeaux liquid or any fungicidal preparation is used according to the instructions, for example, Fitosporin.

Subtleties of plant propagation

Due to the small amount of whiskers that the Rusich variety forms, it is difficult to propagate strawberries in this way, so gardeners use the method of dividing an adult bush.

Collection and storage

Fruits begin to be harvested from the bushes in late June or early July. The large berry is rarely used to make jam and is frozen and sold in the market.

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