How To Choose And Grow Fruitful And Tasty Gooseberry Varieties. Part 1

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

A good gardener - a large gooseberry

Historians argue that gooseberries were grown in Russia already in the 11th century, which means that it appeared here even earlier than our western neighbors. It was known under the name "kryzh-bersen". Some connoisseurs of Old Russian names suggest that the last word could have given its name to Moscow and Bersenevskaya Embankment.

Features of culture

It is believed that the cultivation of this culture, first of all, began to be engaged in monasteries, where its bushes were in abundance.

Later, in the 15th century, the gooseberry from the monasteries moved to the boyar gardens, and then to the gardens of ordinary laymen, who appreciated its nutritious and healing qualities. Our western neighbors kept it mostly as a "hedge".

As a food culture, gooseberries are mentioned in the chronicles of the 15th century in connection with the selection of the best plants at that time and the description of a number of large-fruited varieties. The bushes of this plant were in abundance next to the rich landowners' houses. The greatest fascination with this culture in pre-revolutionary Russia is noted among the inhabitants of the Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod provinces.

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Although among the people the name "northern grapes" was stuck behind this culture, it seems to me that now gooseberries are less popular with Russian gardeners than currants. Perhaps this is due to the predominance of its prickly varieties so far, picking berries from which is always associated with the risk of scratching your hands. Some people don't like the abundance of seeds in its fruits.

The rarer use of gooseberries in our plots also depends on the quite reliable impression ingrained in our minds that this culture is significantly affected by such an unsightly disease as powdery mildew. Plaque of this mycosis is present not only on the leaves, but also often passes on to still immature berries, which is especially noticeable during wet growing seasons. Because of this disease, a significant part of the crop is lost, which, apparently, affects the negative attitude of some gardeners to gooseberries.

Or maybe the reason lies in the fact that many new plants, previously not typical for our climatic zone, have appeared in the garden plots, for example, Chinese magnolia vine, actinidia, cherry, sea buckthorn, grapes and many others, which leads to a reduction in the areas for gooseberries … But 2-3 gooseberry bushes can almost always be found on every household plot, which is due to the excellent taste and medicinal properties of its fruits.

Gooseberry berries are distinguished from other berry bushes - strawberries, currants, honeysuckle and raspberries - by their extraordinary variety of colors. It can be pink, red, yellow, green, purple, or black.

The positive qualities of the gooseberry include the lack of frequency of fruiting - with proper pruning of the bushes, the gardener will be provided with an annual harvest of berries in abundance. It is also worth noting the high winter hardiness of this culture.

Of course, gooseberry varieties that have a large number of strong thorns on their branches are quite difficult to care for, especially when harvesting berries. However, some experienced gardeners who have been cultivating gooseberries for more than one year believe that the best-tasting fruits are still produced by thorny gooseberries, and the "thornless" varieties are seriously inferior in many respects.

Thorny varieties are also better suited as a decorative hedge that can be planted along the fence or along the periphery of the site itself. This approach to the arrangement of the bushes of thorny varieties of this culture will help protect the site from uninvited guests - dogs or other large domestic animals. According to some designers, gooseberry varieties with many large thorns are good to use as a kind of decor in the landscape of personal plots.

Now breeders are working on solving the problem of thorny shoots by breeding varieties of gooseberries with low thorns or no thorns at all. It is easy for gardeners to work and harvest with such varieties, but it must be remembered that in order to maintain high yields, they require timely watering, periodic pruning and pouring under snow bushes with the arrival of large frosts.

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Gooseberry varieties: pros and cons

There is a saying among the people: "A good gardener is a large gooseberry." She says that the gardener not only knows how to properly grow this plant, but is also able to choose successful varieties. And this is not easy, because a lot of gooseberry varieties are known by now. But now we will talk about the most interesting ones, in my opinion, so that it would be easier for gardeners to decide on the choice of exactly those varieties that best meet their needs.

Medium- early winter-hardy gooseberry variety Belorusskiy Sakhany (Institute of Fruit Growing of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus) - has a compact bush of medium height. It has single thorns, long, sharp, located along the entire length of the shoot. The berries are round-oval-shaped, large (weighing 4.1-8.5 g), very sweet, greenish-white with a thin peel. Self-fertility of the variety is high (up to 64%). It is resistant to powdery mildew, moderately susceptible to anthracnose.

