Early ripe dessert variety of honeysuckle Nizhegorodskaya rannyaya
Who doesn’t love to eat a tasty and ripe berry from their own bush? Summer residents and gardeners enjoy growing various fruit trees and shrubs on their plots, purchasing interesting breeding varieties and exchanging experiences with each other. On a summer day, the sweet taste of the berry with a slight sourness is irreplaceable, and only the lazy did not talk about the benefits of honeysuckle.
We bring to your attention a description of an early ripening honeysuckle variety called Nizhny Novgorod early.
Description of the honeysuckle variety Nizhny Novgorod early
This is the earliest and fastest ripening variety with edible fruits bright color. The berries ripen at the very beginning of summer. Variety grow on private plots and on an industrial scale.
Origin and development
The variety is ideal for landings in the middle zone and gives a good harvest. He was bred at the Nizhny Novgorod State Academy and included in the State Register in 1998. It became a seedling from open pollination and has been under variety testing since 1992.
Characteristics, description of appearance, taste
The shrub belongs to the dessert varieties of honeysuckle, has a medium size, dense and spherical crown. The branches grow vertically, reaching up to 1.7 m in height. The foliage is dark green, elongated, medium in size. The shrub has a fibrous root system.
The berry is pear-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, weighing up to 1-2 g. The color is from dark blue to purple, with a smooth coating and a whitish coating.The pulp has a sweet and sour taste, without bitterness.
Features of application
The fruits of Nizhny Novgorod early ripening honeysuckle are consumed fresh, canned and frozen. When harvesting, they are easily removed without obvious damage to the skin, which facilitates long-term storage.
Productivity and ripening period
The berries ripen within 1-1.5 months after the bush blooms. A young bush produces up to 2-3 kg of yield; at the age of 5 years it reaches a yield of up to 4.5-5 kg.
The fruits ripen from late May to mid-June. You must not allow them to become overripe so that they do not fall off under the bush.
Resistance to diseases and pests
The peculiarity of the Nizhny Novgorod early honeysuckle variety is that it is not susceptible to such a common disease as olive spot. With proper care and treatment with insecticides, shrubs are resistant to pests.
Frost and drought resistance
The variety gained popularity due to its high frost resistance. Low temperatures are not scary for him, so in winter the plantings are not covered. Shrubs can withstand frosts down to -40°C.
The growing season of shrubs begins at a temperature of +3°C, and flowering begins at +9°C. Drought is not a problem for honeysuckle. The plant does not need frequent watering.
If it rarely rains in summer, it is enough to pour one bucket of water on the bush at the root. After moistening the soil, the root layer of the soil is loosened. To humidify the air, the shrub is sprayed with water. Over the entire summer season, 2-3 waterings are sufficient, which indicates the plant’s high drought resistance.
Growing regions and climate requirements
The variety is suitable for planting in central Russia. It takes root well in most regions and adapts to any climate.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Clear advantages include the following:
- frost resistance;
- early maturation;
- good berry taste;
- dry fruit separation;
- thick waxy skin on the berries;
- immunity to diseases.
Disadvantages include:
- rapid ripening of fruits;
- shedding of berries from the bush.
Experienced agronomists lay a film under the bushes during the ripening period so that the fruits remain intact and suitable for consumption.
Agricultural technology
Even an inexperienced gardener can cope with growing honeysuckle. It is best to plant seedlings from the end of August to the end of September.
Choosing a place in the garden and preparing holes
Honeysuckle bushes do not tolerate dark places, so you need to choose a well-lit area for planting.
It is not recommended to plant one bush; there should be several of them to get a good harvest. Planting time: spring or autumn.
Holes are dug at a distance of 1-2 m from each other. Recommended depth: 40 cm.
Soil requirements
Honeysuckle tolerates all types well soils. Slightly acidic soils are fertilized with organic matter; clayey and sandy soils are filled with special planting soil when planting: the fertile layer of soil is mixed with rotted manure and poured into planting holes.
Important! Soil moisture should be moderate, so it is advisable to avoid planting in swampy areas.
Add 1 bucket of organic matter, 0.5 liters of wood ash, and about 30 g of potassium sulfate to each prepared hole. The components are mixed until homogeneous with top soil. Sometimes an additional 100 g of double superphosphate is added.
Dates, scheme and rules of planting
The optimal temperature for planting seedlings is 0°C and above. Before planting, inspect the roots and cut off any damaged or dry ones.
The seedling is placed in the center of the prepared hole, the roots are straightened and covered with loose soil. The root is buried to 5 cm. The seedling is well watered and the ground around the trunk is covered with mulch.
Features of cultivation
During the first 3 years of the growing season, the bush does not require special care and formation.. If necessary, remove dried branches and monitor soil moisture.
