Honeysuckle is much less common in gardens than raspberries, currants, or gooseberries, and more often as an ornamental shrub. Meanwhile, the success of breeders and the remarkable ability of honeysuckle to yield tasty and wholesome fruits before other berry crops make it more and more in demand. Read more about the edible variety of honeysuckle Berel read on.

Grade description

Honeysuckle - a plant that gives both tasty and healthy for human health, and poisonous berries. The bushes of this plant are erect or curly, cultivated for decorative and gastronomic purposes. Recently, the edible honeysuckle Berel has gained popularity.

Selection history

This honeysuckle variety was created in 1988 in Altai. Barnaul breeders crossed the honeysuckle varieties Lazurnaya, Bluebird and Blue spindle, which had already become famous by that time, and bred a new variety of early ripening, which, after several years of successful testing, was entered in the State Register of the Russian Federation. Today Berel has gained recognition among many gardeners who successfully grow crops in regions with different climatic conditions, including quite severe ones.

Did you know? Of the 250 existing species of honeysuckle, very few are edible. To distinguish them from each other is simple: blue and black berries are edible, and red and orange are poisonous.

Appearance, characteristics of berries, ripening time, yield

The plant is a bush, reaching a height of 2 m, with a compact crown and powerful straight shoots. Large foliage on them has a bright green color, the lower parts of the leaf surfaces are slightly pubescent. Being early, the Berel variety yields a crop already 2 years after planting.

The taste of berries is sweet and sour with a noticeable, but pleasant bitterness. They ripen before other berry crops in the garden - in early June. An average yield of 3 to 4 kg of berries is removed from 1 bush.

The fruits are berries of conical shape and dark blue with a blue tint, covered with a waxy coating. Their weight varies between 0.4 and 1 g. Unlike other varieties of edible honeysuckle, mature Berel fruits are not prone to shedding and are characterized by good transportability.

The nutritional value of 100 g of the product is 40 kcal. By the content of vitamin C, honeysuckle is much superior to orange. Berries are saturated with nutrients and vitamins in the form of:

• retinol (A);
• beta carotene;
• thiamine (B1);
• riboflavin (B2);
• ascorbic acid (C).

Macro and micronutrients are presented in berries:

• potassium;
• calcium
• magnesium
• phosphorus;
• copper;
• iron;
• iodine;
• aluminum;
• manganese;
• silicon.

Did you know? Although honeysuckle is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere almost everywhere, in the wild edible species are found only in Eastern Siberia, Sakhalin and Kamchatka.

Advantages and disadvantages

• According to reviews of gardeners, the above positive qualities of Berel include:
• unpretentiousness in leaving;
• frost resistance;
• resistance to diseases and pests;
• earlier ripening of fruits that are already ripening, when other crops in the garden only bloom;
• good honey bearing;
• universality of fruits.

• The disadvantages include:
• self-fertility, because of which it is impossible to limit oneself to planting 1 bush, but several honeysuckle plants of other varieties have to be planted;
• a small bitterness of fruits, which is not to everyone's taste, although most of the original bitter aftertaste still like it, especially since after heat treatment the bitterness disappears.

Agricultural technology

Agrotechnical methods of planting a plant and subsequent care for it are not difficult, but they must be observed.

Choosing a landing place

According to the descriptions of specialists, honeysuckle prefers areas well lit by the sun, which should be protected from strong winds. Sandy and loamy soils with a sufficient humus content are best suited for it. The soil should be moist, but without the excessive presence of moisture in the root system, in order to avoid its decay. It is better to plant honeysuckle in the area where potatoes, radishes, cucumbers and other row crops were previously grown.

Landing and care

The optimal time for planting edible honeysuckle to a permanent place in the ground is autumn. Being an early plant, it begins sap flow in early spring, and since the plant should be planted in the ground before it begins, it is difficult to combine this requirement with the final thawing of the soil. Honeysuckle planting in late September or early October almost always guarantees success. Important! In order to prevent moisture from evaporating quickly, it is advisable to mulch the soil around the seedling with crushed peat, dry humus, sawdust or dry foliage. The process of planting a seedling looks like this:

1. At the selected site, dig holes with a depth of 0.4 m and a diameter of 0.7 m. The distance between the holes should be at least 1.5 m.
2. A mixture of the upper layer of earth and humus, taken in equal proportions, is added to the bottom, with the addition of a small amount (2 tbsp.) Of double superphosphate and potassium sulfate, as well as a glass of wood ash.
3. The root system of the seedling, freed from dried up siblings, is carefully spread, installed on the mound formed in the pit, and then covered with the remaining soil.
4. The soil is slightly compacted and watered at the rate of 1 bucket per plant.

