Contents
Description of the variety, photos and reviews of honeysuckle Bell give a complete picture of the plant. This variety has almost no disadvantages, except for the inability to grow in the southern regions. Despite the relative youth, the variety is grown by gardeners and gardeners in all cold areas.
Description of honeysuckle varieties Bell
This variety was bred in 1979 at the Pavlovsk Experimental Station. This is a particularly frost-resistant shrub variety that does not tolerate warm winters.
Honeysuckle varieties Bell – deciduous species, according to the description, photos and reviews of gardeners, two meters in height. Young branches are slightly pubescent, light green in color. Mature shoots have brown bark with a yellow tinge. Leaves are bright green, oblong-ovate.
Flowering occurs in May, the buds are light yellow, almost white. The inflorescences are located in the axils of the leaves, and the first fruits ripen in mid-June. The berries have a rounded base, a wide, flat top. The taste is sweet and sour, the aroma is rich, the pulp is juicy.
Honeysuckle Bluebell withstands frost down to -40 ° C, and the flowers do not fall off when the temperature drops to 8 ° C. The plant is able to survive the drought, but the berries become smaller, and bitterness appears in the taste. To avoid this, 2 buckets of water are poured under each bush.
Planting and caring for honeysuckle Bell
Honeysuckle of the Bellflower variety is recommended to be planted either in very early spring, when the plant has not yet woken up, or in autumn, when the leaves have already fallen. Landing is carried out necessarily with a clod of soil.
For a bush, soil of a sandy-clay type, slightly acidic, is suitable. It is advised to choose a sunny place, protected from strong winds. If there is no such combination, you can artificially protect the seedling by pulling a thin covering material or film as a wall.
Before planting, holes are prepared to a depth of 50 cm and with sides of the same size. 2 buckets of compost are placed inside, the excavated soil is mixed with wood ash (1 kg) and superphosphate (50 g), poured into the hole with a hill. Then proceed to landing:
- The roots are distributed along the edges of the hill in the hole, watered and sprinkled with earth a little.
- The pit is covered with soil, the plant is watered under the root, avoiding water on the trunk.
- Mulch the ground with leaves, sawdust or grass. It is not recommended to use any parts of coniferous trees, they contribute to a sharp increase in soil acidity.
Once planted, Bluebell honeysuckle will need to be weeded regularly until the seedling has grown enough. You also need to be careful not to touch the roots, loosen the soil. Watering is necessary only in hot dry years. It will take 1 time per week to pour 2 buckets of water under the plant.
Pruning for the first 10 years of life of honeysuckle Bell is not needed, the usual removal of dry and diseased branches is enough. If the yield drops sharply, the entire bush is cut off, almost at the root, so that the plant gives new shoots.
Fertilizers are applied every 3 years, ready-made complex fertilizers are used or 5 kg of manure, 20 g of potassium salt and 50 g of superphosphate are mixed.
Special preparation for winter is not needed. Before wintering, you only need:
- remove mulch, crumbling leaves;
- cut dried branches;
- cut 1-2 of the oldest branches so that there is room for new shoots to grow.
It is also permissible to add 30 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium salt so that the plant can better endure the winter.
Reproduction of honeysuckle varieties Bell
Honeysuckle The bell is propagated by four methods – seeds, layering, dividing the bush and cuttings.
To propagate by layering, proceed as follows:
- In the spring, until the juices begin to move, several branches are tilted.
- Press down and cover with earth.
- Layers should take root in a period of 2 weeks to 2 months.
- After rooting, they are cut and placed as seedlings.
If it is not possible to bend the branches, it is permissible to cut the bark, retreating 17 cm from the top of the branch, attach moss, cover with polyethylene and secure. This is how air layers are obtained, which are planted as usual.
For cuttings of honeysuckle Bellflower, young branches should be cut in early spring or after the first ovaries. It is desirable that each had 2 buds and 3-4 cm for planting. The cuttings are kept in water for 24 hours, then planted in the ground.
The division of the bush is suitable only for already formed plants. In early spring, before the awakening of the kidneys, part of the bush is dug up and transplanted to a new place. The movement must be done together with the soil, so as not to damage the roots.
Reproduction by seeds does not guarantee the preservation of varietal qualities and takes a lot of time.
Step-by-step process:
- Seeds are stratified for 2 months in the refrigerator.
- They are sown in trays with soil (it is desirable to add compost to the ground), deepening by 1 cm.
- After 2 months, when shoots appear, the seedlings dive into separate pots.
- At the beginning of summer, young plants are planted in the ground, after hardening in the fresh air.
Also, gardeners advise honeysuckle Bellflower, contrary to the opinions of some experts, to propagate and plant only in the spring so that the plant takes root by autumn.
The best honeysuckle pollinators of the Bell variety
This variety needs pollinators, it is self-fertile. For honeysuckle, the Bell is recommended by such neighbors as Tomichka, Cinderella, X, the Blue Spindle or the Gidzyuk Memory variety.
Diseases and pests
Honeysuckle Bell is resistant to pests, little susceptible to disease. Most of all, birds harm the bushes; berries protect them from them by simply covering them with a frequent net.
Sometimes honeysuckle Bell suffers from caterpillars, scale insects, honeysuckle mites and aphids, pollen wings, leafworms.
Of the diseases, fungi and powdery mildew are common. For treatment and prevention, “Fundazol” and chemicals from parasites are used.
It is not recommended to use drugs on a fruiting bush; treatment is carried out either after fruiting or before the berries are set.
Conclusion
Through the description of the variety, photos and reviews of the Bell honeysuckle, it can be seen that this variety is poorly suited for small plots, the bush is too tall. The advantages are also noticeable – resistance to frost and parasites. The only drawback of honeysuckle Bellflower is that it does not tolerate drought and heat well.