Blueberry Elizabeth: variety description and characteristics, planting and care, reviews with photos

Elizabeth's blueberry is one of the best breeding hybrids that came to Russia from the USA. The domestic gardener fell in love with the culture for the bright aroma and taste of berries. Attracts decorativeness and winter hardiness of bushes, a rich vitamin and mineral complex in the composition of fruits.

History of Elisabeth Blueberry Breeding

The daughter of an American farmer, Elizabeth White, was fond of growing berry bushes from a young age, and devoted her whole life to her favorite business. By selecting wild blueberries with marketable fruits and planting on their plantations, she achieved the cultivation of the plant.But Elizabeth did not like the size of the berries.

Meeting botanist and breeder Frederic Coville changed everything. Thanks to joint efforts, crops with varietal properties were obtained. The hybrid variety Elizabeth, named after the farmer, was bred much later by crossing Scammell, Katharine and Jersey varieties. The first batch of berries went on sale in 1966.

Advantages and disadvantages of culture

Among the advantages of blueberries of the Elizabeth variety, gardeners note:

• high plant yield - 5-7 kg per bush;
• rich berry flavor with blueberry-grape flavor;
• frost resistance up to - 32 °С;
• preservation of varietal properties during temperature jumps;
• strong built-in immunity against blueberry-specific diseases;
• strong connection of berries with the stalk;
• presentation of fruits after transportation.

The culture is not devoid of minor disadvantages that you should pay attention to when growing. These include:

• long start of fruiting - sixth or seventh year from planting;
• partial death of flower buds during late frosts;
• uneven ripening of berries -2-4 weeks;
• lack of time for crops to ripen when early cold weather sets in.

Another drawback is the short shelf life of the crop, so it is recommended to preserve, freeze or eat fresh berries immediately after harvest.

Feature and description

Culture refers to tall medium-late ripening varieties with excellent taste characteristics. In the southern regions of Russia, the first berries of Elizabeth's blueberry are enjoyed starting from the second decade of July, in the middle lane and to the north - in August.

Appearance of the bush and branching of the root system

In the spring, green with a red tint, multiple shoots of blueberries begin to grow rapidly. Branches of medium thickness - upright, sprawling, intertwined. Brick-colored flower-bearing shoots become stiff with age, brighten. The bush reaches a height of 1.8 meters, a width of 1.5 m.

Small matte light green leaves become yellow and red tones closer to cold weather. The leaf blades are elongated, pointed towards the ends, slightly pubescent on the inside. The root of the plant is fibrous, up to 40 cm in size.

Flowering and fruiting

Elizabeth's blueberry blooms in spring and summer - late May-early June. The buds open with white, bell-shaped flowers. The length of the petals is 1.5 cm.

Culture refers to self-pollinated varieties. Despite this, other varieties of blueberries are planted nearby, blooming at the same time. Cross-pollination improves the quantity and quality of the crop.

The large blue berries with a white coating have an excellent dessert taste, distinguished by sweetness, hints of grapes, blueberries, and currants. Among the late-ripening varieties, Elizabeth stands out for its exquisite taste, rich aroma.

The size of the berries in diameter is 1.6-2.5 cm. The pulp is liquid, the skin is not thick, but strong, retains a rounded, slightly flattened shape of the fruit during transportation in its original state. The ripening of the crop is uneven. Fresh berries, collected in loose brushes, are plucked by gardeners throughout August. The separation from the stalk is light and dry.

Adult bush produces an average of 5 kg of berries annually. When planting in the southern regions and observing agricultural practices, the yield increases to a maximum of 8 kg.

Resistant to low temperatures

Elizabeth's blueberry is USDA zone 4b according to the international classification of frost resistance. This means that the plant can withstand temperatures down to -31.7°C.

Some plants are not so afraid of frost as a sharp thaw, May frosts. The Elizabeth variety survives these adverse conditions, although it loses part of the crop from return frosts.

Resist to diseases and parasites

Elizabeth's blueberries, due to artificially built-in immunity, have high resistance to root rot, late blight, and stem cancer. The plant is prone to spotting, gray rot. Of the insects, the scale insect, aphid causes the greatest harm to the culture.

The nuances of planting a crop on the site

In order for blueberries to develop correctly, abundantly and stably bear fruit, when planting, the composition of the soil, timing and technology are taken into account.

Terms of landing operations

Planted blueberry varieties Elizabeth in May after a return frost or in September, so that the culture has enough time to take root before the onset of frost.The advantage of planting the crop in the fall is a stronger, more viable planting material. In spring, even weak seedlings take root well.