In dry weather, it is necessary to provide regular watering. With moisture deficiency, the berries become too bitter. In addition, a lack of moisture can lead to early shedding of more green berries. In regions where warm summers are accompanied by regular rains, it is enough to water the honeysuckle three times a season. It should be remembered that the plant does not tolerate stagnation of moisture in the root system. You might also be interested in another early honeysuckle variety — Blue Velvet. If the pre-planting fertilizer of the pits is done correctly, the first 2 years the planted plants do not need to be fed. In the third year in the spring, when the plant needs nitrogen to grow green mass, the bush should be fed with organic fertilizers or ammonium nitrate in the amount of 15 g per 1 m², or with a urea solution of 1 tbsp. l on 10 l of water.

During the period of flowering and ripening of honeysuckle fruits, potassium and phosphorus, which are introduced into the soil using potassium sulfate and superphosphate, are already required to a greater extent. Potassium is also necessary for plants in the autumn for better passage of the winter period.

Pollination Features

Honeysuckle Berel needs third-party pollinators. To get a high yield, next to the seedlings of this variety should plant bushes of honeysuckle of other varieties. Most preferred are Kamchadalka and all other honeysuckle varieties from Kamchatka.

Pest and Disease Control

Possessing good resistance to diseases and pests characteristic of this culture, Berel, however, with gross violations of agricultural regulations or with excessively rainy and cold summers, it can undergo fungal or viral diseases:

1. Powdery Mildew It forms a cotton-like white coating on the sheet surfaces, which leads to premature falling of leaves, inhibition of the maturation of wood in shoots and a decrease in frost resistance of the plant. They struggle with the disease by removing the affected parts of the plant, as well as spraying the bush with “SCOR”, “Purebloom”, “Tiovit Jet”, “Raykom”.
2. Brown spotting of honeysuckle. It is manifested by the formation of brown-brown necrotic spots on the leaves, which lead to early fall of the foliage. They treat the bush by spraying with 1% Bordeaux liquid or with the preparations "HOM", "Abiga-Peak".
3. Light gray honeysuckle spotting. Forms gray spots with a black border on the foliage, leading to premature falling of leaves. They struggle with the disease as well as with brown spotting.

Among pests, honeysuckle is most actively attacked:

1. Striped honeysuckle sawfly. Its false caterpillars damage the ripening berries and eat the foliage.
2. Variable honeysuckle sawfly. Its false caterpillars cause the plant the same harm as the previous ones.
3. Gallica honeysuckle leaf. Her larvae suck out nutrients from the leaves.
4. Two-year leaflet . Damages with its larvae and flowers, and young shoots, and fruits.

They fight these pests with the help of "Kemifos", "Fufanon", "Actellika", "Kinmiksa", "Inta-Vira".

Cropping and shaping the crown

It is believed that in the first 2-3 years after planting in the ground for a permanent place, the honeysuckle bush does not need to be pruned. In extreme cases, spring sanitary pruning is carried out. Often, thinning the bush through pruning is carried out only 6-7 years after planting. Some gardeners, however, advise cutting the shoots to 7-8 cm immediately after planting the plant and then wait until the bush grows green. Important! Since the crop ripens only on developed annual shoots, they should not be cut.

Planned pruning is preferred in the fall after harvest. With excessive bush thickening, it is necessary to trim the zero branches that grow directly from the ground. Also dried out, damaged by bad weather or too short branches are also removed.

Wintering

The frost resistance of Berel allows you to do without its shelter for the winter. Its wood and leaf buds are able to withstand frosts down to –45 ° C, while flower buds and the root system tolerate temperatures up to –40 ° C. Even a flowering plant does not suffer from spring frosts to –8 ° C. To strengthen the immunity of the plant during wintering, it is useful to feed potash fertilizers in the fall.

Harvesting and storage of crops

Fruits on a honeysuckle bush do not ripen at the same time. The berries ripen first at the top, then deep in the bush, and then on the lower branches. However, such uneven ripening is facilitated by the fact that the ripened Berel berries, unlike other honeysuckle varieties, do not crumble so quickly. We suggest you familiarize yourself with another early honeysuckle variety - Pride of Bakchar.

Harvested fruits are short-lived. Their shelf life does not exceed 3 days. In the refrigerator on the bottom shelf, they can last up to a week. Within these terms, sufficiently dense peel and pulp of berries provide them with good transportability. For longer storage, honeysuckle fruits are dried, frozen and canned in compotes, jams, juices, fruit drinks.

Ceased to be exotic, edible honeysuckle is gradually gaining a niche in amateur and industrial gardens. Among the avant-garde artists there is also the honeysuckle variety Berel, which has good gastronomic qualities, the ability to replenish the vitamin table before all berries, and while demonstrating an enviable undemanding care.

Reviews

The Berel honeysuckle variety has been growing with us for several years. The bushes of this variety are quite high, we grow up to 1.5 meters. The berries are elongated, but not very large. Acidity and acidity are present, but we can safely eat from the bush. We like it for our productivity, over the years the yield with the age of the bush only increases. Pioneer-2 //forum.vinograd.info/showpost.php?p=633139&postcount=2