Redberry Vaccinium Praestans - An Unusual And Useful Sakhalin Berry (Redberry - To The Gardens - 2)

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

An unusual and useful Sakhalin red berry begins its movement to the western regions of the country

Akhatov said that red syrup is very popular in Sakhalin. Before perestroika, the industrial processing of krasnik was even established, from which the already described Klopovka syrup and the Mountain Air lemonade, which was very popular on Sakhalin, were made.

The industry received berries from the population through a well-organized network of collection points, where the pickers handed them over on very favorable terms. Everything collapsed. The population continues to prepare syrup even now: some only for themselves, and some for sale - bottling it in bottles with home-grown labels. The demand is great. And the residents also got the hang of making lemonade, which is quite simple - it is enough just to dilute the syrup with mineral carbonated water to taste. Sakhalin residents appreciate these preparations as an antihypertensive and tonic, they treat them for colds, and lemonade is also appreciated for helping to recover from a good drink. Red berries are also used for traditional preparations: compotes, preserves, marmalade, pastilles. They are added to the usual processing of fruits and berries, which gives the product a unique taste,aroma and prolongs the shelf life thanks to benzoic acid.

The extraordinary limited distribution of redwoods in nature, combined with the increased interest of the population in it, put this unique plant under the threat of extinction. V. I. Krasikova, a researcher of the Sakhalin krasnikov, reports on the trampling of “krasnichniki” during the mass invasion of the population for berries and even plowing them for planting. Of course, all measures must be taken to preserve the red plant in nature, but it is no less important to have time to introduce it into culture. For the first time, such an attempt was made back in 1914. There is information that in the 79-80s the redberry blossomed and bore fruit in the Main Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences (Moscow), in the Central Siberian Botanical Sala SB RAS (Novosibirsk), in the Botanical garden BIN RAS (Leningrad). V. I. Krasikova sent a lot of planting material from Sakhalin to various places in the country to amateur gardeners, and, by the way, maybesome of the amateurs who have received these plants will respond and write to the editor about their fate. Even such a specialist as V. I. Krasikova, who knows everything about it, considers the introduction of krasnika into culture a difficult matter. Her work in this direction back in the 70s and 80s on Sakhalin did not bring much success. But, nevertheless, she is still confident that this work should be continued. And it continues.

In 1990, E. A. Tyurikov planted the red herb on the southern outskirts of Moscow at the All-Russian Institute of Selection and Technology for Horticulture and Nursery (VSTISiP). These were two forms - samples brought by the scientist from Kunashir Island and 30 root cuttings obtained from South Sakhalin. At the same time, E. A. Tyurikov planted a krasnika in his personal plot in the Kameshkovsky district of the Vladimir region. Krasnika took root, grew and bore fruit safely. Unfortunately, death interrupted the scientist's work. But I remember how, in one of our meetings, he, a great enthusiast of introducing lingonberry plants into the culture, spoke about the undoubted prospects of introducing redberries into gardens.

Work with the redberry was continued by I. Yu. Smirnov, but now, unfortunately, it has again been interrupted. And yet, analyzing from publications albeit a small experience of growing redberries in culture, it is already possible to give some recommendations for its "domestication". Krasnika, like other lingonberry, feels good only on acidic, loose, breathable and moisture-absorbing soils. On other soils, plants are depressed, their winter hardiness decreases, and they die. That is why it is so necessary to carefully prepare the soil under the redberry. Once I wrote down the story of E. A. Tyurikov, as he did in his garden. Here is this entry:

“The basis of the substrate for the cultivation of redberries was acidic (pH 3.5–4.5), poorly decomposed peat. It has aerated powder and high moisture capacity. In order to save money, I mixed sawdust and coniferous forest litter up to 30% by volume with peat. I mixed the resulting loose mass with sandy loam soil in a ratio of 5: 1. (If your site is dominated by loamy soils, the ratio should be different - 10: 1). He filled trenches 80 cm wide and 40 cm deep with the finished substrate. The trenches were isolated from the outside penetration of rhizome weeds with plastic tape. You can also use linoleum, plastic sheets, old slate, iron, etc. If the site is dominated by peaty soil, then redwood can be grown without preliminary preparation, the main thing is to isolate the plants from rhizome weeds. At the Institute of Horticulture (VSTISiP), redberry grows on a mixture of moderately decomposed high-moor peat and sand (3: 1).

