Kamchatka honeysuckle: characteristics, agricultural technology

As a berry culture, honeysuckle began to grow recently. However, in this short time, culture was able to win success with domestic gardeners. It is unpretentious in care, resistant to any weather conditions, and its berries have unique healing properties, thanks to which they are widely used in the field of folk healing. From the article you will learn which varieties of Kamchatka honeysuckle are the most successful, and which ones to choose for cultivation in your region.

The best edible varieties of Kamchatka honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is a culture that has a large number of diverse edible and inedible varieties. All of them can be classified according to the height of the bushes, the taste of berries, decorativeness. Of course, edible varieties are of special value to gardeners, among which only one is grown in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries - blue or blue. This is a medium-spreading shrub, from 1 to 2 m in height, on which medium, elongated berries of blue-black color ripen.

Blue honeysuckle includes several subspecies:

• Alpine
• Kamchatka
• Turchaninova;
• Pallas.

It should be noted that all subspecies of the plant have almost identical initial qualities. In most cases, only experienced biologists can distinguish between them.

Sweet

Breeders and experienced genetic scientists have taken care to create new sweet varieties of honeysuckle that meet all the needs of summer residents. Such indicators as the ability to resist ailments, productivity, quality of fruits, the level of crumbling, the ripening period, they have a consistently high level. Did you know? It received the scientific name of the honeysuckle Lonicera in honor of the scientist from Germany Adam Lonitzer, who first described the culture. It should be noted that initially Carl Linnaeus was going to call the family honeysuckles, because it was Honeysuckle that Honeysuckle was most often grown in Europe. Almost all varieties growing in the wild have a bitter taste, but many years of work in the field of plant breeding have allowed biologists to eliminate this drawback.

Siberian

The Sibiryachka variety is the result of breeding work by the geneticists of the Bakcharsky gardening station, who managed in 1972 to create a variety of culture, which is considered to be tasty, sugar, extremely juicy berries weighing up to 1.5 g.

The plant forms compact, medium-spreading bushes 1.6 m high, on which the fruits ripen in mid-June. The culture is characterized by early maturity - already in the 2nd year after planting seedlings, you can enjoy the first fruits. The yield of a plant depends on its age: up to 0.5 kg can be harvested from two- or three-year-old seedlings; from the bush, starting from 4 years old - up to 4 kg.

Important! Active fruiting of the variety lasts for 25-30 years.

Siberian fish is characterized by excellent resistance to frost and can easily tolerate low temperatures, up to -50 ° C. Also, the culture has a resistance to drought, it resists fungal ailments and pests. Among the negative aspects of the culture, poor transportability of the fruits due to their thin peel, and the shedding of berries after their overripe can be noted.

Nymph

Nymph is a long-growing, mid-early growing season honeysuckle variety obtained by the Pavlovsky station research institute in St. Petersburg. The main advantage of the culture are bluish-blue, very sweet, without a bitter taste, fruits that have a pleasant, pronounced smell. Berries keep perfectly on branches, and even after ripening do not fall.

The Nymph bush is characterized by fast growth rates, it can reach a height of up to 2.5 m. The branches are long, prone to thickening, therefore, they require regular pruning. The crop yields are above average. According to the reviews of summer residents, under comfortable climate conditions from the bush you can get 2–3.5 kg of berries.

The nymph is resistant to cold, its shoots do not lose viability at temperatures of -50 ° C, and root shoots - up to -40 ° C. The culture is rarely exposed to the negative effects of powdery mildew, tuberculosis, as well as the invasion of aphids and ticks.

Sylginka

Silginka is the result of the selection of scientists from the Bakcharsky gardening station. The shrub is compact in size, up to 1.4 m high, resistant to weather conditions, excellent drought and frost resistance, strong immunity to the most characteristic ailments.

Dark blue, elongated elongated berries have a sweet taste and a pronounced smell. The yield is excellent, more than 3 kg of berries are harvested from one bush. The main negative feature of the variety is considered to be quick crumbling of the fruits when they overripe.

Important! Sylginka is one of the most delicious and sugar varieties of garden honeysuckle. To harvest, experts recommend laying a canvas under the bushes and shaking them a little.