Seedling selection

Elizabeth's blueberry is more reliable to buy in specialized nurseries or in large horticultural farms. The seedling should not have dried areas of the bark, deformed, broken or with signs of shoot disease. Seedlings with a moistened closed root system take root faster.

Preparation of soil and planting pit

Blueberries love acidic soils. Suitable soil for culture is high-moor peat, soil from coniferous forest. If the pH is above 3.5-4.5 in the area, acidifying agents must be added. Gardeners use acetic, citric, oxalic acid, electrolyte, but the safest remedy for plants is sulfur powder. Sulfur is scattered over moistened soil (15 g per 1 sq. M.), Dig up.

Natural acidifiers include sawdust, softwood needles. Before planting blueberries Elizabeth on 1 square. m. of soil contribute 35 g of potassium, 20 g of phosphorus and nitrogen, rotted manure or humus 7-8 kg. The earth is dug up on a spade bayonet, sand is added. Drainage (crushed stone, vermiculite or perlite) is placed in a pit 60 cm deep and wide, then spilled with warm water or a growth stimulator solution.

Blueberry Planting Technique

The transshipment method is considered less painful. Elizabeth's blueberry seedling in a container is plentifully irrigated, placed at the bottom of the prepared pit, and removed from the container. On an earthy coma filled with roots, vertical grooves are made to activate growth. Next, the seedling is covered with soil, deepening the root collar by 10 cm.

Water the plant with warm water with the addition of manganese or fungicides to disinfect the earth. Enough 5 liters for each bush. The planting procedure ends with mulching the near-stem circle with a 5-cm layer of sawdust, straw, bark.

Organize proper care

If you want to get a high and stable harvest, it is important to properly care for blueberries - water, feed, loosen and mulch the soil in a timely manner, and prepare the crop for winter.

Irrigation and fertilization of bushes

Elizabeth's blueberry belongs to moisture-loving plants, so regular soil moisture is an integral part of crop care. Berry bushes do not tolerate drought and stagnant water. If there is not enough rain, the plant is watered twice a week. Irrigation in two stages contributes to constant soil moisture. The first time a bucket of water is poured under the bush early in the morning, the second time the same volume in the evening.

If irrigation is not enough for blueberries, spraying is used. The event is held in the evening, when the burn of leaves from direct sunlight on water drops is excluded.

Elizabeth's blueberry yield increases after fertilization. Before bud break and during flowering, the culture is fed with carbamide, azofoska, ammonium sulfate or any other complex fertilizer with an emphasis on nitrogen, which stimulates plant growth. In late June, early July, potash-phosphorus fertilizers are applied, which affect the formation of fruit ovaries, the amount of the crop.

Organics are enough for the first three years. Every fourth year, a bucket of compost is added under each bush.

Terms of application and amount of fertilizer depending on the age of blueberries. In the first year, the plant does not need to fertilize the soil if the soil was fertilized at planting.

Table of norms of complex mineral fertilizers depending on the age of blueberry Elizabeth.

Feeding timeNorm per year, art.l. Beginning of sap flow, in % of the annual normThe budding period, in % of the annual norm End of June-beginning of July, 30301350252524502525454030 6

			% of annual rate
2	40
		30	8
40	30	30	16

Blueberries are actively developing up to six years. At an older age, the amount of fertilizer remains unchanged.

Loosening and mulching beds

Important moisture for Elizabeth blueberries is achieved by frequent irrigation and loosening of the soil, which increases water and air permeability. But more often gardeners go the other way, using mulching.

The procedure is carried out at least three times per season.

Crushed tree bark, rotted leaves, straw, softwood sawdust are used as mulch, which are placed under the bushes with a 5-15 cm layer.

Benefits of Elizabeth blueberry mulching:

• moisture retention;
• no weeds;
• increased concentration of organic matter;
• smoothing the negative effects of sudden temperature fluctuations;
• improvement of wintering conditions.

Carrying out agrotechnical measures maintains the acidity of the soil at the proper level.

Preventive treatment

Protection of Elizabeth's blueberries from diseases and pests includes preventive measures:

• maintaining a distance between the bushes of at least two meters when landing;
• sanitary pruning of diseased, damaged branches;
• removal of shoots thickening the crown;
• mulching the soil with sawdust, weeding between rows;
• prophylactic treatment of bushes with Bordeaux liquid in April;
• spraying blueberries three times a week apart with fungicides in late autumn.

