Recently, edible honeysuckle has been gaining popularity in garden plots, planting and care, the reproduction and cultivation of which does not require much effort. It is a shrub with fruits rich in vitamins C, B, A, P, potassium, iodine, magnesium, zinc, iron and other useful substances. Most often in the wild it can be found in Siberia and Kamchatka.
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Honeysuckle varieties
In total, almost 200 different species of this shrub are known in the world. On the territory of our country you can find about 50 of its varieties, most of which have poisonous berries of yellow, orange or red. Edible varieties have fruits of blue and violet hue with a white coating.
Each region has its own species of honeysuckle. The most popular are:
- Ural varieties - Persistent, Zest, Sineglazka, Sorceress, Blueberry;
- Leningrad - Laura, Lenarola, Nymph, Volkhov, Julia, Malvina;
- Moscow and middle lanes - Sinichka, Fortuna, Kucha Mala, Moskovskaya, Kingfisher;
- Seaside - Dolphin, Dawn, Zarnitsa, Blueberry;
- Siberian - Cinderella, Selena, Roxana, Pride of Bakchar, Sibiryachka, Gerda.
According to the characteristics of the variety can be divided into types:
- sweet
- early
- late;
- with large fruits;
- resistant to shedding;
- decorative.
The best varieties are considered species that give a large crop, and the berries grow to large sizes. These include Morena, Velig, Violet, Laura, Slavyanka.
Edible honeysuckle planting
Honeysuckle is considered not a whimsical shrub, which has several advantages:
- frost resistance up to - 40 ° С;
- annual yield of up to 2 or more kilograms of berries from one bush;
- longevity (lifespan 25-30 years).
To get a rich harvest and at the same time to decorate the landscape, it is better to plant more than 3 different varieties of culture on the site. This will provide good pollination, and therefore increase productivity.
How and when to plant a bush
The best time for planting is considered spring, but you should not plant seedlings when the snow has not yet melted or the buds have already opened. The best time is mid-spring. Planting honeysuckle in autumn is also possible and has its advantages, because in spring the plant can please its first flowering.
Previously, before planting, you need to prepare the soil:
- dig a hole 40-45 cm deep;
- make fertilizer in it;
- to warm the hole, covering it for 4-5 days;
- to plant by deepening the seedling into the soil by 3-5 cm.
Soil requirement and site selection
Honeysuckle will bear fruit when planting in any soil, but areas with loamy soil rich in organic matter are considered the most favorable for it. It is not advisable to use dry areas, pits and elevations.
When choosing a landing site, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the bushes, depending on the variety, can grow up to 2.5-3 m in height and fluff up to a diameter of 2 m. It is better to arrange them along the fence or use as a hedge. The optimal distance between seedlings is 2.5 -3 m.
The plant prefers to grow in bright sunny areas protected from the wind. When planted in the shade, it will still bear fruit, but this may affect the quality and quantity of the crop.
Important! It is not necessary to plant honeysuckle on soils with close occurrence of groundwater.
Edible Honeysuckle Care
According to its requirements, this plant is practically no different from ordinary shrubs, in connection with which it is very simple to care for.
Watering and feeding
Honeysuckle responds well to top dressing of both organic and mineral origin. The main thing is not to oversaturate the shrub with fertilizer, as this can lead to undesirable consequences and even death of the plant.
Organic matter in the form of humus and compost is best used at the very beginning of spring or late autumn to saturate the soil with useful substances. Mineral fertilizers act very quickly and stimulate the root system, contribute to the development of plants, the formation of shoots and fruits. They are best applied in the second half of spring, when kidney formation occurs. Useful nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizing.
Fertilizers can be applied in liquid and dry form in various ways: by root or by spraying, for example, urea. In the period of setting berries, it is useful to feed the bush with infusion of wood ash.
The plant is hygrophilous, therefore, during flowering and the appearance of berries, special attention should be paid to watering. During a drought, you can increase the amount of water for an adult bush to 3 or more buckets. After picking berries, the plant no longer needs a lot of water, but watering should remain regular.
Important! In early spring, it is recommended to water the shrub with hot water to combat fungi and powdery mildew.
