The variety of honeysuckle Blue spindle is distinguished by the sweet and sour taste of large berries, the decorative attractiveness of the bush and undemanding care. From the article you will learn how to choose and plant a plant, what to do in order to collect a good crop and other features of growing the Blue Spindle.
variety of honeysuckle "Blue spindle"
for the shape and color of berries, the variety got its name "Blue Spindle"
according to tasters' reviews, the taste of berries of the Blue Spindle honeysuckle variety depends on the region of cultivation
How did the variety come about?
The blue spindle is a Siberian honeysuckle variety, bred more than 30 years ago from the Kamchatka species. Start by breeders of the Siberian Horticultural Research Institute. Registered in the State Register of Breeding Achievements in 1989.
This variety is recommended for cultivation in all regions, but this recommendation is conditional - in a hot climate with low rainfall the plant will not feel very comfortable, which will affect yield.
Description and Specifications
Table of the main characteristics of the variety:
Bush height, m | Frost resistance, ° С | Fruit bearing period, years | Ripening | Productivity, t / ha | Tasting score |
1-1,5 | to -45 | 20 | early | up to 7 | 3,5-4,3 |
Bush
Bushes are vigorous, quite large. Crohn round shape, medium thickening. Shoots of green, in the sun with a brown tint, thin, without pubescence, directed upward at an acute angle. The leaves are large, folded in the midline, in the shape of an elongated oval with pointed ends. The color is dark green.
Fruit
Berries of large sizes in length grow up to 3 cm, in diameter more than 1 cm. The shape resembles a spindle, with a flat base and a pointed tip, tuberous. The skin is dense, blue, almost black in color, covered with a thick waxy coating.
The pulp is tender, sweet and sour. It contains:
- solids - 12.1-12.7%;
- sugar - 6.4-7.6%;
- acids - 2.2-3.1%;
- ascorbic acid - 18.5-61 mg / 100g;
- vitamin P - 386-992 mg / 100g;
- pectin - up to 1.14%.
Fruiting and Yield
Fruits honeysuckle bush begins with 4-5 years. Although you can pick up the first few berries the very next year after planting.
A plant with a short growing season. It blooms very early during the first spring thaw. Flowers are not afraid of spring frosts.
Berries do not ripen evenly - from the beginning of June until its third week. In warmer climates - from the end of May.
Productivity has received good grades and can reach 1.2-2 kg per adult plant.
An overview of the Blue Spindle honeysuckle variety is presented in the video below:
The older the plant, the greater its yield.
Pollinators
Variety Blue spindle self-fertile. Unless other varieties of honeysuckle are planted nearby, the harvest will not work.
The most successful pollinating varieties include:
- Blue bird;
- Azure
- Cinderella
- Kamchadalka;
- Tomichku.
Pollinator plants are planted on the windward side either in groups or alternating with blue spindle bushes.
The best yield indicators were recorded when planting 3-4 varieties of honeysuckle in 1 plot.
Advantages and disadvantages
The main advantages of the variety include:
- ripening dates;
- stable and high productivity regardless of growing conditions;
- size and taste of berries;
- unpretentiousness in leaving;
- frost resistance;
- drought tolerance;
- high resistance to pests and diseases;
- decorative appeal, you can plant it like a hedge or decorate unsightly buildings.
There are much fewer shortcomings, they can be attributed to:
- in the absence of precipitation, the berries are bitter;
- high flaking of ripened berries;
- pollinators are needed to form the ovary.
Growing
Growing honeysuckle Blue spindle is not difficult. All that a gardener needs is to get acquainted with some nuances and adhere to the general rules for caring for plants.
How to choose healthy seedlings?
Whether honeysuckle will take root in a new place depends on the choice of a healthy seedling. It is best to purchase them in a nursery.
When buying, please note:
- the plant should be 2 years old;
- the root system must be well developed;
- cuttings should reach a height of 25 cm;
- the seedling itself should not be more than 1.5 m, since taller plants poorly take root;
- seedlings should not have broken branches;
- there should be no signs of illness.
When purchasing plants in pots, pay attention to the condition of the roots; they should average up an earthen lump, not exhale unpleasant odors and look healthy.
