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The description of the variety, photos and reviews of Long-fruited honeysuckle will be interesting to study for all gardeners who want to grow a beautiful and useful plant. In cultivation, honeysuckle is quite unpretentious, but has its own characteristics.
Benefits of long honeysuckle
The main value of honeysuckle in the garden lies in its fruits. Long-fruited is able to please with long berries with a delicate refreshing taste, and the yield of the variety is very good.
Berries are suitable not only for fresh consumption and for conservation. Since they contain a huge amount of vitamins, the fruits are also used in traditional medicine. Long-fruited honeysuckle berries can treat blood vessels, strengthen the immune system and the heart system, honeysuckle benefits in digestive diseases.
Description of the honeysuckle variety Long-fruited
Long-fruited honeysuckle is a medium-spreading shrub, the height of the Long-fruited honeysuckle bush reaches about 1 m. The crown is spherical, formed by a large number of slightly curved shoots. The shoots themselves are thin, green with a slight purple tint and slightly pubescent, and the old branches are covered with brownish-yellow bark.
An edible variety of honeysuckle produces very juicy and healthy fruits.
The leaves of the Long-fruited honeysuckle are dark green, oblong and lanceolate, soft to the touch and slightly pubescent. The variety blooms with large white-yellow funnel-shaped flowers at the very beginning of May, and fruit ripening occurs in the first days of June.
Long-fruited for the first time bears fruit 2 or 3 years after planting in the ground. As you might guess from the name of the variety, the berries of the plant are long, cylindrical in shape, each of them reaches up to 3 cm in length, and the fruits weigh about 2 g. – red, juicy and pleasant on the palate, without bitterness. The tasting score of the fruit reaches 4,8 points; the berries can be used both fresh and for conservation.
Planting and caring for long-fruited honeysuckle
Growing honeysuckle in your area is quite simple. But for this you need to know when to plant a plant in open ground and how to properly care for the Long-fruited.
Unlike most plants, long-fruited honeysuckle requires late planting.
Terms of planting
The recommended dates for planting Long-fruited differ from the standard ones. It is necessary to plant a plant in the ground from the beginning of August to the end of September. This is due to the fact that the fruit shrub takes root quickly enough and will have time to take root on the site before the onset of cold weather.
But the spring planting of Long-fruited is associated with serious risks. Vegetation in honeysuckle begins very early, in early April, and if planted during this period, it will develop slowly and with difficulty.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
The characteristic of the long-fruited honeysuckle variety indicates that the plant feels best in open sunny places, protected from strong winds. Therefore, it is recommended to plant shrubs on hills, but not far from tall trees or buildings that will serve as a cover from drafts.
To the soil Long-fruited is undemanding and grows well on poor soil, provided that it is sufficiently loose. The plant does not react well to waterlogging, so good drainage should be equipped on clay soils.
The plant does not impose special requirements on the soil.
Before planting for a shrub, they dig a hole about 50 cm deep and 60 cm wide. At the same time, the earth must be mixed with a bucket of rotted manure, add 100 g of potassium salt and 100 g of superphosphate to it.
Rules of landing
The landing algorithm for Long-fruited is standard and looks like this:
- a day before planting, the seedling is soaked in a bucket of water, if necessary, adding growth stimulants to it;
- before planting, the roots of the seedling are carefully straightened and the honeysuckle is lowered into a half-filled hole so that the root system is not affected;
- the seedling is sprinkled with the remaining earth flush with the surface, after which a bucket of water is poured under the trunk and mulched in a circle with sawdust.
If the soil at the landing site of the Long-fruited is light and aerated, then the plant can be deepened by about 5 cm, this will contribute to the growth of the root system. On clay soils, deepening is not practiced, since it leads to rotting of the roots.
Honeysuckle shrub needs to be watered, but so that there is no waterlogging
Watering and feeding
Long-fruited negatively relates to waterlogging, but perceives moderate watering well.
Usually, for the first time, the shrub is watered in the spring, if the weather is warm and there is almost no precipitation, 1-2 buckets of water are brought under the trunk. Moist soil is mulched with humus, it will not only retain moisture, but also serve as a natural nitrogen fertilizer.
The second watering is carried out during the setting of buds, and the amount of water is increased to 3 buckets. At the same time, you can feed with complex mineral fertilizers.
In the summer after fruiting, watering is carried out only as needed. If natural precipitation regularly falls, then honeysuckle can not be watered at all, if there is a drought, then a couple of buckets of water are brought under the trunk every week.
In early September, the plant is watered for the last time and fed with potassium and phosphorus, you can also sprinkle the soil with ash. After that, honeysuckle will have enough moisture and nutrients until the next season.
Trimming
A few years after planting, the Long-fruited grows and begins to need pruning. Shrubs are usually trimmed in autumn after leaf fall, when honeysuckle falls into a dormant state. During pruning, all dry and broken branches are removed, diseased and old shoots are cut, it is also recommended to thin out the crown.
Every year it is recommended to carry out sanitary pruning of shrubs.
As a result of pruning, honeysuckle receives an incentive to form new young shoots. In addition, the branches of the plant begin to receive more oxygen and sunlight, which ultimately has a positive effect on health and fruiting.
Wintering
Long-fruited honeysuckle tolerates winter cold very well. The plant does not need special preparation for winter, it is quite enough to carry out the usual autumn work. Namely:
- cut dry and broken branches of the plant;
- remove plant debris from under the trunk of a shrub;
- mulch the soil with sawdust or compost.
It is not necessary to cover the shrub, but you can tie up the shoots of the plant so that heavy snow does not break the branches.
Reproduction
Long-fruited honeysuckle can be propagated on the site in several ways:
- Layers. Since the shoots of the shrub are thin, long and flexible, this method is very suitable for propagation. One of the lower shoots is bent to the ground and slightly deepened into the ground in the middle part, fixing it so that the shoot does not straighten. After a few weeks, the layer will give roots, and the next season it can be separated from the mother bush.
- By division. For the overgrown Long-fruited honeysuckle, dividing the bush is practiced, the plant is dug out of the ground and the rhizome is divided with a sharp shovel, after which each of the divisions is planted in its own place according to the standard algorithm.
- Cutting. At the beginning of spring, several young shoots are cut from a honeysuckle bush and placed in water with a growth stimulator for a day. After that, the cuttings are planted directly into the ground in the garden and covered with a film for 2-3 weeks to create a greenhouse effect. When the honeysuckle takes root, the film begins to be removed for a short time, each time increasing the length of time the plant stays in the fresh air. It will be possible to transplant the stalk to a permanent place for the next season.
The plant is propagated mainly by vegetative methods.
The shrub is also propagated by seeds obtained from ripe fruits. However, this propagation method is rarely used, since cultivation takes a long time, and varietal characteristics are often not preserved.
Diseases and pests
Long-fruited honeysuckle often suffers from powdery mildew, ramularia and European cancer. Fungal diseases can quickly destroy the plant, therefore, at the first symptoms, it is necessary to remove all affected shoots and treat the honeysuckle with copper sulphate and fungicidal preparations.
Of the pests for the Long-fruited, aphids, spider mites, goldfish and red-legged stinkweed are dangerous. When pests appear, it is recommended to treat the shrub with soapy water or special means, for example, Karbofos.
Conclusion
The description of the variety, photos and reviews of Long-fruited honeysuckle present it as a useful and easy-to-grow fruit plant. A special advantage of honeysuckle is its resistance to cold; in a temperate climate, caring for a plant usually does not bring problems.
Reviews of honeysuckle Long-fruited
