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Honeysuckle Blue spindle with edible berries is deservedly popular among Russian gardeners. Plants are especially valued in Siberia, since it was in this climate that the variety was bred. This means that the local conditions for honeysuckle are just what is needed.
Breeding history
The honeysuckle variety with blue berries is an early ripening plant. The authors are scientists from the Siberian Research Institute of Horticulture named after M. A. Lisavenko. Seedlings of Kamchatka honeysuckle Start were taken as a basis; open pollination was used.
Testing of a new variety of honeysuckle began in 1980, and nine years later the plant was included in the State Register of the Russian Federation. The new variety had a compact bush and yield was not inferior to the parent form.
Description and characteristics of the variety
The authors were the first to describe the Blue Spindle honeysuckle. As planned, the result was a plant with a height of 80 to 100 cm with a sparse rounded crown.
Bush
The skeletal branches of Blue Spindle honeysuckle point upward at an oblique angle. The plant is represented by thin, erect shoots without pubescence. The main color of the stems is green, but when exposed to the sun, some of them become anthracite.
Honeysuckle of the Siberian variety has large, elongated oval leaves of a rich green color. Both parts of the leaf blade (you can see this in the photo) are sharp at the top and bottom and folded in the middle right along the vein.
On mature honeysuckle trunks, including the Blue Spindle variety, the bark begins to peel off. This is not a disease, but a feature of the variety.
Fruit
A varietal feature of the Blue Spindle is the size of the berries, which do not change depending on the growing region. The berries weigh 0.9-1.3 grams, length about 3 cm, diameter 1.1 cm.
The honeysuckle variety got its name due to the shape of the berry, which resembles a long spindle. The base of the blue-blue fruit with a waxy coating is flat, the skin is dense. On the surface of the berry (see photo) there are visible transverse tubercles.
Berries with tender, sweetish-sour pulp. In dry years with a slight bitterness. According to reviews from consumers and tasters, the taste of the fruit directly depends on the growing region.
Expert opinions on the taste characteristics of fresh berries of the Blue Spindle variety range from 3.5 to 4.3 points. As for processed fruits, the score is much higher - 4.7-5 points.
Pollinators
Honeysuckle variety Blue Spindle is a self-sterile plant. Pollen from the plant itself does not pollinate, and the fruit does not set. That is why it needs pollination. If bushes of other varieties of honeysuckle do not grow nearby, fertilization will be minimal. The best pollinating varieties are considered to be:
- Cinderella;
- Blue Bird;
- Azure;
- Kamchadalka;
- Tomsk.
In the photo below is the honeysuckle variety Tomichka.
Features of fruiting
Fruiting on honeysuckle begins on 4-5 year old bushes. The berries of the Blue Spindle variety are ready for harvest in the second half of June. Depending on the region from the 12th to the 23rd. Ripening occurs unevenly, extending until mid-June.
Advantages and disadvantages
The creators of the variety took care of the advantages of the plant, thanks to which honeysuckle is popular:
- Early ripening.
- Excellent yield regardless of growing region. About two kilograms of gray fruits are harvested from the bush annually.
- The Blue Spindle variety attracts with its large, tasty berries.
- The bushes are compact, easy to care for, and do not require shelter for the winter.
- Drought-resistant and frost-resistant. They can withstand temperatures down to -45 degrees, fruits set even at 8 degrees below zero.
- They practically do not get sick and are not affected by pests.
If we talk about the shortcomings, they are minimal:
- the appearance of bitterness in berries in dry years;
- crumbling, which leads to a loss of 10-15% of the yield.
Growing
There are no special secrets for growing honeysuckle bushes; there are only some nuances that novice gardeners should become familiar with.
Why honeysuckle is needed in the garden, find out from the video:
How to choose seedlings
For planting, you need Blue Spindle honeysuckle seedlings at the age of two years. You need to purchase them from nurseries. And now about how to choose the right seedling:
- When purchasing a plant, pay attention to the development of the roots.
- You should not take cuttings short to 25 cm, as they are still underdeveloped.
- Sick honeysuckle bushes with broken branches should also be avoided.
- If the height of the seedling is more than one and a half meters, then they do not take root well. And fruiting does not begin immediately, since the seedling experiences severe stress from transplantation.
Landing dates
When planting Blue Spindle honeysuckle bushes, you need to take into account the features of growing a seedling:
- If the root system is open, then planting is planned for the fall, 30 days before the cold weather. The seedlings are frost-resistant, they are not afraid of frost down to 45 degrees. In spring, such bushes should not be planted, because the leaves begin to bloom early. The plant will spend all its energy on growing green mass and shoots, and the root system will not be able to develop. As a result, the bushes begin to hurt and die.
- Saplings of the Blue Spindle honeysuckle variety with a closed root system can be planted at any time of the year.