Landing time
The timing and time of planting is affected by the state of the root system of the seedling:
- Open root system. Plan your landing in the fall. The best time will be - a month before the expected frosts. If such bushes are planted in the spring, the plant will spend all its energy on the growth of leaves and shoots, and the root system will remain underdeveloped. Honeysuckle can begin to hurt or even die.
- Closed root system. Such seedlings can be planted at any convenient time of the year.
Site selection
Since the honeysuckle bush Blue spindle will grow in one place for a long time, you should be responsible for its choice.
Follow these guidelines:
- Landing place. Choose a sunny place, protected from the wind, for example, at the south wall of a house or other building.
- Groundwater. Should not be closer than 1 m from the surface so as not to damage the root system.
- The presence of nutrients in the soil. If honeysuckle is planted on poor soils, then add nutrients to the planting pit. Dry branches or slivers are well suited for this. In the process of decay, they will provide nutrition to the plant, and the process of decay, accompanied by the release of heat, will warm the roots.
Step-by-step instructions for planting a bush
Planting seedlings includes the following steps:
- Row marking. Divide the site in rows if there should be a lot of plants. Leave 2 m between rows.
- Digging holes. Dig holes with a width and depth of 40-50 cm (on clay soils - deeper to lay 10-12 cm of drainage) at a distance of 1-1.2 m from each other in each row.
- Fertilizer. Put drainage in each well, if necessary. Then mix the soil with compost (1 bucket), ash (300 g), potassium sulfate (30 g) and superphosphate (100 g).
- Root distribution. From fertilizer, make a knoll inside the hole. Distribute the roots on its surface and pour water in the volume of the 1st bucket.
- Dropping. Fill the roots with earth, deepen the root neck by 5-7 cm.
- Ramming. Tamp the ground around the bush and pour another bucket of water.
- Mulching. Mulch the planting area with a layer of 5-7 cm. Use light mulch, for example, fallen leaves, peat, humus, sawdust. This will help maintain moisture inside the soil.
Seedlings with a closed root system during planting do not deepen.
Care
Subsequent care for honeysuckle includes simple agricultural activities.
We recommend reading an article on how to care for honeysuckle in the autumn.
Irrigation scheme
Honeysuckle Blue spindle - drought tolerant plant. But, with a small amount of rainfall, the berries begin to bitter. Therefore, in the most arid regions or in dry spring and summer, pour 2-3 buckets of water under each bush every week.
Watering is important during flowering and fruit ripening.
When, how and what to feed?
Add top dressing 4 times per season:
- Spring. Add the first dressing before the snow has completely melted. Under each bush, pour 0.5 buckets of compost or humus after mixing it with mulch.
- During the formation of buds. Pour 0.5-1 cup of wood ash under each plant.
- At the end of summer. After the harvest, when the buds are formed the next year, in August, reapply the fertilizer from the ashes.
- In the period of termination of growth. In the fall, in September-November, make a groove around the bush to a depth of 20 cm. Add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of superphosphate and cover it with earth. Water the plant.
Cropping and shaping
In the first 2-3 years, the crown is actively formed, the plant grows in height. After this period, the apical buds die off and lateral ones begin to grow actively. If you do not trim the bushes in time, they will become very thickened, which will negatively affect fruiting.
The first 2-3 years of growth, the bushes do not need any pruning, except for sanitary.
Trim to form bushes according to the following rules:
- Sanitary pruning. It is carried out as necessary until the age of 6 years in the fall or early spring. Branches that grow inward and to the ground, broken or sore, are cut. To this end, skeletal branches are shortened by a third.
Curved branches are cut and pulled out of the bush in parts. If you pull an entire branch, you can damage the plant.
- Thinning. Spend it no earlier than the 4th year of plant growth in late autumn.
- For the purpose of substitution. Carried out in old plants. Every year, several of the oldest branches are cut, in order to replace them with young shoots.
- Rejuvenation. The period of this pruning is determined by the decrease in yield of the old bush. Cut off all branches, leaving a stump 20-30 cm high. New shoots will grow on them and thus fruiting will resume.
On each bush of the Blue spindle, no more than 15 skeletal branches are left.
Loosening
Since the root system of the Blue Spindle is not far underground, loosening under the bushes is not carried out.
Loosening can damage the surface root system of the honeysuckle Blue spindle.
Place mulch of hay, straw or sawdust around the root of the neck to prevent the soil from drying out and cracking.
