Edible honeysuckle is an upright deciduous shrub and is common in the temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere. In wild species, the fruits are small, sour, often with a pronounced bitterness. They are prone to shedding and ripen unevenly. Despite the unique healing properties, the development of new varieties began seriously only in the 50s of the last century.
Description of the variety
One of the best varieties that has appeared in recent years is Bakcharskaya Yubileinaya. This is an interspecific hybrid of Kamchatka and Turchaninov honeysuckles. The variety was bred by the Bakcharsky stronghold of northern gardening named after. M.A. Lisavenko at NIISS, in 2005 accepted for testing by the State Variety Commission.
Specifications
The honeysuckle variety Bakcharskaya Yubileynaya has a rounded crown with straight, sparse branches. An adult bush reaches 1.6-1.8 m in height and 1.2 m in width. The shoots become lignified completely, like other varieties of honeysuckle.
The fruits of the Bakcharskaya Yubileiny variety have an elongated or oval shape, dark purple color with a waxy coating. Their length can reach 3.3 cm, diameter - 1.2 cm. The size, weight and ripening time of honeysuckle berries strongly depend on external conditions and intensity of cultivation:
- In a carefully tended private garden, fruits weighing 1.4-1.8 g each grow, the yield is 2.5-3.0 kg per bush.
- When grown industrially, the berries reach 0.9-1.0 g (this is a very good result for honeysuckle), and up to 2 kg are collected from the plant.
- The best results shown by the Bakcharskaya Yubileinaya variety are fruits weighing 2.1 g with a yield of 4.6 kg per bush.
Bakcharskaya Yubileinaya is a medium-late, slightly shattering variety, that is, only up to 20% of the fruits fall to the ground after ripening. The berries of this honeysuckle are arranged in a heap, making it convenient to carry out both mechanized and manual harvesting.
Pollinators
Honeysuckle is self-sterile and has bisexual flowers. It is pollinated by bees and bumblebees. The plant is an excellent honey plant and not only does not need to attract beneficial insects, but can itself serve as bait for them.
To get a decent harvest, at least 2-3 varieties of honeysuckle must be planted nearby, otherwise even an adult bush will at best produce a few berries, although it will bloom profusely. For Bakcharskaya Yubileiny, Silginka is considered the best pollinator.
Advantages and disadvantages
The honeysuckle variety Bakcharskaya Yubileynaya is one of the most promising. Its advantages include:
- Excellent taste – 4.8 points.
- High content of useful substances.
- High yield.
- Stability of fruiting.
- Large berries.
- Winter hardiness. Honeysuckle can withstand frosts down to 48-56 degrees, flowers do not fall off at -7.
- Ease of harvesting due to the compactness of the berries and the looseness of the crown.
- Precociousness. 2-3 years after planting Bakcharskaya Jubilee, you can harvest a decent harvest (for most varieties this period begins after 6 years).
- Dry picking of berries. This makes it possible not only to process or dry the fruits, but also to freeze honeysuckle.
- Most of the harvest does not fall off and stays on the bush for a long time, without losing its taste and marketable qualities.
- Undemanding and easy to care for.
- If successfully located in one place, honeysuckle grows for 20-30 years.
The disadvantages of the variety include:
- Self-sterility.
- Some berries still fall off and ripen unevenly.
- In the southern regions, it is difficult to grow healthy, consistently fruiting honeysuckle that meets the varietal characteristics.
Accommodation on site
Honeysuckle is a temperate climate plant; it thrives in the Middle Zone, Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
Selection of planting material
Buy planting material from nurseries. The honeysuckle there is of the best quality, and the varieties sold are those stated on the label. It is best to buy 2-3 year old plants in late summer or autumn, with a closed root system.The root should be elastic, not too cut when digging, and the branches should be even, with equal internodes.
Selecting a suitable location and preparing the soil
Honeysuckle is unpretentious to growing conditions; the only requirement is good illumination of the area. With a lack of light, the harvest will be poor and the berries will be small. Honeysuckle cannot be placed in lowlands due to the accumulation of cold air and stagnant water.
