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Growing edible honeysuckle in recent years has become a very popular activity among gardeners not only in Our Country, but throughout the world. Moreover, varieties have appeared that can be cultivated industrially using mechanization. One of them is Berel honeysuckle.
Description of Berel honeysuckle
In Our Country, the cultivation of edible honeysuckle on an industrial scale was seriously taken up in the middle of the last century. Unpretentiousness, productivity, useful properties of berries – all these qualities have caused increased interest in this crop. It was then that breeders began breeding new varieties suitable for growing in a variety of climatic zones. In those days, honeysuckle was seriously considered as an alternative to traditional berry bushes, the cultivation of which in many regions of Our Country is associated with certain difficulties due to the unfavorable climate.
Honeysuckle Berel – a product of domestic selection
Breeders of the Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia named after M.A. Lisavenko completed work on the variety of edible honeysuckle Berel in 1980, and in 1996, after variety testing, it was entered into the State Register. For breeding, we used the genetic material of the honeysuckle varieties Altaiskaya 12-19 (Sirius), Blue spindle, Azure, Blue bird.
Next, a description of the Berel honeysuckle will be given, photos are shown, reviews of gardeners are given. The main parameters of the variety are presented in the table:
Parameter | Value |
Type of plant | perennial deciduous shrub |
Crown | Compact, medium spreading, up to 2 m high and up to 1,5 m in diameter |
Shoots | Smooth, powerful, without pubescence. Young shoots are green, later light brown, pinkish on the sunny side in the upper part of the bush, becoming reddish brown with age. |
Leaves | Large, oval-elongated, with a rounded tip and a wedge-shaped base. Petioles are short. The leaf plate is bright green, slightly pubescent on the reverse side, usually curved in the upper part of the bush. |
The roots | Tree-like, with a large number of small roots. |
Flowers | Large, white with a pinkish tint. Flowering occurs in May. |
Self-fertility | Self-infertile variety, requires pollinators. |
Fruit | The berries are oval elongated, dark blue, with a bluish bloom, reminiscent of wax. Weight usually ranges from 0,4-1 g. |
Taste | Sweet and sour, with a slight bitterness, pleasant. |
appointment | Universal. |
Fruit keeping quality, transportability | High. |
Productivity | Up to 4 kg from 1 adult bush. |
Maturation period | End of June and beginning of July. |
Planting and care of honeysuckle
Honeysuckle Berel is an unpretentious shrub with good winter hardiness and good immunity to diseases and pests. With the right choice of location and proper care, the life of this plant can reach up to 50 years, half of which it will bear fruit abundantly.
Terms of planting
Berel belongs to the early varieties of edible honeysuckle. The vegetation of this shrub begins in early spring, and this creates certain difficulties in meeting the planting dates in this fleeting period. Autumn landing is more correct and justified. Berel honeysuckle is planted in the second half of September or early October. When choosing the best time, you need to focus on the climatic features of the region and calculate the planting date so that after the work is done at least 1 month remains before the onset of frost.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
In order for Berel honeysuckle to grow well and actively bear fruit for many years, it is necessary to properly plant it on the site.
Proper planting is the key to the successful growth of honeysuckle Berel
Here are the basic requirements for the place where the shrub should grow:
- The southern, southeastern side of a building or structure, a fence that shelters plantings from the north wind.
- Open space or light partial shade. In shady areas, honeysuckle grows worse, and the fruits are more acidic.
- Fertile, loamy or sandy loamy soil with good breathability.
- The groundwater level is not closer than 1 m to the surface.
Landing pits with a depth of at least 0,5 m must be prepared in advance. The excavated earth is mixed with humus in a ratio of 1: 1, additionally adding a few tablespoons of superphosphate and potassium salt for enrichment. It is also advisable to add at least 1 cup of wood ash.
The size of the planting hole should correspond to the volume of the root system of the seedling
Rules of landing
The procedure for planting Berel honeysuckle is simple. This is especially easy to do if the seedling is in a container with a closed root system. In this case, it is removed along with a clod of earth on the roots and placed in a planting hole, holding it strictly vertically. The root neck is not deepened; it should remain flush with the soil surface. The remaining voids are filled with soil substrate and well compacted.
If the Berel honeysuckle seedling has an open root system, then a small mound of earth must first be poured into the bottom of the planting pit. The roots are straightened along its slopes, and then covered with nutrient soil, periodically compacting it. In this case, you also need to monitor the level at which the root neck of the Berel honeysuckle seedling will be after planting. You don’t need to deepen it.
It is preferable to use seedlings with a closed root system for planting.
After completing earthworks, the root zone of the seedling is abundantly spilled with water, and then mulched with fallen leaves or humus.
Watering and feeding
Honeysuckle Berel loves moisture, but does not tolerate its excess. Watering should be regular, but very dosed. The lack of moisture, especially during the period of ripening and filling of berries, negatively affects the taste, a noticeable bitterness appears in them. Severe water deficiency can lead to premature fruit drop, leaf curl and other unpleasant consequences. To avoid this, with a lack of atmospheric moisture, Berel honeysuckle is watered about 1 time per week, pouring at least 10 liters of water under the root. During drought, watering rates can be doubled, especially during the fruiting period.
Watering honeysuckle Berel should be moderate, but regular.
