Honeysuckle Gourmet

Honeysuckle Gourmand is a popular variety grown not only in Russia, but also in Belarus and other countries. Gardeners especially appreciate it for its early maturity, compact size of bushes, high and stable yield. Gourmet belongs to the dessert varieties of honeysuckle, its berries are suitable both for processing and for fresh consumption.

The variety was bred by the breeder V.A.Fefelov on the basis of the Nizhny Novgorod State Agricultural Academy. Gourmet obtained as a seedling by free pollination of seedlings from Turchaninov's honeysuckle. It has been in the State Register of Breeding Achievements since 1998.

The bushes are medium-sized, compact, with a neat oval crown. They reach a height of 1.3-1.4 m. Shoots in the crown are straight, thin, with a slight anthocyanin tint on a green background. The foliage is dense, with light oval plates.

The crown of an adult plant can acquire a semi-spreading shape. In the first 3-4 years, the variety is characterized by slow growth, gives no more than 70-80 cm in height. Then the intensity of the climb increases, as does the volume of the crown. Bushes for trench planting look very decorative as part of hedges.

The fruits are not striking in size, on average they reach 0.9 g. Their shape is traditional for honeysuckle, cylindrical, close to an elongated oval with a slight flattening. The color of the skin is bluish-blue, reminiscent of blueberry, with a noticeable bloom of white wax. The fruit has a pleasant, light aroma. Sprinkling rate of ripe berries is average.

The variety is considered one of the most delicious, with a harmonious combination of sour and sweet shades. There is no bitterness in the aftertaste. The sourness is pronounced. The pulp is juicy, pleasant in consistency.

The gourmet begins to bear fruit starting from 3-4 years of the seedling's life. In terms of ripening, the variety is early, the approximate beginning of the harvest falls on June 17-22. Fruiting is extended. It is recommended to harvest the fruits 2-3 times, at intervals of several days.

Average collection rates from a bush are 2.5-3 kg. The maximum reported yield is 5.5 kg per plant.

The variety is self-fertile, needs pollination with third-party plants. For these purposes, honeysuckle varieties of Blue Spindle, Kamchadalka, Blue Bird, Morena are planted nearby. Others will do, with the same flowering time, quite early for the culture. It is advisable to place at least 3-5 bushes of different varieties on the site in order to achieve good pollination.

It is recommended to add additional fertilizers to the soil before planting young plants. High-quality organic matter, as well as potassium-phosphorus complexes with a high content of these substances, will be useful. Formative pruning is optional for this variety. Rejuvenating is carried out starting from the 10th year of the plant's life, removing the oldest, not fruitful shoots.

Planting is desirable in the autumn, from September, so that the plant has about 3 weeks to adapt before the first frost. The root circle must be mulched with peat or straw.

The culture is unpretentious in care, but Gourmet is especially sensitive to a lack of moisture. The shrub will have to provide regular, fairly abundant watering during dry periods. Moisture is retained even after harvest, during the period of the most active shoots. In the spring, the bushes are useful nitrogen fertilizing with ammonium nitrate, urea. In the fall, when digging a trunk circle, wood ash and superphosphate are added.

The variety is resistant to the main diseases of the crop. Of the pests for this variety of honeysuckle, the most dangerous is the aphid, the scale insect. During periods of prolonged rains, plants can be affected by various types of spotting. It is necessary to fight these diseases by preventing the leaves from dropping by the bush. A complex spraying with the "Fundazol" preparation is suitable, with a repetition of the procedure in 14-21 days.

The variety is winter-hardy, withstands a drop in temperatures within the climatic norm of Central Russia. Easily tolerates returnable spring frosts.

Gourmet belongs to the sun-loving varieties of honeysuckle. It is suitable for landing in an open area, protected from the through wind around the perimeter. The soil is preferable to loamy and sandy loam, light, loose, neutral acidic. The variety is hygrophilous. It is recommended to place it in areas where the groundwater depth does not exceed 1.5 m.

Most summer residents are quite happy with the Lakomka variety. According to their reviews, the main advantage of this honeysuckle is the pleasant taste of the berries, as well as the regularity of the fruiting of the bush. But almost everyone notes the sensitivity of the variety to cross-pollination. If the bushes do not have the same flowering time, there will be few ovaries, they will begin to crumble. In care, according to gardeners, Gourmet is unpretentious.

It is worth considering that the bushes tolerate spring pruning worse. It is better to do it in the fall so that the plants have time to recover. There were no cases of freezing of this variety of honeysuckle; it easily tolerates even frosts of -40 degrees. The advantages of summer residents include the absence of signs of growth at the roots, the distance between neighboring bushes can be made minimal.The crown is easily formed in any decorative outlines - from cubes to balls, it is often used as the basis for landscape compositions.

The disadvantages are not too significant, but they are. These include the crumbling of ripe berries, as well as their gradual ripening. This period stretches until mid-July, it will not be possible to harvest once.