Honeysuckle: Planting, Pruning, Diseases And Pests

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Honeysuckle is a crop that gives the earliest harvest of valuable berries

Now honeysuckle can be found in almost every household plot in Russia, which is associated with the enormous value of culture both for food production and for decorative gardening.

The genus honeysuckle (Lonicera L.) is named after the German botanist Adam Lonitzer and belongs to the family Caprifoliaceae juss. In nature, more than 200 species of honeysuckle are known, which belong to both decorative and edible species. In decorative species (L. caprifolium, L. brownii, L. karelinii, L. periclymenum, etc.), the fruits are not suitable for human consumption. These plants are characterized by a curly bush shape, abundant flowering, for which they are used in landscaping gardens and parks.

Edible fruits are distinguished only by edible honeysuckle (L. edulis Turkz.ex Freyn), Turchaninov's honeysuckle (L. turczani nowii Pojark), Altai honeysuckle (L. altaica Pall), Pallas honeysuckle (L. pallasii Ledeb), Regel's honeysuckle (L. regeliana Boczkar). These species have found great application in scientific work and were the ancestors of local varieties. The value of honeysuckle fruits was first noticed at the end of the 16th century. Already in 1786 S. P. Krasheninnikov noted that the fruits of honeysuckle are very popular with the local population of Kamchatka.

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The first experience in creating varieties of honeysuckle was noted in 1884 in Nerchinsk, when T. D. Mauritz, as a result of selection among wild species, isolated bushes with a large fruit size of a dessert taste. Successful attempts to introduce honeysuckle into culture were undertaken by I. V. Michurin in 1909. The official recognition of honeysuckle took place in 1956, since then serious breeding work began, the result of which was the inclusion of the first varieties of Russian breeding in the state register of breeding achievements in 1987.

Work on the development of new varieties of honeysuckle with edible fruits is being carried out at the N. I. M. A. Lisavenko, UNIIPOK, VNIIS them. I. V. Michurin, VNIIR them. N. I. Vavilov. In the late 90s, new varieties of selection by L. P. Kuminov. Today, multiple plantings of honeysuckle can be found in Western Siberia, Altai, Ural, Middle Volga and North-West Russia.

Honeysuckle plants are valued for their simplicity in caring for them, high adaptability, early ripening of fruits, the richest in biochemical composition.

Features of honeysuckle

Honeysuckle fruits contain 12-16% dry matter, among them 5-10% sugars. The acidity is within wide limits: from 1.5 to 4.5%. Among them there are apple, amber and oxalic. The class of vitamins includes ascorbic acid (vitamin C), the lack of which causes rapid fatigue, fatigue and drowsiness. Honeysuckle fruits contain B vitamins - thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), folic acid (B9), as well as iron, the content of which in honeysuckle fruits is 1.5 times higher than in apples. Therefore, the use of honeysuckle fruit is an effective way to combat anemia. Carotene contained in fruits (provitamin A) helps to improve the immune system, and vitamin P - strengthens the walls of blood vessels.

In modern medicine, honeysuckle is used primarily for the prevention of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. It is also used to treat malaria.

In nature, honeysuckle is an upright densely branching shrub. Plants can be from 1.2 to 2.5 m tall. Skeletal branches with strong wood. In a bush, there can be from 10 to 15. The bark of skeletal branches is brown. The biological feature of this culture is the flaking of the bark, which occurs from the third year of the plant's life. Shoots of plants can be from 5 to 40 cm in size, they are slightly pubescent. The kidneys are large, oppositely located. The flowers are of medium size, formed into two-flowered flowers. Honeysuckle fruits are solitary with weak attachment to the stalk, weighing from 0.5 to 3.0 g. The root system of the plant is pivotal, densely branched with a depth of 50 cm.

Honeysuckle plants are characterized by high winter hardiness. For example, during the years of cultivation of this crop in the central part of Russia, no serious winter damage was observed, even in the cold winter of 2005-2006, when a significant part of pear, cherry, and apricot plantations froze out, honeysuckle did not suffer losses and continued to produce crops.