In order for the stems and leaves to be illuminated evenly and well blown by the wind, it is necessary to thin out the crown of the bush. When honeysuckle reaches 5 years of age, cut off the crossed shoots with pruning shears. A deficiency of nutrients in the soil affects the leaves of honeysuckle, they turn yellow and fall off, so in the spring, if the substrate leaves much to be desired, the bushes are fed with organic fertilizers in the recommended dosage.
In the first year of flowering, honeysuckle needs nitrogen fertilizers, for example, urea. It is dissolved in water and watered the plant. At the beginning of fruiting shrubs feed a solution of fermented herbs. Fill the barrel halfway with mowed grass, add water and leave in the sun for 2 weeks. For irrigation, the resulting infusion is diluted with water 1:10.
Instead of frequent watering, it is recommended to carry out fine sprinkling so that the honeysuckle leaves do not dry out and fall off from exposure to sunlight. The spraying procedure is carried out in the morning or evening every other day from the root collar of the bush to the crown for at least 5 minutes.
The next day after watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil at the base of the root collar to saturate the soil with oxygen.
Pollinators
Nizhny Novgorod early honeysuckle is a pollinated variety. To obtain tasty and sweet berries, several other varieties are planted nearby, for example, Lakomka and Kuminovka.
Disease and pest control
Pests rarely attack honeysuckle, but aphids settle on young shrubs. The trunks of the bush can be favored by false scale insects, and the leaves can be favored by caterpillars. Therefore, in the spring, the crop must be treated with copper sulfate and fallen leaves must be collected in time. Spraying for disease prevention is carried out until the buds open.
You can get rid of uninvited guests with the help of the drugs “Rogor” and “Actellik”. To treat the crowns, they use Confidor and Intavir. If the leaves of the bush begin to curl and turn yellow, fungicides and Bordeaux mixture are used to eliminate the symptoms.
Preparing for winter
Nizhny Novgorod honeysuckle does not require shelter for the winter, as it easily tolerates temperatures down to -40°C. In practice, no cases of crop freezing in winter were observed. To increase winter hardiness, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied to the plants in the fall: double superphosphate (up to 60 g) and potassium sulfate at the rate of 40 g per bush.
Difficulties in growing
If the gardener follows the recommendations for caring for honeysuckle, there will be no problems with growing the berry. With minimal care, the shrub is very unpretentious and produces a consistently high yield.
Reproduction
There are 2 methods of reproduction:
- Cuttings. Time: March. In the spring, an adult bush is inspected for the presence of lignified branches up to 17 cm long. The shoots must be annual, with buds that have not yet opened. They are cut off and planted in the ground depending on the air temperature - in the greenhouse or outside.
- Creation of root layers. Time: June. After the end of the honeysuckle flowering period, the lower young branches are selected.The shoots are bent to the ground until they touch and secured with a wire pin. Sprinkle soil on top (about 3-4 cm) and wait for a new root system to form.
With the onset of spring, the young shoots will be formed and ready for transplanting. They are separated from the mother bush with pruning shears and transplanted to the desired location.
Important! When forming layerings The soil sprinkled on top should always be slightly moist.
Harvesting
Berry picking begins in mid-June and ends at the end of the month. Ripe berries acquire a uniform purple color.
Cloths or film are laid under the bushes so that the fallen fruits do not disappear.
Reviews from experienced gardeners
The Nizhny Novgorod honeysuckle variety has gained popularity among many gardeners.
Vera, Kemerovo: “I bought and planted a honeysuckle seedling of the Nizhny Novgorod early variety 3 years ago. Without any special pruning (except for dry and broken branches), it grew to 1 m and, as far as I know, this is not the limit. I take care of berry bushes only in the spring - I prune and fertilize. The rest of the time you don’t have to think about them. The harvest is good, the berries are large and sweet.”
Larisa, Bryansk region: “I weed around when the grass grows, and cut off old dried branches. It bears fruit regularly, the bush produces 4-5 liters of berries, maybe more - it sheds a lot, because we only go to the dacha on weekends. Don’t be lazy to water and spray the bushes at the beginning of flowering. If this is not done, the berry begins to taste bitter and grows small. I water at the end of May - a bucket per bush is enough.”
Marina, Nizhny Novgorod: “Honeysuckle is an unpretentious plant, but you need to plant at least 2, and preferably 3-5 varieties, because there must be cross-pollination.At the beginning of flowering, I spray the bushes with sweet sugar water to attract bees.”
Conclusion
The Nizhny Novgorod early ripening honeysuckle variety has many advantages. It is frost-resistant, ripens early, has good immunity, grows throughout Russia, does not require much effort or time, and gives a stable harvest.