Any soil will do, but the berry will grow best on fertile, loose soil. Only areas with a high clay or sand content will require radical improvement. Before planting, the berry garden is cleared of weed, dig holes 40x40x40 cm and fill them with planting mixture. It is prepared from fertile soil, peat, compost or humus, taking them in equal parts. Soil with a high pH level is deoxidized with lime or dolomite flour.
Planting a bush
It is best to plant honeysuckle in late summer or early fall. It ends the growing season early, but growth processes continue. Before winter the bush will have time to get stronger. In spring, it is allowed to plant only container plants or emergency transfer of honeysuckle to another place with a large lump of earth.
Bushes are placed at a distance no closer than 1.5 m from each other or other trees. Over time, the honeysuckle will grow, and it should be illuminated from all sides. A space of 2.5 m is left between the rows.
The prepared planting hole is completely filled with water, allowed to soak in, then planting begins. Under each root, add 50 g of superphosphate and potassium salt, and if the soil is poor, then an additional bucket of organic matter.An earthen mound is poured in the middle of the hole, the plant is installed so that the root collar is 3-5 cm below the soil level. The root system is covered with the prepared mixture, lightly compacted, watered abundantly, and mulched.
Growing
Only young plants need careful care in the first year after planting. An adult, well-rooted, healthy honeysuckle requires almost no attention from its owners.
Caring for a young plant
During the first months, honeysuckle needs to be watered regularly, the soil should be loosened for better oxygen supply to the roots, and weeds should be pulled out. It does not need regular feeding for the first three years if fertilizers were added during planting.
Honeysuckle grows slowly at first. First of all, it develops the root system, and then the above-ground part. The Bakcharskaya Yubileinaya variety differs from others in its early fruiting, so this period is reduced to 1-2 years.
At the beginning of autumn, sanitary pruning is carried out - all dry, broken and thickening branches of the bush are removed.
Caring for an adult plant
Starting from the third year, honeysuckle begins to bear fruit and needs additional feeding. In early spring, literally in the snow, nitrogen fertilizers are applied to each bush. At the end of summer, a liter jar of ash and a bucket of organic matter are embedded in the soil.
Further care consists of weeding, loosening tree trunk circles to a depth of 5-8 cm and periodic watering during dry periods.
Pruning and wintering
Until 15 years of age, honeysuckle is not pruned at all; it is limited to removing broken, dry, downward growing and thickening branches. Then the bushes are thinned out, cutting off the oldest branches at the base. At the age of 20 years, honeysuckle begins to age - while maintaining agricultural technology, the yield decreases. You can rejuvenate the bush by cutting it completely at a height of about 15 cm above ground level, next year it will recover and will bear fruit for another 10 years.
The Bakcharskaya Yubileinaya variety was created at an experimental station located in the Tomsk region. It tolerates temperatures lower than minus 50 degrees and does not need shelter.
Reproduction methods
Honeysuckle is not cheap; amateur gardeners can propagate it in one of the following ways:
- seeds;
- green or woody cuttings;
- layering;
- dividing the bush.
The most reliable way for non-specialists is to bury low-lying branches or divide a young, well-grown bush.
Problems during cultivation
Honeysuckle practically does not get sick, and parasites usually bypass a healthy bush. Possible pests and measures to combat them are described in the table.
Pest | External signs | Control measures |
leaf roller | Caterpillars eat leaves and young shoots during berry ripening | Treat with appropriate insecticide. Biological preparations include Fitoverm, Agrovertin or Iskra-bio. |
Aphid | Sucks juice from leaves, causing them to turn yellow | |
Willow scale | Sucks juice from the bark, looks like small dense squiggles |
The only disease that can be mentioned is powdery mildew, although it appears rarely. Treat honeysuckle with Fitosporin.
Among the problems is the repeated flowering of honeysuckle, which significantly reduces the next year's harvest. It occurs due to the fact that the growing season begins and ends early - even in the conditions of the Tomsk region, growth processes stop by the end of July. Sometimes honeysuckle blooms again. In small areas, remove all buds by hand.
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