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The creation of large-fruited honeysuckle by breeders contributed to the widespread distribution of the cultivated shrub. A hardy, winter-hardy honeysuckle of the Amphora variety with a medium-late ripening period, the berries have a harmonious dessert taste. It was developed at an experimental station in Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg.
Description and characteristics of the variety
The Amphora variety was created on the basis of the cultivated honeysuckle Roxana and a wild variety from Kamchatka, and has been included in the State Register since 1998. This unassuming berry bush is a real find for gardeners in cold regions. Amphora honeysuckle buds can withstand frosts down to -45-47 OC. The plant also tolerates return frosts: the flowers can withstand prolonged temperature drops to -4, -6 without damage. OC, and short-term – up to 7 OC. The variety is also valuable because it is resistant to repeated flowering.
The Amphora variety bush with a rounded dense crown grows up to 1.5 m. The trunks are straight, strong, and extend obliquely from the root. The bark of honeysuckle is brownish-red, the pubescent shoots are crimson. The leaves are elongated-oval, dense, fleecy. The flowers are pubescent, tubular-bell-shaped, yellow-green.
Amphora honeysuckle berries are elongated pitcher-shaped, 2 cm long, weighing 1.2-1.5 g, in good conditions on fertile soils - 3 g. The dense blue skin has a strong waxy coating. The dense, gristly, sweet pulp of Amphora honeysuckle berries has no aroma, the sourness is weakly expressed, there is a lingonberry flavor and a slight bitterness. Small seeds are invisible when eaten. The berries are rich in ascorbic acid: 58 mg per 100 g, respectively, the percentage ratio of acid, sugar and dry matter is: 2.6: 7.6: 13.8. After sampling, the tasters gave the Amphora honeysuckle berries a score of 4.5 points.
Honeysuckle bushes are interesting for their decorative properties; they are often used for hedges; they bear fruit well when cross-pollinated.
Pollinators Amphora
The Amphora variety, like all honeysuckle shrubs, does not bear fruit without cross-pollination. Other cultivated varieties are planted nearby - up to 3-5 plants. The best pollinators for honeysuckle variety Amphora are:
- Violet;
- Pavlovskaya;
- Altair;
- Gzhelka;
- Moraine,
- Malvina.
Features of fruiting
On average, 1.3-1.5 kg of useful and healing berries are collected from one plant. Agrofon adjusts the yield of Amphora honeysuckle bushes within 0.8-2 kg. Signal fruits often appear in the first year of planting. The variety shows its full potential from the third year of growth. Honeysuckle fruits hold tightly to the branches, do not fall off for a long time, and withstand transportation well. In the Moscow region, honeysuckle bears fruit from the beginning of June. In cold regions, the mid-late variety Amphora ripens from mid-June, a little earlier than strawberries and raspberries.The productivity of honeysuckle is long - more than 30 years, the yield is stable. Honeysuckle bushes have been documented to bear fruit for 80 years or more.
Honeysuckle Amphora is universal, suitable for consumption fresh and in preparations. Gardeners who grow the Amphora berry bush assure that the jam has a delicious taste and no bitterness. The fruits are also frozen and vitamin-rich raw jam is prepared.
Secrets of growing
The bush begins its spring awakening very early, so autumn planting, in September, is the best option. Only in the south can the crop be replanted until mid-March. You need to take the selection of a place for a seedling seriously. Honeysuckle Amphora grows in any conditions, including in the shade. At the same time, the shrub is photophilous and bears fruit better in warm and moderately rainy weather. In the sun, the berries of the Amphora variety are tastier and sweeter. Honeysuckle bushes are planted at intervals of 1.5-2 m.
Selection of location and soil
For Amphora honeysuckle, choose a sunny place or with light partial shade if the bush is grown as a fruiting bush. In the shade the plant will develop, but is unlikely to bloom. Can be planted in an open place; honeysuckle is not afraid of cold wind. Although this will also have a negative impact on the quality of fruiting. The plant is moisture-loving, but does not develop well in swampy soil and in areas where spring or rain water accumulates. Honeysuckle cannot be placed in lowlands.
Light soils, slightly acidic and neutral, are suitable for shrubs. On heavy soils, a substrate is prepared in the hole from equal parts of local fertile soil, humus and sand.Experienced gardeners advise placing the bush in the light afternoon shade of an apple tree, which is considered a favorable neighbor for honeysuckle.
