Honeysuckle Sorceress

Sorceress Honeysuckle is a great option for risky farming areas. The culture is distinguished not only by its high winter hardiness, but also by early ripening. Thanks to this, summer residents in a short summer have time to quickly harvest.

The authors of the Sorceress are Vladimir Sergeevich Ilyin, Nina Alekseevna Ilyina, Vladimir Ilyich Putyatin. For breeding work, they used free pollination of Smolinka, one of the best edible varieties. In 2000, the plant was firmly entrenched in the State Register of Russia.

The weak and slightly spreading bushes of the Sorceress do not have a great height by the standard, growing only up to one and a half meters. A bush in shape may resemble a shrub, which is the honeysuckle as a whole, or a small tree, it all depends on the formation.

The shoots of this variety are straight and dull, the growth is directed straight. They have a brownish-red color, a rather dense wax layer is located on the surface. There are many leaves, no pubescence is observed on them. The dark green plates are slightly concave, there are no denticles on them, but they are bent towards the central part.

The flowers are small, waxy, light yellow. During flowering, there are a lot of them, so during this period the shrubs look especially decorative.

The Sorceress berries are not the same in size, on one bush there will be both medium and rather large specimens. According to the standard, the mass is 1 gram, but there are berries, whose weight can reach one and a half grams. They are considered to be especially large.

Elongated oval berries are colored in a dark gray tone, and a blue bloom is also clearly visible on the surface. The skin of the fruit is of moderate thickness, but the pulp is dense. Ripe fruits contain a huge amount of nutrients. They are especially rich in vitamin P.

Sweet Sorceress berries have a delicate and very delicate aroma. However, if the plants were grown under constant moisture shortages, the fruit may become tart and more bitter than sweet.

Unlike many other varieties of edible honeysuckle, the Sorceress begins to bear fruit only in the 4th, and sometimes even 5th season. After flowering, which takes place in early or mid-May, the shrub forms fruit. They are collected in early June. Fruiting of the bush is annual, but it is important to pick ripe berries on time. If left on the bush, they will crumble to the ground.

The sorceress is not the most productive variety of honeysuckle. With minimal maintenance, the plant will give only 500 grams of fruit per bush. However, if you strengthen agricultural techniques and wait until the honeysuckle becomes completely adult, it will be possible to collect from 1.8 kg per plant, to a maximum of 3 kg. If we talk about a hectare, then an average of 40.6 centners of berries are removed from one such site.

Kamchatka Honeysuckle Sorceress does not produce crops without pollinators, and this is another disadvantage of her.To enjoy delicious fruits in summer, you need to plant at least a couple of plants of a different variety nearby. You can pick up the following cultures:

• Long-fruited;

• Zest;

• Sineglazka.

In regions with an unfavorable climate, it is customary to plant the Sorceress honeysuckle in the spring. In other cases, gardeners prefer autumn planting, as the plants adapt much better with it. But in any case, before planting, the plants are soaked for several hours in growth stimulants.

Most often, the Sorceress honeysuckle is planted in the form of a hedge. It is very important that the distance between the bushes is at least 150 centimeters, otherwise they will interfere with each other. The same distance is maintained to other plants, especially tall ones. The variety is not planted where other berry bushes used to grow.

The sorceress does not require constant care for herself, but with the help of good agricultural technology, you can seriously increase the level of yield. As for irrigation, in the northern regions they should be more than moderate. Three times a season is enough for comfortable growth. At a time, 15 liters are poured under the bush. But in arid agricultural zones, you will have to constantly rely on weather conditions. But in any case, a couple of weeks before picking up the fruits, watering is reduced, otherwise the berries will turn out to be watery and will be poorly stored.

The Sorceress honeysuckle nutrients embedded in the soil are enough for two seasons. After that, the soil will have to be fed additionally. At the beginning of spring, 15 grams of carbamide is introduced, during the formation of buds - double superphosphate and potassium sulfate (40 and 20 grams, respectively), after harvesting - nitrophoska (20 grams). In the fall, the soil is dug up and compost is added to it.

Plants are in great need of sanitary as well as anti-aging pruning. The procedures can be carried out in spring or autumn, the main thing is that the plants are in a dormant period. Not only diseased / dry branches are removed, but also shoots near the roots, branches clinging to each other. For rejuvenation, all skeletal branches are shortened.

There are practically no cases of the Sorceress' illness. The culture is affected only in conditions of constant rains. But such fungal ailments are easily prevented by preventive treatments. They are carried out in the spring, immediately after the awakening of the shrubs.

Pest attacks are more likely. Aphids, caterpillars, ticks are not at all averse to feasting on delicious fruits. Therefore, together with fungicidal sprays, insecticidal sprays must also be carried out. In addition, early berries will have to be protected from birds, which are attracted by their color. For this, it is recommended to install grids.