Content
Yoshta currant is an interesting hybrid of black currant and gooseberry, combining the advantages of both crops. It is quite easy to care for it in your summer cottage; the nutritional value of the plant is high.
History of selection
The hybrid Joshta was developed in the 1970s by the German breeder R. Bauer based on the common gooseberry, black currant and splayed gooseberry. At the same time, attempts to cross fruit crops had been made for about a hundred years before. Scientists wanted to create a plant that would simultaneously have high productivity, good immunity to diseases and pests, and smooth shoots without thorns.
The new crop was brought to Russia in 1986, and three years later it began to be grown on an industrial scale. Despite the fact that the Yoshta currant has not yet been included in the State Register, there are several varieties of this plant on the horticultural market.
Description of Yoshta currant
Yoshta currant is a medium-sized shrub up to 1.5 m tall with spreading and strong, smooth shoots without thorns. The roots of the plant are long, going about 50 cm deep into the soil, while almost no shoots form at the surface of the ground. The leaves of the Yoshta hybrid are dark green, shiny, whole with a carved edge, with a faint aroma of currants, and are able to stay on the branches until the onset of cold weather. The crown of the plant can reach 2 m in diameter.
Fruiting of the bush continues for a very long time - up to 30 years
In mid-April, Yoshta currant bears very bright flowers with red petals and a light center. In the summer, fruits appear in their place - large round berries of a black-violet hue, collected in clusters of 3-5 pieces, weighing up to 5 g. Yoshta has a dense and crunchy skin, the flesh is juicy and sweet, with a slight sour note and nutmeg aroma.
How to distinguish Yoshta from golden and black currants
The differences between Yoshta and golden currant make it possible not to confuse the hybrid with an ordinary plant:
- Leaves. The Yoshta hybrid has convex and textured plates, while ordinary currants have smooth and flat plates.
- Flowers. Golden currant bears very large yellow buds.Yoshta produces smaller flowers with red petals. In this way, the hybrid is similar to black currant, but the latter’s buds are not so bright.
- Fruit. Yoshta brings very tasty sweet berries with a light refreshing note. Golden and black currants have much lower dessert qualities, and the sourness is more pronounced.
The difference between the crops lies in the shape of the bush; in a hybrid, the shoots do not extend in an arched manner from a single center, but are arranged randomly. Yoshta also differs from golden currant in that it produces almost no root shoots.
During the flowering period, golden currant looks more spectacular than Yoshta, although its berries are less tasty
Characteristics
To understand whether Yoshta is suitable for planting on a summer cottage, you need to carefully study the basic qualities and requirements of the plant. In general, the hybrid is considered quite interesting to grow.
Drought resistance, winter hardiness
One of the advantages of Yoshta is the increased frost resistance of the shrub. The plant tolerates cold temperatures down to -30 degrees and overwinters without shelter in the southern regions and central regions of Russia. In Siberia and the Urals, it is better to cover hybrid currants, especially if the cold months are expected to have little snow.
Yoshta has poor drought resistance; the plant prefers well-moistened soil. With a lack of water, the hybrid slows down its development and begins to bear fruit worse.
Pollination, flowering period and ripening time
The currant-gooseberry hybrid Yoshta belongs to the category of partially self-fertile shrubs. This means that even without pollinators the plant will bear berries, but the yield will be very low.To get a large number of fruits, next to Yoshta you need to plant black currants of any variety or gooseberries of the Kolobok and Rozovy varieties.
Yoshta blooms in April
The photo of the Yoshta currant-gooseberry hybrid shows that the plant blooms with compact but bright red-yellowish buds. The fruits ripen towards the end of July and beginning of August.
Productivity and fruiting
Yoshta first bears berries in the second year of life, and reaches maximum yield only in the fourth season. With proper cultivation and good conditions, the plant can annually produce 7-10 kg of fruit from one bush. The berries ripen gradually, but they stay on the currant branches for a long time, so they can be picked at the same time.
