Planting, care and propagation of edible honeysuckle are not complicated. The unique shrub, loved by most gardeners, can please you with delicious berries already in late spring. To enjoy the most useful delicacy, it is necessary to provide the culture with proper care. Juicy berries will appeal to adults and children, and mark the beginning of the harvest.
Material Content:
Edible honeysuckle varieties
There are many varieties of plants, but 5 hybrid species are most popular.
| Grade | The taste of berries | Berry shape | Ripening period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moraine | Sweet and sour | Elongated | Early |
| Blue eye | Sweet and sour | Oval | Early |
| Nymph | Sweet | Spindle-shaped | Average |
| Viola | Sweet and sour with a slight bitterness | Oval oblong | Average |
| Amphora | Sweet and sour | Oblong | Average |
A distinctive feature of these varieties is their resistance to shedding berries. The crop holds tightly on the bushes throughout the entire harvesting period.
Honeysuckle planting
The abundance of the berry crop will directly depend on the correct planting of the plant. If the honeysuckle does not fit the place or the soil, abundant fruiting cannot be obtained. Planting a bush is a serious matter that must be carried out competently.
How and when to plant a bush?
You can plant a crop in spring or autumn. In areas with a cold climate, planting is optimal in the spring, as this will allow the bush to take root qualitatively before frost and survive the winter safely.In the south, on the contrary, autumn planting is preferable, which will protect the plant during rooting in a new place from the negative effects of summer heat.
For a seedling, it is necessary to prepare a pit 50 cm deep and 60 cm wide. If several plants are planted in a row, then a gap of at least 150 cm is left between them. 2 compost buckets and 1 liter of wood ash are poured into the pits. If the soil is acidic, then 1 kg of chalk is also added. It is also useful to pour 3 tablespoons of superphosphate.
The composition is well mixed and a mound is formed from it at the bottom of the pit, which is very abundantly watered.
The roots of the bush are well spread and placed seedling so that they descend on the sides of the mound. Further, the plant is covered with the soil that was selected when digging a hole. It is squeezed around the trunk and watered abundantly. The root neck should be backfilled no more than 3 cm. From above, the ground must be mulched to preserve moisture.
Soil requirement, site selection
The plant likes neutral loamy soils, in which a sufficient amount of organic fertilizers is applied. Due to the tendency of the roots to rot, honeysuckle does not tolerate stagnation of groundwater.
It is interesting: honeysuckle jam - five-minute recipe
When choosing a place, it is important to consider that the culture is sun-loving and is not afraid of the effects of the cold wind, which can make you feel good even on the north side, but with sufficient lighting.
Edible honeysuckle coexists well with blackcurrant, due to which, if desired, they can be planted in a row, getting an unusual green stripe.
Honeysuckle Care
High-quality care for honeysuckle ensures its health, full development and, as a result, high productivity. Mistakes at this stage can even lead to the fact that the berries will not begin to form at all. In the first 5 years, the culture grows extremely slowly, and this is normal. With 6 years of life, honeysuckle begins to bear fruit, at first giving 2-3 kg of berries and gradually increasing productivity. Honeysuckle bushes can please berries up to 20 years of age.
Watering and feeding
Watering the plants is moderate. During the period of active fruiting, in order for the berries to be poured qualitatively, an increase in the volume of liquid is necessary, and therefore 15 liters of water are poured under the bush every day. In summer, in very hot weather, the plant is watered early in the morning or late in the evening, spending 20 liters of water per bush daily. The soil for preserving moisture is mulched.
Large-scale top dressing should be carried out at the end of the season in late autumn once every 2 years.
To obtain a nutritional composition you need to mix:
- compost - 5 kg;
- superphosphate - 40 g;
- wood ash - 100 g.
Standard seasonal top dressing is carried out before opening the kidneys and after harvesting. In the first case, 15 g of ammonium nitrate are used per 1 m2 of area, and in the second case 25 g of nitrophosphate are dissolved in 1 bucket of water. The solution is watered with a bush. It is designed for one plant.
Loosening and weeding
Weeding and loosening are useful honeysuckle throughout the season. This improves oxygen metabolism in the soil and its saturation with water. Also removing weeds prevents them from draining nutrients from the soil. Weeding should be done as necessary, and loosening the soil - at least 1 time per month to a depth of 5 cm.
In September, when preparing the culture for the winter dormancy, you need to dig the soil under the bush. Depth of processing is 15 cm.
Honeysuckle fruiting
Berries begin to ripen in late May. They do not ripen at the same time, which to some extent lengthens the harvest. However, you should not postpone the removal of the first berries, waiting for the rest to ripen, since the crop will be bitten by birds or gradually showered.