Honeysuckle buds bloom in late March-early April, when snow is still possible and light frosts occur, but this does not interfere with the normal vegetation of plants. Honeysuckle flowers can withstand up to -3 … -4 ° С. All this makes it possible to cultivate honeysuckle in places with cold climates.

When planting honeysuckle plants on your site, it is important to know that this culture is self-fertile, that is, if you grow plants of the same variety, there will be a complete lack of harvest. To obtain high and stable yields, at least 2-3 varieties should be cultivated.

Planting honeysuckle

When choosing varieties, it is important to follow the recommendations of specialists. To date, the best varieties are Blue Spindle, Gzhelka, Kamchadalka, Nesyapayuschaya, Blue Bird. This list is updated annually due to the high rates of crop breeding and the creation of new varieties with higher rates.

The planting site for honeysuckle plants in the garden area should be well lit. This is due to the biological characteristics of the culture, because in natural conditions, wild plants of honeysuckle grow in forest clearings, clearings, the outskirts of swamps. The plant grows well on sandy soil types, low-lying wetlands are also permissible. However, the most suitable are chernozems with an acidity of pH 4.5-7.5.

The culture makes increased demands on the content of mineral nutrients in the soil. Many years of experience in growing honeysuckle indicates the mandatory pre-planting application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

After a place has been chosen for planting honeysuckle on the site, the question arises about the plant planting scheme. In industrial plantings, the generally accepted planting scheme is 3x1 m, while in summer cottages it is placed along hedges at a distance of 1.5-2 m between plants. Simultaneous planting of honeysuckle plants with other non-traditional crops (chokeberry, blueberry, dogwood, barberry, etc.) is possible, since the requirements for soils and places of placement are similar.

Autumn is the optimal time for planting honeysuckle, since the survival rate of plants during this period is about 100%, with spring planting it decreases to 80%.

Honeysuckle is planted, as a rule, as two-year-old seedlings with 2-3 branches and a well-developed root system. For planting, planting pits (40x50x40 cm in size) are prepared, about two buckets of organic fertilizer, 150-200 g of superphosphate, 40 g of potassium salt are added there, and on acidic soil, in addition, 100-300 g of ground limestone. Next, the seedling is placed at the bottom of the pit, straightening the roots along the perimeter, falling asleep and carefully tamping the ground.

After planting, abundant watering is carried out, mulching with humus, peat or dry soil. For the first five years, honeysuckle grows very slowly. At this time, weeding is carried out near the bush, fertilizers are applied and watered in dry hot weather. In the fall, it is advisable to fertilize with fertilizers: 20-30 g of superphosphate and 15-20 g of potassium salt per 1 m2 of soil near the bush.

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Pruning honeysuckle

The measures for the care of honeysuckle include pruning, but the first 5-7 years after planting it is not carried out, since pruning of young shoots leads to loss of yield. This is due to the fact that honeysuckle forms its harvests on young annual shoots. Only during the period of full fruiting, in which honeysuckle enters at 8-9 years of age, it is recommended to thin out the bushes, contributing to the formation of more annual growths and higher yields. The life of honeysuckle can be 25-30 years. Further, there is a decrease in yield and aging of plants.

Pest and disease control

Honeysuckle is a new berry plant and has been in culture for a short time. During this time, there was no such damage to plantations by diseases and pests that would cause economic damage to the culture. And yet, gardeners need to know that scale insects, honeysuckle striped sawfly and various types of leaf rollers do the main damage to it. Of the diseases, powdery mildew and leaf spots are common.

In the fight against diseases, early spring spraying of the bushes with 0.2% foundation, copper-soap liquid (100 g of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water) is recommended. For powdery mildew, the drug "Topaz" is used. Pest control consists in spraying honeysuckle with a 0.3% solution of karbofos or 0.2% solution of chlorophos. Going out to the garden area in winter, you can observe how bullfinches peck at honeysuckle buds. During the period of fruit ripening, tits and sparrows actively feed on juicy ripe berries. These birds do little harm to honeysuckle.

Read the next part. Honeysuckle: promising varieties and reproduction →