Resistance to diseases and pests
The Yoshta hybrid has strong immunity and rarely suffers from fungi and insects. Diseases that pose a danger to shrubs include:
- rust - the disease leaves reddish and brown spots on the leaves of the crop, which gradually spread wider, increase in size and merge with each other;
Hybrid currant rust occurs due to soil waterlogging
- mosaic - the disease is viral in nature and can be recognized by the appearance of patterned yellow spots around the largest veins of the leaves.
The carriers of mosaics are aphids and mites.
The fight against diseases of hybrid currants is carried out using fungicidal preparations and Bordeaux mixture. Severely affected shrubs are removed from the site so as not to infect neighboring plantings.
Of the insects, Yoshta reacts most sensitively to the glass beetle, a white caterpillar that feeds on young leaves and shoots of the hybrid.When holes appear on the greenery of the plant and characteristic passages on the branches, it is necessary to spray with insecticides.
Glasswort can be difficult to notice because the pest lives mainly under the bark
Advantages and disadvantages
Yoshta currant has important benefits. These include:
- high frost resistance;
- partial self-fertility;
- resistance to diseases and pests;
- endurance and unpretentiousness;
- dessert sweet taste of fruits;
- high productivity;
- good keeping quality and transportability of berries;
- preservation of fruits on the branches after full ripening.
At the same time, Yoshta has some disadvantages. Among them:
- need for good hydration;
- sensitivity to soil composition;
- low productivity in the absence of nearby pollinators.
In general, gardeners speak positively about the hybrid and note that, compared to ordinary currants, it is more convenient to grow.
Yoshta varieties
Yoshta is represented on the horticultural market by several popular varieties. They have common features and noticeable differences.
EMB
The hybrid currant of British selection reaches 1.7 m in height, has a semi-spreading crown and in general is very similar to the black variety. At the same time, the berries of the plant are more like gooseberries - they are quite large, oval, weighing from 5 to 12 g. The taste of this variety of currants is sweet and sour, pleasant and dessert.
Yoshta EMB is characterized by good drought resistance and immunity to mites and fungi
Kroma
The Swiss hybrid grows up to 2 m and is characterized by high immunity to diseases and pests. The berries it produces are small, on average up to 6 g in weight, but they remain on the branches for a very long time, do not fall to the ground and do not crack.
With good care, Yoshta Kroma allows you to harvest up to 5 kg of fruits
Yohelina
One of the best varieties of hybrid currant is characterized by high yield and good immunity to blight and anthracnose. The disadvantages of the plant include dense growth, which must be thinned out regularly. The hybrid variety Yohilina has very sweet fruits with almost no difference in sourness.
From one Yohilina bush you can collect up to 10 kg of berries
Rext
The variety of Russian selection grows only up to 1.2 m, but at the same time it has good spreading ability. Suitable not only for harvesting, but also for decorative garden decoration. The hybrid's berries are small, up to 3 g in weight, but have excellent taste. Yoshta Rext is used to create hedges.
If the growing conditions are met, the Rext variety can produce about 10 kg of fruit per bush.
Moro
Yoshta Moro reaches 2.5 m in height and has a compact columnar crown. It bears small glossy berries, very similar to cherries, almost black in color with a purple tinge. The taste of the fruit is sweet, but with a well-defined sourness, and has a pleasant nutty aroma.
Yoshta Moro is suitable for landing in the northern regions
Crandall
The American variety Krondal has wide leaves reminiscent of currants. It bears black berries, similar in shape to gooseberries, with very large seeds inside. Unlike most varieties of Yoshta, it blooms with yellow buds.
The height of Yoshta Krondal does not exceed 1.7 m
Features of planting and care
Yoshta currant prefers open areas with good lighting, nutritious and moist, but breathable soils enriched with potassium.Planting is carried out in the spring with the onset of the growing season or in the fall until mid-September in the southern regions. Before rooting the currants, dig up the selected place and add humus and chicken droppings to the ground, and also prepare a hole about 60 cm deep.