I think that I will have to experiment when choosing a place in the garden for krasnica - the "golden mean" between the open to the sun and a shaded corner. It would seem that in nature, redwood grows better in illuminated places - forest edges, burnt-out areas, clearings. But VI Krasikova reports that when planting plants in the form of a part of a dug-out clump in open, well-lit places, all plantings in the very first season literally "burned out" under the influence of direct sunlight. Planted under the canopy of birches, the plants, although they took root, were clearly lagging behind in development and delayed fruiting. In VSTISiP, redberry grows in some shading of actinidia and Kuril tea. This appears to reduce the negative impact on plants of possible drought. The harvest under these conditions is stable and is about four times higher (350–500 g / m2) than in nature. At the same time, in noticeably shady places, there is a later ripening of berries and a sharp decline in yield. In the culture of redberry, as well as in nature, it can be propagated vegetatively and by seeds. In the first method, a “brick” of any size and shape is cut out of the soil penetrated with rhizomes and is transferred to a new place, lightly sprinkled with peat. It is even easier for the redwood to propagate by the shoots separated from the plants with their underground part. It is also possible to use root cuttings, which are "pieces" of a lignified rhizome with dormant buds located on it. In the first method, a “brick” of any size and shape is cut out of the soil penetrated with rhizomes and transferred to a new place, lightly sprinkled with peat. It is even easier for the redwood to propagate by the shoots separated from the plants with their underground part. It is also possible to use root cuttings, which are "pieces" of a lignified rhizome with dormant buds located on it. In the first method, a “brick” of any size and shape is cut out of the soil penetrated with rhizomes and transferred to a new place, lightly sprinkled with peat. It is even easier for the redwood to propagate by the shoots separated from the plants with their underground part. It is also possible to use root cuttings, which are "pieces" of a lignified rhizome with dormant buds located on it.

When propagating by seeds, it is recommended to sow them in the ground before winter, and then cover the soil with moss. I did it differently. I sowed seeds in a box with soil, put it in a plastic bag and sent it under the snow. You can see the efficiency of such sowing in the photo - everything has sprung up, and by autumn the plants have reached 7-10 cm in height. Seeds are selected from fully ripe berries. Seeds are small, oblong (up to 1.3 mm long), slightly sickle-curved. One fruit contains up to 34 of them. The total weight per 1 fruit is 8 mg, per 1000 berries - 268 g. Freshly harvested seeds do not germinate, their germination capacity decreases sharply even after storage for one year. Redberry care consists in systematic watering, careful weed control and annual peat addition - 4-5 kg per 1 m2. Peat is usually poured in in the fall, bringing with it double superphosphate (20-30 g per 1 m2). Part of the peat can also be used during spring and summer as mulch. It is recommended to use nitrogen and potassium fertilizers in the form of solutions of urea and potassium sulfate (1 g per 1 l). The solution is applied in two steps - in spring and during flowering. The total dose is no more than 20 g per 1 m2.

Frosts are not terrible for krasnik, it practically does not suffer from them even in winters with little snow and rather cold. But in more northern regions, apparently, it will still need to be sheltered for the winter. But spring frosts (even at -3? C) reduce the yield. Therefore, in the spring, it is advisable to cover the dye with a double layer of any nonwoven material. In the Moscow region, this is done from late April - early May to late May - early June. In the middle lane, all phases of redwood development, including flowering and ripening, take place 1-3 weeks earlier than on Sakhalin. The fruits are set both from self-pollination and through the work of bumblebees. I would like to emphasize that for gardeners, redberry is interesting not only as a new berry, but also as a highly decorative ground cover plant.

The climate of the places where the redwood grows is characterized by high humidity, which is due to the deep snow cover in winter and heavy rains in the warm period. But even in such a humid climate, redwood grows more often in damp swampy forests, especially well on swampy edges, on the outskirts of moss bogs, and even on the northern slopes. But there are plenty of such places in our country, and how often, unfortunately, just such “inconveniences” are allocated for our garden plots, and an attempt to master them for traditional cultures causes only melancholy and disappointment. But among the new, adapted to such places, horticultural crops may be redberry. Of course, introducing it into culture, and even in new regions for it, is not an easy task, but it is not in vain that folk wisdom says: "Time and work will grind everything." And how many have already "frayed"; remember at leasthow lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries and even little-known berries - prince, cloudberry, penetrate our gardens "from the forest, of course". The time has come for a unique narrow-range endemic - redwoods.

There are other little-known fruit and berry crops that can be grown in your area.