To prevent the development of spots and gray mold on the culture, the bushes are sprayed with solutions of Medox, Skora, Horus, Azofos.

Shaping cut

Sanitary pruning of Elizabeth's blueberries is performed annually in the spring, until sap flow begins, and in the fall after leaf fall. Remove diseased, deformed, broken branches. In the third year, all shoots are cut out except for skeletal branches. A year later, flower-bearing shoots grow on them, which are directed upwards, tied up.In the fifth year, branches of the second order grow.

Formative pruning is performed only in the sixth year after planting. Leave four fruiting and the same number of young shoots, cut the rest.

Shelter for winter

Winter preparations:

• mulch the near-stem circle with a thick layer of bark, sawdust, straw;
• closer to frost, 6-7 buckets of water are poured under each blueberry bush;
• the branches of the plant are bent to the ground, fixed with arcs, agrofiber, burlap, spruce branches are fixed on top.

Despite the frost resistance of Elizabeth blueberries, it is better to play it safe and use a covering material. This is especially true for young bushes up to the age of four and the northern regions.

Methods of reproduction

Propagate culture in the following ways:

• seeds;
• cuttings green, lignified, root;
• layering;
• dividing the bush;

The most popular blueberry propagation method among gardeners is cuttings.

Seed

To obtain seeds, ripe berries are ground, dipped into a container of water. Suitable for planting specimens that have sunk to the bottom. Seeds are planted in the ground in early autumn or planted in containers in March, having previously kept 3 months in the refrigerator.

Elizabeth blueberry planting algorithm:

• moisturize the peat substrate in containers;
• sow planting material without deepening;
• sprinkle with a 2 mm layer of peat;
• stretch film or glass from above;
• regularly moisten the soil, ventilate;
• Shelter is removed after the first shoots appear;
• in the phase of three leaves, blueberries are planted in individual pots;
• taken outside before the onset of cold weather;
• in autumn, plants are brought to the veranda or other room without heating, insulated.

The culture is planted in a permanent place after 2 years.

The disadvantages of this breeding method are considered to be the late start of fruiting - after 7 years, the lack of guarantees for the preservation of the varietal characteristics of the plant.

Vegetative methods are more preferable, they do not change the varietal properties of the crop.

Vegetative

Elizabeth's blueberries are propagated:

1. Shanks

Lignified 15 cm cuttings are obtained from mature shoots, excluding flowering ones, collected during the winter. The bottom is cut obliquely under the bud, the top is even at a distance of at least 2 cm from the bud. Planted in greenhouses or in the garden, covered with foil, in April.

Green cuttings take root faster and in greater numbers. Strong shoots of the current year are selected in the middle of summer. It is separated from the trunk with a sharp jerk. The lower half of the cutting is freed from the leaves, the remaining ones are thinned out so that they do not overlap each other when planting. For quick rooting, greenhouse conditions are created for planting material - a temperature of 20-24 ° C, regular moistening and ventilation. In winter, they leave it in the same place, having previously warmed it.

2. Layers

Elizabeth's blueberry propagation method by layering, although practiced by Russian gardeners, cannot be called effective, since the outcome of the event is unpredictable.Young flexible shoots of the plant are pressed to the ground, laid in prepared grooves. They are pressed with wooden or metal studs, sprinkled with peat along the entire length. After 2-3 years after the formation of new plants, they are seated.

3. Dividing the bush

The blueberries are dug up and delenki are made, consisting of two or three shoots and roots no less than 5-7 cm long. Each part is immediately planted in a permanent place. Harvest appears after 4 years. Cuttings and cuttings of the culture for speedy adaptation are kept in Kornevin's solution, which stimulates root growth.

Reviews about the variety

Growers characterize varietal blueberries in different ways, but there are more positive descriptions.

Marina Viktorovna, 60 years old:

I have been growing blueberries for the ninth year. Harvest ripens by September. The berries are large, tasty, do not crumble for a long time.One problem - the bushes are affected by aphids. I tried all folk remedies. It is useless, no soap solutions have rid the culture of insects. Only Aktara helped.

Svetlana Vladimirovna, 45 years old:

I agree that Elizabeth is one of the best blueberries. Could not resist, bought two seedlings. Unfortunately, the berries do not have time to ripen in our climate. I live in the Urals.

Maria, 25:

I'm looking forward to August, when Elizabeth's blueberries ripen at my mother's dacha. The berries are very tasty. Captivating balance of sugar and acid, bright aroma.

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