Currant Sweet

It is difficult to find a dacha or a plot where currants do not grow, especially black currants - a traditional inhabitant of Russian gardens. The Slasten variety can be called outstanding due to its extremely large and sweet berries with a dessert taste and delicate aroma, as well as suitability for mechanical harvesting. The shrub has a good survival rate, and its berry has a universal purpose - fresh consumption, processing into jams and preserves, cooking preserves and compotes, use in baking and sweets.

The authors of Slastena were Russian breeders T.P. Ogoltsov and S.D.Knyazev, scientists of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Breeding Fruit Crops. In the work, the varieties Lazy and Sunerburn were crossed.

Medium-sized (up to 150 cm) semi-spreading bushes give powerful and even straight shoots, covered with large leaves of dark green color with a gray tint. The five-lobed leaf plate has a standard cutting depth, a shiny wrinkled surface and a strong currant aroma.

Large black berries weigh 4 grams and are covered with a dense, but thin skin, which is almost not felt and does not cause discomfort while eating. The separation of the berry is dry, so that it can be transported and processed not immediately, as well as used for deep freezing. The harvests of large-fruited shrubs can be so abundant that the elasticity of the shoots is not enough, and they begin to slope to the ground. It is best to surround the bushes with an appropriate support fence.

Juicy pulp of young emerald shades has amazing sweetness and delicate aroma. A small amount of acidity only enhances the dessert taste. Low-calorie fruits contain 44 kcal per 100 grams, they have almost no protein, no vegetable fats, but there are many vitamins and carbohydrates. Currant has antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.

The variety belongs to the mid-early ripening period - the harvest is harvested at the end of July. Full-fledged fruiting begins at 4 years from the moment of planting, the shrub bears fruit for at least 15 years, subject to the rules of agricultural technology, although the peak of yield falls on 6-7 years.

A high-yielding variety is capable of producing up to 4 kilograms of tasty and healthy berries from one bush.

Sweetheart adapted for the middle zone and regions of Siberia.

The variety is self-fertile, but experienced gardeners know that if you plant nearby varieties suitable for pollination, the yield increases.

For planting, choose places with good lighting, on sod-podzolic and fertile chernozem soils with a neutral level of acidity. It should be borne in mind that Slastena easily tolerates partial shading. Fertile soil will not relieve the gardener from the need to add additional nutrients, since large-fruited and high-yielding bushes are very "gluttonous".

When preparing the planting holes, the optimal distance is observed - 1.5 meters between bushes and 2 meters between rows. The bushes, although not too sprawling, but under the weight of the harvest, the shoots deviate, they need a place. Pits 70x70x70 cm are equipped with a drainage layer and an organic "pillow" laid on top of it. This can be rotted manure, dry grass, or hay. The soil is poured on top, enriched with organic matter (humus, bird droppings, compost), mineral fertilizers, superphosphate, wood ash. After planting the seedlings, the trunk circle is compacted and watered with three buckets of warm water. The next day, it is advisable to mulch the watered area with peat, which will protect the earth from drying out and cracking, relieve the gardener from the need to loosen.

Further care of the plant consists in timely watering - at least twice a week with 2-3 buckets of water during the first year. If the mulching method is not used, weeding and loosening are required. Sanitary pruning removes old, diseased, damaged and unwanted shoots from plants. In the first years, there will be enough nutrients introduced during planting, but then feeding is carried out two or three times per season. Organic matter is used in the fall, for this the trunk circle is covered with a thick (at least 15 cm) layer of humus or compost. In the spring, the bushes will need nitrogen fertilizers, in the second half of summer - potash-phosphorus fertilizers. Preventive spraying will help prevent pests and diseases.

The plant has sufficient vitality to show good results in resistance to fungal, viral and bacterial diseases, it resists kidney mites well.Preventive treatments of plantings with insecticides and fungicides will completely protect the garden and plantings.

The variety has good winter hardiness and tolerates dry periods well.