A layer of pebbles or broken bricks is placed at the bottom of the planting hole for drainage, fertile soil is poured halfway on top and the seedling is placed on it, carefully straightening the roots. Then the Yoshta currant is covered completely with soil, leaving the root collar above the surface, and watered abundantly. Immediately after planting, hybrid currants should be mulched with straw or peat to slow down the evaporation of moisture. If several plants are placed on the site at once, leave a space of about 1.5 m between them.
Plant care comes down to simple procedures:
- In the warm season, in the absence of rain, Yoshta requires watering twice a week with three buckets of water. After the procedure, you need to loosen and re-mulch the soil.
- Feeding is carried out four times per season. In the spring, currants are fertilized with saltpeter or urea to grow foliage, after flowering - with potassium monophosphate, and in mid-summer with bird droppings or mullein. In the fall, shortly before the onset of cold weather, superphosphate is added to the soil along with watering or humus is scattered under the plant.
- Yoshta does not require decorative pruning because it grows very slowly. But every spring and autumn you need to carry out a sanitary haircut and remove old, dry and diseased shoots.
Yoshta currant has good frost resistance.For the winter, the shrub is not wrapped; it is enough to insulate the roots of the plant with a layer of peat of about 10 cm to prevent them from freezing.
Collection, storage and shelf life of berries
The first fruits of Yoshta currants ripen in mid-July, but it is recommended to harvest no earlier than mid-August. The berries ripen unevenly, within two to three weeks.
Yoshta berries do not fall from the bushes, so they are usually collected at the same time on a warm, dry day
Hybrid currants have a dense skin that does not crack when ripe. Due to this, Yoshta demonstrates good shelf life and is suitable for transportation over long distances while maintaining an attractive presentation.
The fruits of the hybrid are suitable for fresh consumption and canning; jams, compotes and jellies are prepared from them. For long-term storage, currant berries can be frozen at a temperature no higher than -16°C, in which case they will remain usable for a year.
Reproduction methods
Hybrid currant Yoshtu is propagated in several vegetative ways. The plant's survival rate is high; it is possible to increase the population of the crop on the site without much effort.
Cuttings
Several shoots up to 20 cm long are cut from the Yoshta hybrid bush and immersed in water at room temperature for several hours. After this, the cuttings are wrapped in film and put away in a cool and warm place until spring. With the onset of warmth, shoots can be planted directly into the ground.
It is best to take cuttings from a bush in the fall, although you can do this at the end of winter
Layerings
In early spring, one of the lower young shoots of the hybrid currant is bent to the ground, pinched, deepened into the soil and secured so that the branch does not straighten.During the summer, the cuttings need to be watered simultaneously with the mother plant until they are fully rooted.
If you root the cuttings in the spring, then by September they can be separated and moved to a new place
Dividing the bush
Mature currants are carefully dug out of the ground and divided into several parts along the rhizome with an ax. Each seedling should have strong young shoots and healthy underground shoots. The divisions are immediately transferred to a new location and standard planting is carried out.
Dividing the bush for Yoshta currants is carried out in early spring
Yoshta grafting on currants
Yoshta can be grafted onto golden or black currants to increase frost resistance and crop yield. The procedure is carried out at the end of March or mid-April, depending on the region, but in any case before the buds open. Yoshta cuttings can be cut immediately before grafting or prepared in the fall.
When grafting Yoshta onto currants, the copulation method is most often used.
The Yoshta cutting and the currant shoot are cut at an oblique angle and tightly connected, and then fixed with a tie. Below the grafting, all shoots are removed and the cut areas are covered with garden pitch. After about a month, the winding can be removed.
Conclusion
Yoshta currant is a very interesting hybrid for growing with high yield and dessert sweet fruits. The plant has modest care requirements, so it usually does not cause problems for gardeners.
Reviews with photos about the Yoshta currant variety