Cinderella

The Cinderella variety from Siberia has a medium early ripening period, characterized by rapid fruiting, which starts in the 2nd year after planting seedlings. The shrub forms a low, up to 70 cm, neat bush, on which, starting in mid-June, dark, almost black, long berries ripen, with a balanced sweet and sour taste and the smell of strawberries.

The plant of the described species is characterized by high resistance to reduced temperature indicators of air, immunity to most fungal ailments and pests. The variety has decent yield indicators, which range from 2 to 7 kg per bush.

Kamchadalka

The Kamchadalka variety was obtained by scientists from the Bakcharsky horticulture center in 1984, by free pollination of selected subspecies of Kamchatka honeysuckle. This variety is itself a good pollinator for other varieties of honeysuckle that require it.

The shrub is medium-sized, neat in shape, with thick erect branches. The berries are large, weighing up to 1.3 g, length up to 2.7 cm, elongated-oblong, with a sharp tip and a smooth smoky surface. The pulp is fragile, with a sweet and sour aftertaste and a rich odor. The fruits are firmly attached to the branches and do not crumble after overripe.

The yield coefficient is average and equals 1.2–1.8 kg per plant. The described honeysuckle has good frost resistance and drought tolerance, only in extreme cases it is affected by diseases and parasites.

Large-fruited varieties

Large-fruited honeysuckle varieties enjoy special honor among gardeners, which, in addition to large berry sizes, are able to boast excellent fruit taste, resistance to ailments and excellent adaptation to climate conditions. Read about the features of growing honeysuckle in the Urals.

Bakcharsky giant

It is advisable to begin the description of large-fruited honeysuckle varieties with the most successful variety - the Bakcharsky giant, the mass of fruits of which ranges from 1.8–2.5 g. In addition, the giant berries have an excellent, sweet and sour aftertaste; they are soft with a lot of juice. Ripening occurs in the last weeks of June - the first decade of July.

Productivity at the average level is up to 2.5 kg. The plant forms powerful, tall bushes, up to 2 m and a width of up to 1.5 m. The crown does not have high thickening, which greatly simplifies the harvesting process. The variety is adapted to most ailments, rarely suffers from parasites, is not afraid of low temperatures. Read also, the main characteristics of the honeysuckle Bakcharsky giant.

Leningrad giant

Another popular variety of large-fruited honeysuckle is considered to be the Leningrad giant, loved by gardeners due to the large size of the fruits, up to 4 g, and their excellent sweet taste without bitterness. In addition to excellent taste, the berries are distinguished by good keeping quality and transportability. The crop yield is high, and is 3-5 kg.

The shrub is characterized by excellent resistance to low temperature indicators, persistent immunity to fungal diseases and parasites. Of the minuses of the variety, gardeners note the uneven ripening of berries, which begins in the second half of June and continues until the end of July.

Early grades

Early varieties of honeysuckle allow gardeners to quickly get a crop of delicious healing berries. The fruits of such varieties begin to ripen in the last weeks of May - the first weeks of June. Among all cultures, gardeners note some of the most affordable for cultivation.

Did you know? The Japanese call honeysuckle a longevity berry. And all thanks to the fact that it contains a powerful antioxidant - selenium, which slows down the aging process, cleanses the body of harmful substances, relieves headaches and normalizes blood pressure.

Blue spindle

The hearts of early ripe varieties are of particular value to the Blue Spindle. It was created by geneticists at the Siberian Research Institute of Horticulture in 1980. In the zones of the central strip of the state, the fruits begin to ripen in the first decade of June, in the south - in the last days of May.

The blue spindle pleases with medium-sized blue fruits, weighing up to 1 g, which have a sour sugar taste. The shrub is characterized by early maturity: the first fruits can be harvested already a year after planting seedlings.

Important! With a moisture deficit, the berries of the described culture become unpleasant bitterness, therefore they are often used for processing.

Productivity at the average level is up to 2 kg per bush. A significant drawback of the Blue Spindle is the high flaking of berries after ripening, due to which up to 15–20% of the total fruit volume can be lost.

Swan

Swan belongs to the category of long-growing shrubs, whose height is 2 m. The plant is resistant to cold, tolerates changes in temperature indicators, is able to withstand drought.

The berries of the variety are elongated-cylindrical in shape, weighing 1.2–1.5 g, with a delicate sweet taste with a hint of acid . The peel is hard, which makes it possible to transport berries, as well as store them for one week. Under normal weather conditions, up to 2.5 kg of fruit can be harvested from a shrub. You will be interested to read about the features of growing honeysuckle Swan.