Planting a bush
For a fruit-bearing bush, choose 2-3-year-old seedlings of the Amphora variety with a root system diameter of up to 20 cm. A hole is prepared at the selected location a week before planting.
- Planting pit size 0.3 m x 0.3 m x 0.3 m;
- The drainage layer of ceramics and pebbles is at least 10 cm;
- The soil is mixed with humus, 1 liter of wood ash, 60 g of potassium sulfate and 150 g of superphosphate;
- Before planting, water the hole, pour a mound of fertile soil and carefully lay the roots of the seedling on it;
- When filling the hole, the root collar is deepened by 3 cm;
- The soil around the trunk is compacted, a circular groove is made along the edges of the hole for irrigation and filled with water;
- Then the soil is mulched with grass, old sawdust, compost, and peat.
Care
The early ripening berry bush of the Amphora variety is undemanding, but still the harvest will be much better if you pay more attention to the plants. The earth is slightly loosened, up to 5-6 cm, so as not to damage the surface root system, removed weeds, on which pests settle. They work especially carefully under bushes older than 5 years, in which the root system rises to the surface of the soil.
Watering
In the southern regions, honeysuckle must be watered every other day. In the middle zone, during dry weather, the shrub also requires regular watering, especially in the phase of ovary formation and before fruiting. To saturate the bush with moisture, water it after harvesting, in July and August.
- A groove 10-15 cm deep is dug along the crown line and filled with water;
- When watering, the soil should not be soaked too much; it should remain crumbly;
- During drought, the Amphora bush is watered in the morning and evening by sprinkling through a fine nozzle to keep the delicate leaves from drying out.
Top dressing
In the third year, the Amphora honeysuckle bush begins to bear fruit and requires support with nutrients.
- In early spring, the bush is mulched with humus and compost;
- Before flowering and in the ovary phase, feed with mullein infusion in a ratio of 1:10;
- At the end of summer, natural potassium fertilizer is applied to the Amphora bush: 0.5 liters of wood ash are dissolved in 10 liters of water;
- If fed with minerals, a urea solution is added in the spring: 20 g per 10 liters of water;
- After collecting the berries, pour a solution of 10 g of urea, 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 60 g of superphosphate per bucket of water;
- In August, dilute 60 g of superphosphate and 40 g of potassium sulfate in 20 liters of water for one bush;
- Foliar feeding with a ready-made mineral complex is given to young plants of the Amphora variety.
Trimming
Young Amphora honeysuckle plants are pruned only from dry, very low or damaged branches.
- After 7 years of development, thinning pruning is carried out in the fall: old shoots and thickening shoots are removed, leaving no more than 10 developed branches;
- Rejuvenating pruning is applied to honeysuckle bushes that are 15 years old, removing most of the branches. This procedure is repeated after 10 years.
Protection from diseases and pests
Honeysuckle Amphora is susceptible to fungal diseases - downy mildew and rust only in years with rainy summers. In early spring, for prevention, the bushes are treated at the gardener’s discretion with:
- 5% urea solution;
- 0.2% solution of Actellik or Rogor;
- In the summer, after picking berries, fungicides “Skor”, “Strobi”, “Flint”, “Topaz” are used to combat pathogens;
- Increase immunity by spraying with Epin or Zircon, according to the instructions.
Aphids can settle on young shoots of the Amphora variety; sometimes whiteflies and scale insects attack the bushes.
- Aphid colonies are sprayed with hot pepper tincture;
- Other pests are controlled with insecticides “Iskra”, “Inta-Vir”, “Fitoverm”, “Aktellik”;
- If you have to protect honeysuckle with growing fruits, use biological agents: Glyokladin, Fitosporin, Alirin-B, Gamair.
Reproduction
The Amphora variety is propagated by layering, bending the lower branch into a dug groove in the spring. The top is left on the surface. The shoot is constantly watered. The emerging shoots are replanted next spring or autumn. Amphora bushes can also be divided using a sharp shovel or cuttings can be cut in the spring.
Conclusion
Growing honeysuckle will not bring much trouble. The correct arrangement of several bushes for cross-pollination, timely feeding and proper pruning will provide seven useful berry preparations.