Loosening and weeding
The presence of weeds does not benefit any cultivated plant and edible honeysuckle is no exception. Weeding is done if necessary, and loosening the soil under the bush should be regular.
In order not to damage the roots, the treatment should be carried out to a depth of not more than 5 cm. This will saturate the soil with oxygen and moisture. In preparation for winter, the soil under the bush can be carefully dug to a depth of no more than 10-15 cm.
Honeysuckle fruiting
The plant grows very slowly, and begins to bear the first fruits only for 3-4 years of life. In the presence of seedlings of different varieties in the garden, the pollination process occurs quickly, and productivity increases.
If the bush grows in favorable conditions and receives the necessary care, then the harvest will be annual and plentiful. Ripe berries are harvested from the end of June for 3-4 weeks. From one adult bush you can learn more than 2 kg of fruits. But there is a small drawback - ripe berries very quickly crumble from the bush, especially in dry times.
It is interesting:planting and care of garden blueberries
Plant transplant
Even the old bushes easily transfer the transplant to another place, although this is not so easy, because the roots of the plant grow greatly. A suitable time for transplanting is autumn, when the leaves are already fallen. The transplant pit is prepared in advance and must be large. Place the honeysuckle in a new place carefully to avoid injuring the branches. It is advisable to straighten the roots, and cut off their damaged parts. After planting, the bush is abundantly watered, the rhizome is covered with earth.
Transplanting is a kind of stress, so you need to support the plant by feeding it.
Honeysuckle pruning
Young bushes are usually not pruned, unless there are weak, non-developing shoots. In shrubs older than 5 years, dry or damaged branches appear, which interfere with development and growth. They are removed in early spring, as well as the lower bushes, which grow, but do not bear fruit. Cut points can be treated with oil paint.
In some varieties, pinching the top is done to sprout the lateral shoots. The procedure should be carried out more carefully, since you can cut off the places in which the most inflorescences are formed.
Features of care after fruiting
After harvesting, the bush is examined for pests. The root part is not located deep in the soil, so the soil at the base is covered with peat, humus, earth or spruce needles.
In late autumn, dry parts of the plant should be removed, and healthy shoots should be wrapped with a rope. This will save the bush from winter winds and snowfalls, as the branches are very fragile.
Edible honeysuckle propagation
There are several ways to propagate edible honeysuckle:
- The seeds. It is easiest to plant honeysuckle seeds, but with this method it is not known in advance what the berries will be. Before spring sowing, the seeds are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate, then put in soil, sprinkled with sand and covered. Shoots appear in about a month, and after a year, the seedling is transplanted.
- Dividing the bush carried out with bushes that have reached 6 years of age. The plant is dug up, divided and planted in different places. Slices are processed.
- Cuttings - The most common way to reproduce honeysuckle. Annual shoots with a thickness of at least 1 cm are harvested in early spring. They are cut into pieces with a length of 15-20 cm and planted in a greenhouse. With regular watering, roots appear in a month, and the cuttings grow.
- Bends. It is very easy to propagate honeysuckle by branches. Bushes of an adult plant are weighed down, sprinkled with earth and watered. Two years later, the seedlings are planted from the mother bush.
Diseases, pests and methods of dealing with them
Like any cultivated plant, honeysuckle can infect a fungal disease, powdery mildew, aphids, or pests in the form of caterpillars, amphipods, and other parasites. Often the bushes begin to dry, and spots appear on the leaves.
This may be a sign of such infectious diseases as:
- mottling of leaves;
- red-olive spotting;
- Rosa mosaic virus;
- European cancer and other diseases.
In the fight against pests, chemical preparations are used, but it must be remembered that spraying is not carried out during the setting and picking of berries. If the plant rhizome is damaged by moles or other underground pests, water the soil with special means.
Important! Honeysuckle berries are enjoyed not only by people, but also by birds. You can protect the crop from birds by using a grid that is pulled over the bush.
Two decades ago, growing honeysuckle was not such a popular activity. Now this useful berry has found application even in cosmetology. Extracts from this fruit are used in creams, shampoos, and other products.
- Vera