In order not to lose the overripe berries, a film is spread under the bush, with which they will all be collected after falling off during the harvest. Honeysuckle can be consumed fresh, frozen, boiled stewed fruit and jam from it. There are recipes and wines made from honeysuckle.
Plant transplant
Shrub transplantation can be undertaken to increase yield after the plant has been in the same place for more than 15 years. It is better to carry out work in the early spring, before the sap flow begins, or in the fall after the leaves fall. The choice of period depends on the same indicators that are taken into account during landing.
After moistening the soil well, the bush is dug up and moved to a new place on the burlap. The pit into which the plant will be planted is pre-filled with nutrient soil. After transplantation, a full watering is carried out and the soil is mulched.
Honeysuckle pruning
Honeysuckle is prone to thickening the crown, which not only makes it uncomfortable to harvest, but also reduces its volume due to a lack of light inside the bush.
In the first 6 years, only sanitary pruning is carried out, removing only broken and dried shoots. Starting from the age of 7, thinning of the bush is also carried out, for which extra shoots are cut. The procedure is needed 1 time in 3 years.
To rejuvenate the bush after 8 years, it is necessary to cut several skeletal branches a year, leaving 10 cm stumps from which young shoots will go. Immediately remove all the old shoots can not.
Features of care after fruiting
Once harvested, special care for the plant is not required. It is quite simple to water it regularly and, if necessary, treat it from pests.
Honeysuckle breeding
A gardener can propagate honeysuckle on their own, which is another plus of the culture. For hybrid varieties, seed propagation is not applicable.
From seed
Only cultivars of edible honeysuckle can be successfully propagated by seeds, but not hybrids. For this breeding, the largest ripe berries are selected. Bones are selected from them and washed with water.
After that, the seeds are planted in pots for seedlings, sealed to a depth of 2 cm. From above, the pots are covered with polyethylene to create a greenhouse effect. It is important to ensure that the soil does not dry out.
Plants are planted in open ground a year later in late April or early May. The downside of seed breeding is the risk of changing the taste of the berries and lowering yields compared to the parent plant.
Cuttings
Honeysuckle propagation by cuttings from lignified shoots begins with their harvesting in the fall after the leaves have fallen. The optimal period for this in the Midland is the first decade of October.
For cuttings, shoots at the age of one year are used. They are cut off and wrapped in a damp cotton cloth, put in a bucket filled with sand or sawdust. So the cuttings are stored throughout the winter. In the spring, immediately after the snow has fallen, the cuttings are planted in the soil at an angle of 5 degrees. 2 kidneys should remain on the surface. Rooting occurs in 3-4 weeks. With this method, 20% of cuttings take root.
Layering
The easiest and most convenient way to breed. Around the parent bush, loosen the ground and watered. After that, 2-3 young shoots are selected at the bottom of the bush, which are pressed to the ground and partially dug to a depth of 4 cm. In order to keep the shoots in the soil, they are fixed with metal staples. Leave layering for a year.
In spring, if the cuttings are rooted, they are separated by a shovel from the parent plant and transplanted to a permanent place. A full-fledged bush is formed after 3 years.
Green cuttings
Green cuttings are cut from shoots that are not yet lignified. Cuttings should be taken immediately after flowering, even before the berries are tied. With later grafting, decay occurs.
The young green shoot is divided into several parts, on each of which several buds are left. The shoot length is taken up to 13 cm. Before planting into the ground, the cuttings are kept in water for 24 hours. The planted cuttings are covered with a film.
After rooting, the film is removed.In the first winter, young plants should be covered so that they do not freeze.
Dividing the bush
Plants over 6 years old can be propagated by division. The bush should be dug up and, carefully brushing the root off the ground, carry out the separation using a pruner or saw. All sections must be disinfected with manganese solutions. It is better to divide no more than 3 parts, with a stronger separation, the bush may die.
Bushes no older than 10 years are suitable for this method of reproduction. Older honeysuckle may not be able to recover after division and die from the fact that the root system decays and does not allow the growth of new roots. After 10 years, bushes are best propagated by layering or cuttings.
Combined cuttings
When breeding with combined cuttings, for which annual branches with lateral shoots of the current year are taken, the material is harvested immediately after flowering.
Cutting of cuttings is carried out so that at the base of each shoot there is a piece of a branch of the last year. For a day, the material is placed in a root solution and then planted using the standard method.
Diseases, pests and methods of dealing with them
The culture is unpretentious and in most cases does not suffer from diseases and pests. However, with the outbreak of insects that parasitize on plants, edible honeysuckle can also become their victim.
The main pests are:
- caterpillars
- aphid;
- scale shield;
- ticks.
In order to eliminate pests, it is necessary to immediately treat the bushes with special drugs immediately after their appearance, the action of which is aimed at a specific parasite or a number of pests.
Edible honeysuckle - an excellent garden crop that will delight you with delicious berries with simple care.
