Honeysuckle Delight: variety description, planting and care, breeding history
Many summer residents are interested in the description of the honeysuckle variety Delight, its planting and care. This plant is highly resistant to frost and undemanding to comply with the rules of agricultural technology. Also, the culture brings tasty and he althy fruits and is characterized by stable fruiting. In order for the plant to develop normally and have strong immunity, certain rules must still be followed.
History and description of variety
The variety was obtained at FSUE "Bakcharskoe" . Its authors are Savinkova and Gagarkin. State variety testing of the plant was carried out in 2012. At the same time, the culture got into the State Register in 2020.
The honeysuckle of this variety is characterized by medium-sized bushes, the height of which is 1.7-1.9 meters. They are distinguished by a rounded crown, the diameter of which reaches 1-1.5 meters. Honeysuckle is distinguished by straight, hairless shoots of a light green color. Older branches are brown and slightly curved near the base.
The plant has green foliage covered with a wax coating. It has an oval shape and an opposite arrangement. Leaves reach 3-8 centimeters in length and 1-3 centimeters in width. Sheet plates have a smooth matte surface. During the flowering period, honeysuckle is decorated with yellow-white flowers, the length of which is 1.2-1.6 centimeters.
Description of fruits
During fruiting, pod-shaped or spindle-shaped berries appear on the bushes. Their length reaches 3-4 centimeters, and their diameter is 1.5. Fruit weight is 1.4-3 grams. Honeysuckle berries have a blue skin covered with a waxy coating.Inside there is a fairly elastic juicy pulp with a light aroma. The fruits are easy to transport and have a good presentation.
Taste
Rapture honeysuckle berries are characterized by a harmonious sweet and sour taste without bitterness. The sugar content in fruits is 8.5%, and acids - 2.6%. On a tasting scale, the berries were awarded a score of 4.8 points.
Features of yield
Fructification of honeysuckle Delight begins at 3 years of age. Subsequently, the plant produces a crop annually. The culture is distinguished by an early ripening period - approximately in the tenth of June. At the same time, the fruits ripen at the same time. The undoubted advantage is the weak shedding of berries. This figure does not exceed 20%. The fruits need to be harvested when they turn a dark blue color. This can be done manually or mechanically.
With 1 bush aged 3 years, you can get about 1.5 kilograms of fruit. In favorable conditions, it will be possible to collect 5.5 kilograms of berries from an adult shrub.
Distribution area
Culture of this variety is recommended to be grown on the territory of Western Siberia. It can also be planted in the Urals and in the middle lane. However, in these regions, honeysuckle may suffer from prolonged winter thaws. It is important to consider that the Vostorg variety cannot be planted in the northwestern regions of the European territory of Russia.
Growing and care features
Hybrid variety Rapture is considered undemanding to care for. Therefore, even novice gardeners will cope with its cultivation. In this case, several features should be taken into account.
Expert opinionZarechny Maxim ValerievichAgronomist with 12 years of experience. Our best gardening expert.Ask a QuestionPlanting work is recommended in the spring. And this must be done before bud break. Experienced gardeners prefer to plant honeysuckle in the fall. This can be done from the end of September to the second half of October.In order for the Rapture variety to bring a good harvest, it is recommended to consider the following features when choosing a site for planting:
- good lighting;
- presence of wind protection;
- groundwater occurrence at a level not higher than 1 meter;
- neutral or slightly acid soil.
When planting honeysuckle, it is recommended to consider the following features:
- Prepare the recess in advance. Its size must be at least 40 centimeters. The specific parameters depend on the roots.
- Lay drainage on the bottom. To do this, you can use branches, bark, stones.
- Add 2 buckets of compost, 1 liter jar of wood ash and 3 tablespoons of superphosphate to the soil.
- Fill the hole with water and make a mound in the center.
- Set the seedling in the center and gently spread the root system. It is important to ensure that the root neck is not deepened by more than 5-6 centimeters.
- Fill up the soil and water the plant again. This will help compact the ground and get rid of air pockets.
- Cover the trunk circle with a layer of mulch.
In order for honeysuckle to bring a good harvest, it is important to provide it with quality care. Variety Delight prefers fairly plentiful watering. Moisture deficiency will negatively affect the taste of the fruit and lead to a decrease in their size. Also, a noticeable bitterness may appear in the berries. It is recommended to water the bushes during the entire growing season. It is important to take into account that the culture does not tolerate waterlogging.
If nutrients were used when planting, honeysuckle does not require special feeding for 2 years. In the third year, organic fertilizers must be applied under each bush. Honeysuckle perfectly perceives the infusion of chicken manure, fermented grass or mullein.
Nutrients are required in the spring - before the buds swell. It is also recommended to fertilize the plant during the flowering period and in the fall - after the foliage has fallen. It is important to consider that honeysuckle responds well to the introduction of wood ash. It must be used at the stage of formation of the ovaries.
Great attention should be paid to pruning bushes. It is important to consider that the formation of fruit buds is carried out on young shoots. Therefore, it is not recommended to shorten them. Each adult honeysuckle bush should have no more than 18 skeletal branches. Extra shoots are removed in September.
Most often, the fruiting of a crop from the age of 15 decreases. Rejuvenating pruning is carried out to maintain productivity. This requires cutting off all growing branches to a stump in the summer. Soon young branches will grow there, which will bring a harvest next year.
Disease and pest control
Rapture variety is resistant to diseases and pests.However, if the rules of care are violated, some problems may arise. Of the pests, the plant is more susceptible to attacks by scale insects, aphids, and mites. Also, leaf-eating parasites - miner larvae and sawfly caterpillars - pose a great danger to the culture. To cope with pests, you need to use acaricides and insecticides. Among them, it is worth highlighting Actellik, Envidor, Konfidor.
In violation of the rules of agricultural technology, the plant often suffers from fungal infections. The greatest danger to the culture is powdery mildew, ramularia, cercosporosis. With the development of pathologies, it is required to use fungicidal substances - "Fundazol" , "Topaz" , "Fitosporin" . You can also process landings with iron or copper sulfate.
To avoid the development of pathologies, the shrub must be systematically cut. This ensures complete air circulation. At the same time, the remains of plant debris must be taken out of the site and burned.
Preparing for cold weather
Culture is considered quite frost-resistant. Its flower buds are able to endure even short spring frosts. For the winter, the bushes can not be covered. It is enough to tie them to pegs and cover them with coniferous spruce branches to protect them from mice and snow.
At the stage of preparing honeysuckle for winter, it is necessary to add potash and phosphorus substances. At the same time, it is impossible to use nitrogen supplements at this time, since there is a risk of developing new shoots.
Honeysuckle Rapture is a fairly popular crop. It is unpretentious and produces delicious fruits. However, to get a bountiful harvest, you still need to follow some rules of agricultural technology.
