Honeysuckle Yugan

Wild-growing edible honeysuckle is small, tasteless, besides, ripening, crumbles to the ground. True, it has a lot of useful properties and almost does not get sick. Back in 1935, Michurin recommended the introduction of honeysuckle into the culture, but only in the second half of the XNUMXth century did the first varieties appear.

They were neither impressive in size nor outstanding in taste. But time goes by, cultivars created in our century produce berries that can satisfy the most fastidious gourmets.

Variety description

One of the newest varieties of edible honeysuckle is Yugana. It was created in 2010 by the Bakchar Federal State Unitary Enterprise from the species Kamchatskaya and Turchaninov, and is currently undergoing state variety testing.

TECH SPECS

An adult bush has a semicircular crown up to 1,5 m high, 1,9 m wide. Unlike most varieties, young shoots of Yugana are often covered with bristly hairs and are completely devoid of anthocyanin coloration.

The berries are dark purple, almost black, with a waxy coating. Their average weight is 1,4 g, under especially favorable conditions – up to 1,8 g. The shape of the fruit resembles a jug with a thickening at the top, sometimes oval with a rounded nose. The taste of honeysuckle of the Yugana variety is dessert, sweet with a slight sourness, tasting score – 4,9 points.

The yield of an adult bush is 3,5 kg, maximum – 6 kg. Yugana’s berries have an average ripening period, can stay on branches for up to one and a half months, do not crumble. Only manual harvesting is recommended twice per season. The fruits withstand transportation well, after freezing their taste almost does not change.

Pollinators

Like other edible honeysuckles, Yugana is self-fertile. This means that in order to obtain a crop, she needs pollinators – other varieties planted in close proximity. Any cultivar can play this role, but the Giant’s Daughter, Strezhevchanka, Bakcharsky Giant and Rapture are the best.

Advantages and disadvantages

Yugana is the newest variety, and today one of the best. Its advantages include:

1. Good taste – 4,9 points.
2. High winter hardiness – Yugana easily withstands frosts of 50 degrees, flowers – minus 7.
3. Stable fruiting and high productivity.
4. Yugana resistance to diseases and pests.
5. Large-fruited varieties.
6. The shape of the bush makes it easy to harvest.
7. Honeysuckle berries contain a large amount of nutrients.
8. When harvesting, the fruits are not injured.
9. The berries are firmly attached to the branches and do not crumble for more than a month.
10. Ease of care.
11. When frozen, the taste of berries practically does not change.
12. Yugana can bear fruit for 30 years.

The disadvantages of the variety include only the self-fertility characteristic of all edible honeysuckles.

Accommodation on the site

In regions with a cool climate, honeysuckle feels great, takes root easily, does not require special care. To do this, it is enough to choose the right place for it and plant it.

Selection of planting material

It is best to buy honeysuckle in late summer or early autumn from a trusted manufacturer. Choose a 2-3-year-old seedling, with several straight branches and the same internodes. Roots should be flexible, not too cut, with no trace of rot or black spots. Do not buy honeysuckle with cut shoots. Detachment of the bark is a species feature, and not a sign of a disease.

Selecting a suitable seat and landing

The main thing for successful honeysuckle cultivation is to choose a sunny site, protected from strong winds. Any soil is suitable, except sandstone – there the harvest will be poor. Due to the possible stagnation of water and the accumulation of cold air, ravines or other lowlands should not be chosen for planting.

There are several different points of view regarding honeysuckle placement schemes. Planting is considered standard when a distance of 1,5 m is observed between plants, and rows are spaced 2 m apart. Obviously, such a scheme is not suitable for the Yugana variety. The bush, when it grows, will spread almost 2 m wide and will overlap the neighboring one, because of which:

1. Difficult to harvest.
2. Plants will interfere with each other, compete for nutrients and water.
3. Crossing branches will not receive enough light, the yield will decrease.

The Yugana variety will require more space – the distance between the honeysuckle bushes should be at least 2 m, between the rows – at least 2,5 m.

Planting pits are prepared with a size of 40x40x40 cm, a bucket of organic matter (humus or compost) is added to the soil, 50 g of phosphorus and potash fertilizers each. Too acidic soil is neutralized with dolomite flour or lime.

Unlike other shrubs, honeysuckle does not shorten its shoots before planting – this can delay fruiting for at least a year. The plant is planted so that the root neck is deepened by 3-5 cm. The bush is watered abundantly and the near-trunk circle is mulched.

Cultivation of honeysuckle

In northern regions and temperate climates, honeysuckle is a problem-free plant. It grows poorly in the south – it is uncomfortable with high temperatures, long summers and warm autumns.

young plant care

If fertilizers were added to the planting hole, it is not necessary to feed the honeysuckle for the next two years. Only in early spring should a bucket of water with dissolved ammonium nitrate or urea be poured under each bush.

Throughout the season, the trunk circle is freed from weeds and loosened. Immediately after planting and in dry weather, water abundantly.

Care for an adult plant

Properly planted in a suitable place, honeysuckle does not need careful care. Starting from the third year, it should be fed three times per season. The schedule is shown in the table.

Some gardeners fertilize honeysuckle with nitrogen in the spring, and in the fall they pour a bucket of humus and a jar of ash under the root.

Throughout the season, the bush needs regular weeding and loosening of the soil. In dry weather, honeysuckle is occasionally watered, spending at least 2 buckets of water under each plant.

Pruning and wintering

Up to 15 years, honeysuckle does not need to be cut, only broken or dry shoots are removed, as well as those lying on the ground or growing inside the bush. Then the oldest skeletal branches are removed annually. If, after 20, honeysuckle began to yield poorly, it is cut off completely at a level of 15-20 cm from the soil surface – this can prolong fruiting for another 10 years.

The plant does not need shelter for the winter. Honeysuckle tolerates frosts below 50 degrees.

Methods of reproduction

For amateurs, the best method of breeding honeysuckle is horizontal or vertical layering. A well-grown young bush in the fall can be dug up and divided into parts – if the root is not badly injured, new plants quickly bear fruit.

Fresh honeysuckle seeds germinate well, but seedlings do not inherit maternal traits due to cross-pollination. This method of reproduction is of interest only to breeders.

You can root green or woody cuttings of honeysuckle, but their survival rate in amateur farms is low. Even with the use of greenhouses and growth stimulants, about 20% of seedlings survive.

Growing problems

Honeysuckle is resistant to disease, but sometimes powdery mildew appears in cold rainy summers. It is easily controlled using appropriate fungicides. If the disease manifested itself during the ripening of berries, it is better to use biological products, for example, Fitosporin.

Pests prefer other plants to honeysuckle, but occasionally it is affected by leafworms, aphids or willow scale insects. To get rid of insects, the bush is treated with insecticides or biological products, such as Agrovertin, Fitoverm.

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