A number of gardeners have a thorny variety Malachite of medium ripening (All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture named after I. V. Michurin). In his vigorous, rather spreading and dense bush, the spine of the shoots is average: they are mostly single, of medium length and thickness, straight. Large (4.5-6 g) rounded berries have a green color (sometimes with a "tan" on the sunny side), a good waxy coating, but, alas, a mediocre taste (3.7 points). The variety is remarkable for its high winter hardiness and drought resistance, good self-fertility, and has good resistance to powdery mildew. The variety is of medium ripening.

The Krasnoslavyansky variety (Leningradskaya fruit and vegetable experimental station) is characterized by a medium-sized, slightly spreading bush. It has a strong spine: thorns are of medium length and thickness, sharp, straight along the entire length of the shoot. Berries (weighing 3.9-6 g, but on average 4.2 g), round-oval, dark cherry color. Sweet taste (with slight acidity and aroma), tasting score 5 points. The productivity of the variety reaches up to 6 kg per bush, self-fertility up to 49%. Winter hardiness and resistance to mycoses pathogens are average. In some years, the variety may freeze shoots, it may be affected by powdery mildew.

The Finnish gooseberry bush of medium late ripening Hinnonmaen punainen (OLAVI) is medium-sized, slightly spreading, dense with straight, upward and lateral shoots of medium thickness. The spines are strong: the spines are located along the entire length of the shoot, they are of medium length and short, sharp. Berries (weighing 2-4.4 g, on average 3.7 g), oval and rounded-oval, dark cherry with a waxy bloom and thin, strong skin; do not crumble. The pulp is juicy, sweet and sour (4.5 points). The productivity of the bush is stable, high (7-13 kg of berries). Self-fertility up to 46%.

The variety is winter-hardy, resistant to spheroteca, anthracnose and septoria blight is slightly affected. It is characterized by excellent rooting ability of all types of cuttings.

For more than half a century in the gardens of Russians there is a medium late variety Russian (All - Russian Research Institute of Horticulture named after I. V. Michurin). He has a medium-sized bush, more spreading at a young age, a crown of medium density. The spine of the shoots is average, the thorns are mostly single, of medium length and thickness, straight. Berries (weighing 3-6 g) are oval or elliptical, dark red. The taste of the berries is sweet and sour; it received 4 points in the tasting assessment. Such longevity of this variety is due to its high winter hardiness, good drought resistance, good self-fertility, and powdery mildew resistance. The yield of the variety ranges from 2.1-5.7 kg per bush.

A medium-sized, medium-spreading bush of the medium-ripening variety Russian Yellow (All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture named after IV Michurin). The spine of the shoots is average, the thorns are mostly single, of medium length and thickness, straight, light, directed perpendicularly to the shoot or obliquely upward and located in its lower part. The berries are large (4.2-5.8 g), obovate, yellow, not pubescent with a waxy coating, hang on the bush for a long time without crumbling. The taste of the berries is sweet and sour, the tasting score is 4 points, their color is very remarkable - amber-yellow. The variety is highly winter-hardy, drought-resistant, not susceptible to American powdery mildew, and is characterized by good self-fertility. The average bush yield is 4.1 kg. The disadvantage of this variety is the spreading of the plant at a young age.

The early- growing variety Kolobok of medium ripening (VSTISP) has a vigorous bush, the shoots of which are endowed with short, thin, single perpendicularly spaced thorns. Its rather large (weighing from 3 to 4.5-8 g), round-oval, dark red berries do not crumble. They have a sweet and sour taste, medium skin density and easy pull-off. The advantages of the variety are a fairly high resistance to the pathogens of mycoses, a decent yield, a relatively high rooting rate of shoots. Its disadvantages include instability to prolonged drought, a negative reaction to winter thaws and subsequent frosts, as well as thickening of the bush, whose thin branches bend low to the ground with their tops. Without regular annual pruning, the variety quickly becomes a sheaf.

Read the second part of the article How to choose and grow fruitful and tasty gooseberry varieties

Alexander Lazarev, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Senior Researcher, All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Pushkin

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