The first 2 years after planting Berel honeysuckle is not fed. For this period, fertilizers that were applied during planting are quite enough. From the third year, the shrub usually begins to bear fruit, while it will absorb nutrients from the soil much more intensively. From now on, it needs to be fed periodically. An approximate table of fertilizers used and the timing of their application for Berel honeysuckle is given below:
Terms of work | Feeding method | Fertilizers and dosage |
Early spring, before the growing season | Root | Ammonium nitrate, 15 g per 1 sq. m. near-trunk circle. |
Foliar | Urea (urea), 20 g per 10 liters of water. | |
At the end of flowering | Root | Organics (rotted manure, humus), 10 kg per bush. |
Autumn, after fruiting | Root | Superphosphate (20-30 g) + potassium sulfate (1-20 g) per 1 sq. m. subcorneal zone. |
Trimming
There are several types of pruning of edible honeysuckle, which includes the Berel variety:
- Sanitary. It is carried out annually in spring and autumn, as well as at any time of the year in case of emergency. It consists in removing dry, diseased, damaged shoots.
- thinning. This type of pruning is carried out to remove shoots that are not growing correctly, lying on the ground or thickening the bush, as well as to eliminate excess root shoots. The procedure is carried out in the fall after the end of the growing season, but before the onset of frost.
- Rejuvenating. With age, the annual growth of the shrub becomes less, respectively, fruiting also decreases. During anti-aging pruning, part of the old perennial wood is removed, instead of which new, young shoots are grown. This type of pruning is done at the same time as thinning.
- Formative. Allows you to get not only healthy, but also a beautiful Berel honeysuckle bush. This type of pruning is carried out in the fall, after fruiting. During work, weak shoots are removed, the direction of incorrectly growing branches is cut or corrected, and the skeleton of a shrub is formed.
Dead branches can be removed at any time
Wintering
Honeysuckle Berel has excellent winter hardiness. No measures to prepare the bush for winter are usually carried out. However, in the northern regions, it will not be superfluous to insulate the root zone by covering it with a thick layer of peat or humus.
Honeysuckle Pollinators Berel
Any type of Kamchatka or Altai honeysuckle is suitable as a pollinator for Berel honeysuckle. The best pollinator is the Kamchadalka variety.
Reproduction
Berel honeysuckle can be propagated both by seed and vegetatively. It is not difficult to grow seedlings from seeds, however, parental traits in such plants are often lost, and therefore their quality will be very different for the worse. In order to preserve all the positive properties of Berel honeysuckle in full, vegetative propagation methods are used, such as cuttings, layering and dividing the bush.
Cuttings are a great way to propagate Berel honeysuckle. The highest percentage of rooting (up to 60%) is given by green cuttings taken from the shrub at the very beginning of fruiting. In this capacity, annual shoots 15-40 cm long are used, while they are not cut off, but torn off from the mother branch “with a heel”. Berel honeysuckle cuttings harvested in this way are kept for 12-15 hours in a solution of a root formation stimulator, and then planted in special beds.
Beds for germinating cuttings must meet the following requirements:
- Good lighting in the morning, shade in the afternoon.
- Loose prepared soil from a mixture of sand, peat and soddy soil.
Berel honeysuckle cuttings are planted obliquely, at an angle of 45 °, towards the south. The soil should always be moderately moist. For the first time, it is better to cover the planting material with a film from direct sunlight. The formation of their own root system in cuttings usually occurs in 3 weeks. In the first winter, young plants must be covered with spruce branches.
More details about cuttings of honeysuckle are described in the video at the link:
Another fairly simple way to propagate Berel honeysuckle is to divide the bush. You can divide plants older than 10 years. At the same time, the shrub is dug out of the ground and several parts are separated from it, each of which contains at least 3 shoots with its own root system. The deprived parts are immediately planted in new places as independent seedlings.
Dividing a bush is an easy way to propagate Berel honeysuckle
Air layers from the Berel honeysuckle bush can be obtained by digging one of the side shoots. During the summer, a new root system will form in the internodes, and the cuttings will give their own shoots. For the winter, it is left with a maternal shoot, and in the spring it is cut off and planted in a new place.
Diseases and pests
According to the information of the originator (M.A. Lisavenko Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia), the Berel honeysuckle variety is not affected by diseases. Of the pests, the danger to the plant is aphid – a microscopic insect that feeds on the juices of leaves and young shoots. The rapid reproduction of aphids leads to the formation of numerous colonies of insects, as a result of which the honeysuckle is oppressed, the leaves and shoots dry out from lack of nutrition, and the fruits fall off prematurely.
Aphids – a malicious garden pest
To combat aphids, various folk remedies are used, such as infusion of tansy, celandine, chamomile, and tobacco. At the initial stage, this is quite enough. If the aphid colonies have reached a significant size, then insecticides will have to be used, for example, Fufanon, Iskra or Inta-Vir.
Conclusion
Honeysuckle Berel is one of many edible varieties suitable for cultivation in various regions of Our Country. It has good indicators of resistance to a variety of adverse factors and does not require enhanced care. At the same time, the variety demonstrates a good yield, and the slight bitterness in taste, which is inherent in the Berel honeysuckle, which is considered a disadvantage, completely disappears after heat treatment.