If the soil is still dry, pierce it with a pitchfork in several places, and then lay the mulch.
Winter preparations
Honeysuckle refers to plants with a very high degree of frost tolerance. It does not freeze even in the most severe winters; therefore, it does not require special measures to prepare for the winter.
The Blue Honeysuckle hibernates overwinter without additional shelters.
Breeding
At home, for the propagation of honeysuckle, methods are suitable:
- Cuttings from annual shoots. For this, young shoots are torn off with a heel from the mother bush. Root them in a greenhouse.
But, this method is difficult for a beginner gardener, because it requires certain skills and maintaining conditions, for example, high humidity for a month. - Divisions of the bush. Part of the peripheral root system with young shoots is separated from the old bush.
- Layering. The young branch is dug up with earth and waiting for the appearance of roots in its lower part. After that, they are separated from the mother bush.
Diluting the honeysuckle from the seeds will not work. Seedlings almost all die. Of the few that survived, wild animals that have lost tribal genetics will grow. Their berries will not be edible.
Diseases and Pests
Many gardeners have a high resistance to diseases and pests of the Blue Spindle variety. But, there are some pests that can affect the bushes.
Sometimes the cracked and drooping bark is taken as a manifestation of the disease, but this is the biological structure of the honeysuckle bark.
Common Diseases:
- Cladosporiosis or brown spotting. Fungal disease manifests itself on the leaves of the lower tier, then - covers the entire plant. Brown spots appear on the upper side of the leaf, between the veins. A gray velvety coating forms on the bottom side of the spots.
- Megaloseptoriasis or blackening of branches. The fungus develops in conditions of high humidity. During the development of the kidneys, they blacken and die.
- Powdery Mildew Infection of fungal nature. It is manifested by the formation of whitish-gray spots in the form of plaque, over time, a liquid appears on them, resembling dew drops.
- Tuberculosis. The disease has a fungal origin. The first manifestations can be detected on the inner side of the leaf in the form of red tuberous spots. Then the branches of the bush are affected.
You can overcome the disease with a 3-4% solution of Bordeaux fluid or the drug Skor.
Honeysuckle berries are very fond of eating the caterpillars of the honeysuckle fingerfly. You can deal with the pest with the help of drugs:
- Confidor;
- Inta-Vir;
- Decis;
- Actellic.
Preventive treatments against pests and diseases are not carried out.
Harvesting, Processing
Ripe berries must be picked immediately. The fruit stalk weakens in the fruits and they do not stay long on the branches, as a result, up to 15% of the crop can be lost.
After the ripening of the first berries, harvesting is carried out every 2-3 days, as they ripen. In this case, very carefully pick the fruits, as other berries will crumble from the movement of the branches.
Before harvesting, lay a clean cloth or paper under the bush. The berries that fall will remain on her.
Torn fruits can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Fresh berry does not have a sweet taste, so it is consumed by grinding with sugar.
In addition, from the Blue Spindle, excellent ones are obtained:
- compotes;
- fruit drinks;
- jam;
- jam;
- dried berries;
- frozen berries.
Reviews
Olga, 38 years old. 3 years ago I acquired a honeysuckle bush Blue spindle. During this time, he has grown well. It does not require any care, the land around it is mulched by mowed grass, wintering without shelter.
Every year pleases us with the earliest large berries. We eat them fresh and freeze for the winter. Only the fruits need to be picked on time, otherwise they will crumble. For pollination, a bush of honeysuckle Amphora grows. I am very pleased with the plant and plan to plant several more bushes.
Konstantin, 45 years old. For the first time I tried these berries in a summer house with friends and was subdued from the taste. The following year he landed the Blue spindle honeysuckle in his area. In the first year, the plant did not develop very well, but in the second year it went into growth. Now in the radius of the bush reaches half a meter, and a height of one and a half, has a very decorative look.
It bloomed profusely in the spring and there were many berries in June. Collected them every 2 days. They tried to freeze and cook jam. A big plus is that the plant is not demanding to care for - just water it in the heat and remove weeds. I have never seen diseases and pests on it.
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Honeysuckle Blue spindle - a plant with minimal care requirements, it is rarely exposed to diseases and damaged by pests, winters well in severe frosts. The bush not only stably brings a high yield, but also is an ornament of the territory. Gardeners appreciate the plant and are happy to plant it in their plots.