Selection of location and soil
In one place, the Blue Spindle honeysuckle bears fruit for up to 20 years, so you need to immediately decide on the site. Plants like a well-lit, sunny, draft-free location. The site must be protected from harsh winds that knock down buds and berries. In the photo, honeysuckle is planted against the wall of the house.
The root system can be destroyed by highly suitable groundwater. When choosing a location, you need to take into account that they should not be higher than one meter from the surface.
Although the honeysuckle variety is unpretentious, the soil in the planting hole must be well filled with nutrients. Experienced gardeners recommend laying dry branches and wood chips, which not only feed the plant when rotting, but also warm the root system.
Planting a bush
The further development of the plant and fruiting depend on the correct planting of the seedling:
- The size of the hole should be 40x50 cm. The hole can be made larger, it all depends on the root system.
- Drainage is placed at the bottom, then fertile soil is mixed with a bucket of compost, 300 g. ash, 30 gr. potassium sulfate and 100 gr. superphosphate.
- The root collar of a honeysuckle seedling is buried 5-7 cm higher than it grew in the nursery. The roots are straightened and covered halfway with soil. Immediately pour out a bucket of water so that the root system straightens out.
- After the hole is filled to the top, the soil is compacted and another bucket of water is poured. To ensure that moisture evaporates more slowly, the surface under the Blue Spindle bush, as shown in the photo, is mulched with a layer of 5-7 cm.
Care
According to reviews from gardeners who have been cultivating the crop for many years, caring for honeysuckle is not particularly difficult. The main thing is to carry out basic agrotechnical activities.
Watering
As noted in the description, the plant is drought-resistant. The berries of the Blue Spindle variety are edible, but if there is a lack of moisture, they develop a bitter taste.
Watering is especially important during flowering and fruit ripening. The bushes need to be watered weekly, 4-5 buckets of water are needed for each bush.
Top dressing
Honeysuckle variety Blue Spindle is a perennial plant and needs timely feeding:
- Fertilizer is applied for the first time in early spring, as soon as the ground begins to thaw. Under each bush add half a bucket of compost or humus mixed with mulch. Exactly the same fertilizing can be applied in the fall, after the leaves have fallen off.
- The bushes are fed a second time with wood ash (1/2 cup) under each plant during budding and in August, when buds are formed.
- In the fall, when plant growth stops, make a furrow at least 20 cm deep around the bush and feed it with 1 tablespoon of superphosphate. Then level the groove and water it.
Trimming
If you do not form a bush, then after 3-4 years the crown will become too thick, which will negatively affect fruiting. After 2-3 years, the apical buds die off, but intensive growth of the lateral branches begins.
Trimming secrets:
- Sanitary pruning of Blue Spindle honeysuckle is necessary in the first six years. It is performed in autumn and early spring. When sanitary pruning, all shoots that grow in the middle of the bush are removed so as not to shade the crown. It is carried out every 2-3 years, the skeletal branches are shortened by a third.
- In the future, in addition to sanitary pruning, thinning is necessary. It is held late in the fall.
- Old shoots need to be cut at the base into a stump of 7-8 cm. Replacement shoots will appear on them next year.
- To rejuvenate the bush, it is necessary to cut off all the shoots on a stump (as in the photo) so that new shoots grow, because fruiting occurs on them.
Protection from diseases and pests
The Blue Spindle variety, judging by the description and reviews from gardeners, is resistant to many diseases and pests. Although there are fungal diseases from which plants need to be protected. Honeysuckle is affected by:
- reddish-olive spotting;
- blackening of branches;
- powdery mildew;
- tubercularosis;
It is impossible to fight viral diseases, but to protect against fungal diseases you can use a 3-4 percent solution of Bordeaux mixture or the drug Skor.
The Blue Spindle honeysuckle suffers greatly, according to gardeners, from the caterpillars of the honeysuckle fingerwing, which infect the berries. No less harm is caused by insects that damage the leaves.
To combat harmful insects use:
- Decis;
- Inta-Vir;
- Actellicom;
- Confidor.
Reproduction
For honeysuckle, seed propagation at home is not suitable. The fact is that the seedlings are too tender and weak, almost all die. If they survive, they are most likely wild animals, which will produce their first harvest in 5 years. But the berries will be inedible.
You can grow plants from young annual shoots.
They are plucked at the heel from the mother bush in June and rooted in the greenhouse. Although this is also a dubious option, especially for beginners. The fact is that plants need high air humidity for a whole month, which is not always possible.
Find out how to propagate honeysuckle with green cuttings from the video:
Conclusion
Honeysuckle berries are of high value because they contain a large amount of vitamins. Honeysuckle fruits are especially useful for older and middle-aged people. P-active substances have a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, help cleanse blood vessels, and increase their elasticity.