Blue bird

The blue bird bears fruit beginning in mid-June. On medium-sized, powerful shrubs with a crown in the form of a ball, up to 1.8 m high, small berries weigh 0.7-0.9 g, sweet berries with a delicate taste similar to blueberries. Ripened fruits reliably hold on the shoots, do not crumble. Among the minuses of the Bluebird, its low productivity is noted, not more than 2 kg of fruits per season from the plant.

Non-crumbling varieties

One of the main drawbacks of most varieties of honeysuckle is considered to be the crumbling of fruits after they mature. Therefore, in order to keep the crop to the maximum, gardeners prefer to use non-shedding varieties when planting plants. Did you know? The most famous species of poisonous honeysuckle are wolf berries.

Amphora

Amphora - a kind of honeysuckle, bred by scientists of St. Petersburg. It is resistant to reduced temperature indicators, the simultaneous ripening of fruits, strong immunity to various diseases. The fruits of Amphora are large, weighing 1.1–3 g, bluish-blue color, with a smooth, waxy skin. Berries have a sweet-sour taste with a hint of bitterness.

The skin is dense, not prone to cracking, which allows the fruit to be transported for a certain distance; In addition, the Amphora variety is considered one of the best for the preparation of winter blanks. Berries are kept on branches, are not prone to shedding after overriding. Yields are 1.5–2 kg. In the absence of timely pruning of shoots and thinning of branches, the bush can be affected by aphids and ticks. Recommended reading, large-fruited variety of honeysuckle Amphora.

Moraine

The little mermaid or Morena belongs to the category of early ripe dessert varieties, the fruiting period of which falls in the middle of the summer season . The honeysuckle of the described species comfortably tolerates cold and lack of moisture, has a high immunity to most diseases, and is recommended for cultivation throughout the Russian Federation.

Morena berries are large, weighing 1.5 g and up to 3.5 cm in size, have a jug-like shape and a bluish-gray color. The ripened fruits do not fade, keep on the shoots. The crop yield reaches an average of 1.5 kg. In comfortable weather, you can achieve their increase to 2.5 kg per plant.

Malvina

The mid-early Malvina variety has enjoyed fruit since mid-June. The shrub is characterized by a compact crown and low, up to 1.5 m, thin, erect shoots.

Fruits are pear-oblong, blue in color, with an average weight of 1 g. The peel is dense, the flesh is sweet and sour with a dessert aftertaste. With proper care, gardeners receive up to 3 kg of berries from the bush. We advise you to read about the variety of honeysuckle Malvina.

Varieties of modern selection

Even today, genetic scientists do not stop hard work on the formation of new varieties of honeysuckle. Their main goal is the cultivation of varieties, pleasing with high yields, large-fruited, lack of a bitter aftertaste and high resistance to ailments.

Giant's daughter

The daughter of a giant is one of the modern types of honeysuckle, created in 2009, the main advantage of which is the large fruits. Berries are up to 5 cm long and weigh more than 3 g. The flesh is delicate, sweet and sour, with a high percentage of juice. The peel is dense, which allows the transportation of berries. Honeysuckle ripens unevenly, starting from the last weeks of June and ending in mid-July.

The yield is decent, up to 5 kg of fruits from the bush. Among other advantages of the Daughter of a giant, one can also note strong immunity, frost resistance, resistance to moisture deficiency. Read also the main characteristics of the honeysuckle Daughter of the Giant.

Sweet

Sweetener is a sugar type of culture, the berries of which contain 13.3% sugar and only 1.8% acid. They developed a variety in Kamchatka, “rewarding” it with remarkable resistance to minus temperature indicators and excellent viability. Sweet-tooth is a mid-early crop whose crop is ready for harvest from mid-June.

The berries are medium, weighing no more than 1.5 g, cylindrical, purple, with a small layer of wax on the surface. Crop yields are high. When performing basic agricultural practices from one shrub, you can get 3–3.5 kg of berries.

Honeysuckle is a beautiful decorative culture that can not only become an original decoration of the garden, but also please a worthy crop of delicious, fragrant and extremely healthy berries. There are a huge number of varieties of the described plant, among which gardeners have the opportunity to choose the most suitable for their region.